Groups, individuals petition NRC to suspend all nuclear reactor licensing in wake of Fukushima disaster
Jonathan Benson, staff writer
The groups, which include Beyond Nuclear; the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League (BREDL); Citizens Allied for Safe Energy; and the Nuclear Information and Resource Center, say that it is an obligation for NRC to properly consider the lessons being learned from Fukushima before permitting any further nuclear energy development in the US.
"NRC violated the law by re-licensing the Vermont Yankee reactor at the same time it launched an investigation into whether US safety and environmental standards are strong enough in light of the Fukushima accident," said Diane Curran, an attorney for the petitioners, from Harmon, Curran, Spielberg & Eisenberg, LLP.
"The National Environmental Policy Act requires the NRC to learn and apply the lessons of Fukushima before it allows another reactor to operate. By establishing a Task Force and ordering the investigation of the regulatory implications of the Fukushima accident for US reactors, the NRC has obligated itself to consider those implications in all prospective licensing decisions."
Just days after the Japan earthquake and tsunami ravaged the Fukushima plant, the NRC extended the license for the Vermont Yankee reactor owned by General Electric (GE), despite the fact that the plant has had radioactive tritium leaks, a cooling tower collapse, and other serious problems, according to a 2010 New York Times report.
Petitioners say it is only reasonable for the NRC to take a serious step back and reevaluate how the events of Fukushima relate to US nuclear facilities, some of which are in worse shape than Fukushima was before the disaster. If such a disaster were ever to hit US soil, the consequences could be even more devastating than Fukushima.
Sources for this story include:
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-rele...
http://www.psr.org/nuclear-bailout/
www.naturalnews.com/032098_nuclear_reactors_petition.html
April 18, 2011