Govt panel: Changes needed at U.S. nuclear plants

[ensho]

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2011/07/14/us_japan_nuclear_safety_report/index.html


Nuclear Regulatory Commission recommends 12 changes at domestic reactors to help prevent Fukushima repeat


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The panel will tell the commission that nuclear plant operators should be ordered to re-evaluate their earthquake and flood risk, add equipment to address simultaneous damage to multiple reactors and make sure electrical power and instruments are in place to monitor and cool spent fuel pools after a disaster.

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The task force says that there is no imminent risk to public health and the environment from operating nuclear power plants in the U.S. But its members admit that the current patchwork of regulations is not given equal consideration or treatment by power plant operators or by the NRC, during its technical reviews and inspections.

Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., the top Democrat on the House natural resources panel, urged the commission to move quickly to adopt the recommendations of the task force, saying "America's nuclear fleet remains vulnerable to a similar disaster."

But Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., ranking member of the Senate environment committee, said such sweeping changes were premature.
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Inhofe is such a dear - and im-mature