NRC chair says politics won't slow nuclear
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WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 The top U.S. nuclear regulator said though Congress has changed hands it likely won't stunt the growth in nuclear power which he's been planning for.Dale Klein, chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said he expects more than 30 new applications for new nuclear reactors in the United States, along with applications for license renewals and power uprates.The political landscape obviously has changed, Klein said at the Nuclear Energy Opportunities for Growth and Investment in North America summit in Washington Thursday, organized by the global energy information company Platts. I now visit different heads of committees.In terms of how we are moving as a nation, we have some challenges that our elected officials have to deal with, Klein said of the threat of climate change, adding it was politically real if not technically real.He expects legislation to curb emissions that lead to climate change, which come from nuclear's competitors of coal and crude oil.Then the issue is what role does nuclear play in that? he said. If you get rid of a lot of the emotions and look at what source of likely generation is there ... you are choices get limited real quick, Klein said. Renewable energy like solar, wind, geothermal and hydropower are touted by environmentalists as an emissions-free source. But those sources either lack the technology or geographic capacity to make them commercially viable.This is where nuclear power comes in, Klein said. He said the NRC will be a hard but fair regulator.Copyright 2007 by UPI
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Comments from NRC under D.Klein
By:
Paul Gunter ,
Fri, 09 Feb 2007 20:18:25 GMT
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Commissioner D.Klein serves up more of the same optimistic promotionalism. This is not NRC's job.
On the one hand he says he is going to be a tough regulator, on the other he chairs a Commission that just voted 5-0 to leave nuclear power plants vulnerable to 9/11-style attacks.
The Commission vote on January 29, 2007 declined to take action to erect passive structural defenses around nuclear waste laden power plants that would prevent aircraft penetration, explosions and fires from lofting deadly radiation over large regions of the US. The Commission further declined to require reactor site security forces to be upgraded, trained and inspected with mock force-on-force exercises against an adversary force at minimum of four coordinated teams of 19 men ready to die.
The current NRC is more concerned about protecting the nuclear industry's financial interests that national security by deferring their mandate to other agencies like FAA, NORAD and Homeland Security. In fact, the majority of the nation's nuclear power plants are ringed with private airfields within ten miles of the facilities that could be used to stage private aircraft attacks to bypass increased passenger screening, fortified cockpit doors and jet fighter response capabilities.
Paul Gunter, Director
Reactor Watchdog Project
Nuclear Information and Resource Service
6930 Carroll Avenue Suite 340
Takoma Park, MD 20912
Tel. 301 270 6477
www.nirs.org
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