Nuclear Industry rebelling against NRC recommendations because they cost too much... [View All]

[kristopher]

Nuclear Proposals Draw Ire

A dozen major recommendations to improve plant safety were included in a report from a Nuclear Regulatory Commission task force that was created after the March accident at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex.

The panel also proposed essentially setting aside a 1988 rule that has protected the nuclear-power industry against costly upgrades. The industry has used the rule, which requires benefits to public safety to be balanced against industry costs, to beat back regulatory changes it didn't like.

Tony Pietrangelo, chief nuclear officer for the industry's Nuclear Energy Institute, said the proposal to set aside the cost-protection rule amounted to "sweeping change." The NRC "will have to think long and hard," he added, before embarking on such a "major policy shift."

...The cost-protection rule was created to shield the nuclear sector after its costs spiraled out of control because of the NRC's reaction to the 1979 accident at the Three Mile Island reactor in Pennsylvania. Billions of dollars of added costs were imposed on the nuclear-power sector, which the industry said stalled its growth for more than two decades...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304223804576444340671508676.html?mod=googlenews_wsj