Re: Clinton Orders Review Of U.S. Nuclear Facilities

[jack bell <bellstar@erols.com>]

John_M._Priest@FirstEnergyCorp.com wrote:

> "Clinton Orders Review Of U.S. Nuclear Facilities
> By Randall Mikkelsen
>
> "WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Clinton Friday said he had ordered a safety
> review of U.S. nuclear installations following an accident at a Japanese nuclear
> fuel plant in which at least 55 people were exposed to radiation, some at
> potentially lethal levels.
>
> "The president told reporters he had been informed of a similar incident that
> occurred in the United States about 30 years ago, apparently referring to fatal
> accident at a Rhode Island commercial nuclear reactor processing facility in 1964.
> The death of nuclear worker Robert Peabody in that accident remains the only
> fatality in U.S. history resulting from an accident at a commercial nuclear
> reactor.
>
> "The president also urged Congress to resolve a stalemate over safety issues
> surrounding plans to construct a permanent nuclear waste facility at Yucca
> Mountain, Nevada.
>
> "`I have wanted not to see this issue politicized but to bend over backwards to
> make sure we do everything we can to deal with the nuclear safety issue before we
> adopt this course,' he said.
>
> "Clinton opposes a plan backed by congressional Republicans to have the Nuclear
> Regulatory Commission set radiation exposure standards at the facility and instead
> is seeking to give the task to the Environmental Protection Agency, whose
> standards are considered more rigorous by the White House."

***************************************************************
Hi Everyone,

I am beginning to realize that my faith in Reuters as a news organization with its
head on straight was misplaced.

For those of you out there who are not aware of this:  the Wood River Junction, RI
accident did not occur at a "nuclear reactor".  It happened at a fuel facility.
(Perhaps that is what Reuters was trying to say when it referred to a "nuclear
reactor processing facility").

There have, of course, been fatalities at commercial nuclear power plants in this
country, but none that resulted from radiation exposure.

Clinton's insistence that EPA be in charge of setting radiation exposure criteria
for Yucca Mountain and his statement that he does not want to politicize the Yucca
Mountain decision seem somewhat contradictory.  The NRC is a so-called "independent"
regulatory body whereas the EPA is under the "Executive Branch" of the Government,
and guess who the "Executive" is!?

Just my opinion.

Jack Bell, bellstar@erols.com

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