[ RadSafe ] " US nuclear plants safer than ever from terror attack:US regulator "

Tue Mar 15 15:15:29 CET 2005

We all have our ignorances about certain subjects.  To
find reports who have degrees or technical
understanding of engineering, physics, chemistry, etc.
is rare.  However, many know who the latest movie
stars are.  Of course, so do most students in high
school.

--- jjcohen <jjcohen at prodigy.net> wrote:

> That fact that the news media lends any credence at
> all to what Dan Hirsch
> says reveals
> that they must be  technologically illiterate. I
> wonder whether technical
> illiteracy is an employment
> prerequisite for news reporters. or is it just a
> coincidence that they
> generally seem to possess this
> characteristic.
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Jaro <jaro-10kbq at sympatico.ca>
> To: Gerry Blackwood <gpblackwood at sbcglobal.net>;
> RADSAFE <radsafe at radlab.nl>
> Sent: Monday, March 14, 2005 2:15 PM
> Subject: [ RadSafe ] " US nuclear plants safer than
> ever from terror
> attack:US regulator "
> 
> 
> > US nuclear plants safer than ever from terror
> attack: US regulator
> > WASHINGTON (AFP) Mar 14, 2005
> >
> > US nuclear power plants are safer than they have
> ever been from potential
> > terrorist attacks, while a suicide aircraft crash
> would not pose a
> > significant threat, the US Nuclear Regulatory
> Commission's chairman said
> > Monday.
> > Nearly four years after the September 11, 2001,
> hijacked airplane strikes
> on
> > New York and Washington, NRC chairman Nils Diaz
> said, "Both nuclear
> security
> > and safety are better than they have ever been and
> both are getting
> better."
> >
> > "What we have done in the last three and a half
> years is to make it very
> > difficult for anyone to find ways to attempt acts
> of radiological
> sabotage,
> > even more difficult to succeed in doing real harm,
> and to be very prepared
> > to protect our people in the very unlikely event
> of radiological release,"
> > he said.
> >
> > Protective barriers have been moved farther away
> from nuclear reactors,
> the
> > number of guards has increased and towers have
> been installed to shoot
> > potential intruders, Diaz said at a news
> conference here.
> > "We have hardened both the security and the safety
> of the power plants,"
> he
> > said.
> > "We found that general aviation, in general, is
> not a significant threat
> to
> > a nuclear power plant," Diaz said, adding that
> power plants are even safe
> > from a helicopter packed with explosives.
> >
> > But critics say efforts have not gone far enough
> to protect the country
> from
> > a terrorist attack since September 11, which
> sparked fears that an
> airplane
> > could be hijacked and used as a missile against a
> nuclear power plant,
> > triggering a radiological disaster.
> >
> > "To say that we are better than we have been
> before is to say that we had
> an
> > F before and we may have a D-minus now," Daniel
> Hirsch, president of
> > Committee to Bridge the Gap, a California-based
> [anti-]nuclear watchdog
> > group, told
> > "There has been marginal progress and there
> remains massive
> vulnerability,"
> > Hirsch said.
> > His group has proposed that power plants put up
> beam shields to protect
> > reactors from a potential airplane attack and has
> petitioned the NRC to
> > upgrade its regulations to boost plant readiness
> against on-the-ground
> > assailants.
> >
> > The NRC released a report Monday on security that
> includes conclusions of
> > engineering studies into the threat of a
> commercial airplane attack on
> > nuclear facilities.
> > "For the facilities analyzed, the vulnerability
> studies confirm that the
> > likelihood of both damaging the reactor core and
> releasing radioactivity
> > that could affect public health and safety is
> low," the report said.
> >
> > The NRC report said that in the "unlikely event of
> a radiological release"
> > caused by a "large aircraft" crash, "the studies
> indicate that there would
> > be time to implement the required on-site
> mitigating actions."
> >
> > Diaz conceded that a large aircraft could cause
> considerable damage, but
> > there are steps to limit it.
> > "Everybody realizes that if a large aircraft
> crashes anyplace you're going
> > to have significant industrial damage, you're
> going to have significant
> loss
> > of life, you're going to have a significant
> problem," Diaz said.
> > "What we're doing with power plants is making sure
> that that problem does
> > not propagate to a significant radiological
> release," he said.
> >
> > But Hirsch said that even with mitigating actions,
> tens of thousands could
> > be killed in an attack against a power plant.
> > "To say that the risk is low is what the NRC has
> said for its entire
> > existence about any risk at reactors," he said.
> "Even if the risk is low
> the
> > consequences are catastrophic."
> > "It's a low-tech attack on our high-tech industry
> that could produce a
> > quasi-nuclear effect on our population," he said.
> >
> >
> > --
> > No virus found in this outgoing message.
> > Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
> > Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.7.2 -
> Release Date: 3/11/2005
> >
> >
> 
> 
>
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ----
> 
> 
> > _______________________________________________
> > You are currently subscribed to the radsafe
> mailing list
> > radsafe at radlab.nl
> >
> > For information on how to subscribe/unsubscribe
> and other settings visit:
> > http://radlab.nl/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/radsafe
> >
> 
> _______________________________________________
> You are currently subscribed to the radsafe mailing
> list
> radsafe at radlab.nl
> 
> For information on how to subscribe/unsubscribe and
> other settings visit: 
> http://radlab.nl/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/radsafe
> 

+++++++++++++++++++
"A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy
enough people to make it worth the effort." Herm Albright

-- John
John Jacobus, MS
Certified Health Physicist
e-mail:  crispy_bird at yahoo.com

__________________________________ 
Do you Yahoo!? 
Yahoo! Small Business - Try our new resources site!
http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/resources/ 