He was a nuclear engineer, a nuclear industry executive, a nuclear industry whistleblower, and now

[bananas]

he's been appointed to the Vermont nuclear oversight panel.
Excellent choice!

http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080702/NEWS02/807020375/1003/NEWS02

Douglas criticizes anti-nuke panelists

July 2, 2008

MONTPELIER — The appointment of two nuclear critics to the new state oversight panel for the upcoming special inspection of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant drew an immediate complaint Tuesday from the Douglas administration.

Arnold Gundersen of Burlington, a former nuclear industry executive turned critic was appointed by Sen. Peter Shumlin, D-Windham, president pro tempore of the Senate. House Speaker and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gaye Symington appointed Peter Bradford of Peru, a former member of the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission, who has also been critical of Vermont Yankee.

Gundersen and Bradford join a former Westinghouse Corp. nuclear engineer appointed by Gov. James Douglas. Lawrence Hochreiter, who now is a professor at Pennsylvania State University, worked for Westinghouse, a key nuclear industry firm, for 26 years.

<snip>

"I predicted the cooling tower collapse. I predicted the decommissioning fund would be short and I predicted cracks in the barrel," he said, referring to a spate of problems facing the owner of Vermont Yankee, Entergy Nuclear.

<snip>


http://www.boston.com/news/local/vermont/articles/2008/07/02/douglas_administration_hits_nuke_panelists/

<snip>

"I am the expert that correctly predicted the cooling tower failure, the decommissioning fund shortfall, and the cracks in the steam dryer," he said, noting that the predictions had borne out. "I do not believe that making correct predictions about an aging plant means I am "anti-nuke."

<snip>


http://www.state.nv.us/nucwaste/news2000/nn10410.htm

Reprinted from The Litchfield County Times,(Connecticut) December 10, 1999

Written by Katherine Boughton
The Whistleblower
Arnold Gundersen of Goshen

Ten years ago, Arnold Gundersen of Goshen was a senior vice president with Danbury-based Nuclear Energy Services, a card-carrying member of the nuclear industry. Since then, he has become a dedicated whistleblower, taking on the industry that once supplied him in his family with a comfortable lifestyle and a bright future.

Mr. Gundersen made the transition between these two worlds after he uncovered what he felt were safety violations at NES and reported the problem to management. Soon after making this report he was dismissed from his job and began a five-year effort to prove his case. He asserts he was blacklisted by the industry for discussing the alleged violations with state and federal regulators and was eventually sued by NES $1.5 million for defamation. The suit was settled out-of-court.

A report prepared by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission eventually concluded that there had been irregularities at NES, and second document, prepared by the Office of the Inspector General, noted that the NRC had violated its own regulations by improperly steering business to NES. But that vindication was small solace to the Gundersen family, who had by then lost their home.

"Without the intervention of Sen. Joseph Lieberman and Sen. John Glenn, we would have been dog meat", Mr. Gundersen said. "We would have been selling apples on the street. My bitterness is not toward my former employer, but toward the government agencies that did nothing to rectify it. I had believed in the government, but now I know that it is an organism and when you attack it, it reacts like an organism. But as a result of my case, Connecticut has toughest whistleblower protection bill in the country."

<snip>

[phantom power]

1. I don't see a problem with that.

[Name removed]

2. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.