In the current political era, it should come as no shock when elected officials say one thing and do another. Even so, it is hard not to be astonished at the recent behavior of South Carolina Senators Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott. Read More
Latest Posts from Ed Lyman
Two Years After Fukushima: Status of NRC Safety Reforms
March 8th, 2013
Following the March 11, 2011, nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) set up a task force to identify the lessons the U.S. nuclear industry should learn from the accident to avoid something similar here. Read More
Does DOE’s Funding Announcement Mark the End of its Irrational Exuberance for SMRs?
November 21st, 2012
On November 20 DOE finally announced that the Babcock and Wilcox Company (B&W) and its “mPower” reactor were the lucky winners of its Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for a cost-sharing program with industry for the design and licensing of “small modular reactors,” or SMRs. Although DOE had originally said the announcement would come in July or August, it decided instead to bury it on Thanksgiving week – not usually a time the agency releases news of which it is particularly proud. Read More
UCS FOIA Finally Uncovers the NRC Staff’s Plan for Weakening Fissile Material Security
November 19th, 2012
In June 2011, UCS filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for a non-public document entitled “Material Categorization and Future Fuel Cycle Facility Security Related Rulemaking,” SECY-09-0123, dated September 4, 2009. Read More
Pools May be “Adequate,” But Dry Casks are Safer
July 27th, 2012
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) today released its staff paper evaluating Tier 3 recommendations based on lessons learned from the March 2011 nuclear accident at Fukushima.
The paper reiterates the NRC’s position that storing spent nuclear fuel in wet pools at commercial nuclear power plants provides “adequate protection” for public health and safety and the environment. Read More
UCS Comments on Expedited Transfer of Spent Fuel from Pools to Dry Casks
June 20th, 2012
On June 15, UCS submitted comments to the NRC on the recommendations of the post-Fukushima Task Force for expedited transfer of spent fuel to dry casks.
UCS supports the accelerated transfer of spent fuel from pools to dry casks. A chief advantage of such transfer is to increase the safety margin for events (either severe accidents or terrorist attacks) that cause a loss of water from the pool and result in heating of the spent fuel to the ignition temperature of the fuel’s zirconium alloy cladding, a self-sustaining zirconium fire, fuel damage, and massive radiological release. Read More
Reflections on the Seoul Nuclear Security Summit
April 11th, 2012
I just returned from a week in South Korea to attend a large nuclear industry conference and a few events related to the Nuclear Security Summit. Read More
NRC’s Post-Fukushima Response: Going in Circles?
December 22nd, 2011
One of the most important tasks before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) today is moving forward quickly on implementing the safety improvements recommended by its Fukushima Near-Term Task Force, and considering additional safety enhancements that have been identified by the NRC staff. Read More
UCS Comments on Threat Assumptions for Dry Cask Security
December 8th, 2011
The termination of the Yucca Mountain repository project has left the US with no near-term prospects for a final disposal site for spent nuclear fuel. Until the repository program gets back on track, dry cask storage of spent fuel can be an acceptable interim option for many decades, but it is not risk-free. Read More
NRC Document Details the Secret History of Nuclear Industry Stonewalling After 9/11
September 9th, 2011
A document recently made public by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) sheds some light on the response of the U.S. nuclear industry to the vulnerabilities in nuclear power plant security and preparedness that became evident following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Read More
