"azotic" wrote in message
...
AP IMPACT: US nuke regulators weaken safety rules
By JEFF DONN, AP National Writer - 1 day ago

LACEY TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) - Federal regulators have been working closely
with the nuclear power industry to keep the nation's aging reactors
operating within safety standards by repeatedly weakening those standards,
or simply failing to enforce them, an investigation by The Associated
Press has found.

Time after time, officials at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission have
decided that original regulations were too strict, arguing that safety
margins could be eased without peril, according to records and interviews.

The result? Rising fears that these accommodations by the NRC are
significantly undermining safety - and inching the reactors closer to an
accident that could harm the public and jeopardize the future of nuclear
power in the United States.

Examples abound. When valves leaked, more leakage was allowed - up to 20
times the original limit. When rampant cracking caused radioactive leaks
from steam generator tubing, an easier test of the tubes was devised, so
plants could meet standards.

What workers found shocked the industry.

They discovered extensive cracking and a place where acidic boron had
spurted from the reactor and eaten a gouge as big as a football. When the
problem was found, just a fraction of an inch of inner lining remained. An
NRC analysis determined that the vessel head could have burst within two
months - what former NRC Commissioner Peter Bradford has called a "near
rupture" which could have released large amounts of radiation into the
environment.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...5cf59d14a4ed41



A clear cut case of regulatory capture.

In economics, regulatory capture occurs when a state regulatory agency
created to act in the public interest instead advances the commercial or
special interests that dominate the industry or sector it is charged with
regulating. Regulatory capture is a form of government failure, as it can
act as an encouragement for large firms to produce negative externalities.
The agencies are called "captured agencies".

Then-candidate Barack Obama said in 2007 that the five-member NRC had
become "captive of the industries that it regulates" and Joe Biden
indicated he had absolutely no confidence in the agency.[49]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_capture

When will Obama act to correct this problem?

Obama is always talking about shovel ready projects and neglects

the one in plain sight. Replacing americas aging nuclear power plants

would create jobs for thousands of people for years to come.

Since obama is well aware of the problem and has failed to act

and is putting citizens in grave danger of a nuclear disaster we

need to consider a new president in 2012.

Best Regards

Tom.


Got any money ?

--