Operations
More than 50 years ago the Advisory Committee ignored its minority members and pushed ahead without rigorous failure-proof containment structures and systems. The Nuclear Regulatory Committee made the decision not to require stronger containments. Japan followed the American lead.
TEPCO is behaving as though it is the victim of the largest industrial accident in the history of time rather than the perpetrator. Fairewinds Energy Education's Arnie Gundersen analyzes new leaks at Fukushima Daiichi Unit 3 and discusses TEPCO's negligence in not applying engineering rigor to its analysis of the leaks.
In sworn testimony in Monroe, Michigan, the NRC admitted that it has stripped whistleblower protection from the licensing of new nuclear power plants. By flip-flopping on what it means to be an applicant, the whistleblowers who are truly looking to protect the public health and safety are having their lives and livelihoods jeopardized. Fairewinds Chief Engineer Arnie Gundersen discusses what this means as utilities look for short cuts and cheaper ways to build new nukes.
Accurately measuring the reactor water level in a nuclear power plant is critical to safe operation, yet nuclear power reactor water monitoring systems do not work correctly. What would happen today if your car’s speedometer read 60 miles per hour, but in actuality, you might be driving at 40-mph or even 95-mph? Listen to today’s Fairewinds Energy Education podcast as Dave Lochbaum from the Union of Concerned Scientists and researcher Lucas Hixson discuss the dangerous dilemma reactor operators face when a reactor has an emergency shutdown and operators simply do not know if the reactor has enough water to keep it cool!
Drug and alcohol violations at U.S. nuclear plants increased from about one a month to almost one every week over the past five years, with a majority of cases in southeastern states, a new study has found.
What oversight exists at the nuclear plant nearest you? On today's podcast Arnie, Lucas and Nat discuss the NRC's Fitness for Duty program for nuclear reactor operators, in which workers are periodically tested for mental health issues and on-the-job usage of drugs and alcohol. Fairewinds recently authored a report on the many industry-wide instances of nuclear plant operators coming to work under the influence of drugs and alcohol. Listen to our podcast and read our report to find out what areas of the country are experiencing the most violations, what is the nuclear plant operator’s drug of choice, and whether rates of drug and alcohol abuse have gone up or down in the past five years (hint: they’ve gone up).
Both Westinghouse and the NRC assume that ASME XI inspections and protective coatings applied to the outside of the AP1000 containment will reduce the risk of a pinhole leak to ZERO.
