Ahead of the Bell:Nuclear Plant Security

2/28/08

Ahead of the Bell:Nuclear Plant Security

Ahead of the Bell:Nuclear Plant Security: "WASHINGTON

Representatives from the companies and agencies involved in last year's high-profile case of security guards caught nodding off at a nuclear power plant will be on Capitol Hill Thursday.

Congressional members and officials from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Exelon Corp. and Wackenhut, the guards' employer, will examine security and government oversight at a Senate subcommittee hearing scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. EST.

After guards at the Peach Bottom plant in Pennsylvania were found to be sleeping on the job, Chicago-based utility Exelon Corp. said Wackenhut would be out of its 10 nuclear plants by July, and an in-house security force would take over. Officials from Wackenhut, a subsidiary of British based security giant G4S PLC, have called the guards' behavior an 'anomaly.'

Since the Peach Bottom incident, the NRC has asked commercial nuclear power plant operators for more information about their security. The agency in October confirmed guards at the plant had been sleeping on the job, but all parties have said reviews showed the plant's security was never in jeopardy.

Pennsylvania Sens. Robert Casey and Arlen Specter are expected to testify before the Senate subcommittee on clean air and nuclear safety, along with NRC Chairman Dale Klein, and executives from both Exelon and G4S Regulated Security Solutions."

Fair Use Notice / Copyrights

Fair Use Notice This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml - If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Ten Reasons To Say No To Nuclear Power

1. Climate change is underway. Renewable energy can be brought online faster, more cheaply and more safely than nuclear power. 2. Reactors are sitting-duck targets and are not even defended to the ferocity of the 9/11 attacks. 3. Nuclear power is not emissions-free. Reactors routinely release radioactivity and use fossil fuels at every step from uranium mining to waste storage. 4. Building more reactors in the U.S. sends the wrong message abroad. Commercial nuclear technology inevitably leads to nuclear weapons capability. 5. The Yucca Mountain high-level radioactive dump is unsound and even if opened could not accommodate all wastes if generation continues. 6. Evacuation plans are unrealistic. Hurricane Katrina taught us that a mass evacuation during a serious radiological release would be a chaotic catastrophe. 7. A typical 1000 megawatt nuclear reactor produces enough plutonium each year to make 40 atomic bombs, an unacceptable risk. 8. New and old reactors are most prone to break down. U.S. reactors are old. New ones increase the risk of accident. 9. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission—mandated to watchdog the nuclear industry – chooses to protect industry profit over public health and safety. 10. The most defenseless are at the greatest risk—children, the elderly, minorities, the poor and animals—at every phase of the nuclear fuel chain. Ten Brighter Ideas 1. If every U.S. household installed one compact fluorescent light bulb, the power savings would equal the power produced by one nuclear reactor. 1=1! 2. Twenty compact fluorescents in every U.S. home could displace at least 25% of U.S. nuclear reactors. 3. Updated lighting, appliances, heating, cooling and other electrical systems can save more energy than all 103 U.S. reactors produce annually. 4. Cost-effective energy efficiency measures for homes and businesses can save at least 20% of electricity use. 5. Turning off and unplugging electrical equipment not in use and line-drying clothes seem like small measures but can make a big difference. 6. Homeowners and renters alike can choose to buy green power instead of nuclear generated electricity. 7. Properly sealing and insulating your home can save 25%-40% of building heat loss. 8. Renewable energy sources can meet 25% of U.S. energy needs by 2025. 9. Shifting to locally-generated electricity avoids waste, reduces brownouts and blackouts, increases efficiency of service and creates jobs. 10. Every dollar spent on nuclear power instead of fossil fuels results in releasing six times more carbon than if the same dollar is spent on efficiency. www.nirs.org 301.270.6477

"The No Nuker" - where No Nukes is good news !

2/28/08