August 8, 2018 6:00 AM EDT
There’s been abundant talk recently about obstruction of justice—who may or may not have impeded this or that investigation. Rather than chime in on a bad thing, obstruction of justice, this commentary advocates a good thing—obstruction of injustice. There’s an injustice involving the Columbia Generating Station in Washington that desperately needs obstructing. Read more >
August 2, 2018 2:43 PM EDT
The Trump administration’s program to deploy a new, low-yield variant of the W76 warhead carried by U.S. submarine-launched ballistic missiles has faced relatively strong opposition in Congress, with almost all Democrats and several Republicans supporting legislation to eliminate or curb the program. Read more >
August 2, 2018 6:00 AM EDT
Role of Regulation in Nuclear Plant Safety #6
Both reactors at the DC Cook nuclear plant in Michigan shut down in September 1997 until a containment design flaw identified by a Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) inspection team could be fixed. An entirely different safety problem reported to the NRC in August 1995 at an entirely different nuclear reactor began toppling dominoes until many safety problems at both nuclear plants, as well as safety problems at many other plants, were found and fixed. Read more >
July 26, 2018 6:00 AM EDT
Role of Regulation in Nuclear Plant Safety #5
St. Lucie Unit 1 began operating in 1976. From the beginning, it was required by federal regulations to be protected against flooding from external hazards. After flooding in 2011 led to the meltdown of three reactors at Fukushima Dai-ichi in Japan, the NRC ordered owners to walk down their plants in 2012 to verify conformance with flood protection requirements and remedy all shortcomings. The owner of St. Lucie Unit 1 told the NRC that only one minor deficiency had been identified and it was fixed.
But heavy rainfall in January 2014 flooded the Unit 1 reactor auxiliary building with 50,000 gallons through flood barriers that had been missing since at least 1982. Unit 1 became as wet as the owner’s damp assurances and the NRC’s soggy oversight efforts. Read more >
July 19, 2018 6:00 AM EDT
Role of Regulation in Nuclear Plant Safety #4
The Yankee Rowe nuclear plant in Massachusetts was a forerunner in the industry pursuing extensions to the original 40-year operating license. But its run for a longer lifetime was derailed when Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) engineers discovered that the plant might not meet current safety requirements. Unable to convince the NRC that the requirements were satisfied after a year of trying, the owner opted to permanently retire the plant after only 31 years of operation. Read more >
