{"article":{"id":12588,"heading":"Public Citizen Urges NRC, Congress to Take Hint From FAA","author":"Public Citizen","created":"2001-11-02 22:04:32","modified":"2005-08-15 00:42:38","last_modified":"Mon, 15 Aug 2005 07:42:38","article":"
 <\/div>Nov. 1, 2001

Public Citizen Urges NRC, Congress to Take Hint From \r\nFAA

Flight Ban Underscores Dangers of Nuclear Power \r\nPlants

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Flight restrictions around nuclear power plants \r\nimposed this week by the federal government underscore how dangerous the plants \r\nare and serve as further proof that nuclear power plants should not be \r\nrelicensed and new plants should not be built, Public Citizen said \r\ntoday.

On Tuesday, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) prohibited \r\nall general aviation flights within 10 miles of, and lower than 18,000 feet \r\nabove, the nation's commercial nuclear power plants and other nuclear \r\nfacilities, for reasons of national security. Such concern is not unwarranted; a \r\ndisciple of Osama bin Laden being held in Afghanistan by the Northern Alliance \r\nwas quoted in The Washington Post this week as saying that the terrorists who \r\nstruck America on Sept. 11 should have targeted a nuclear plant.

But \r\nwhile the FAA apparently recognizes the threat posed by nuclear plants, others \r\nin government are continuing efforts to expand and subsidize the nuclear \r\nindustry. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is still working toward \r\nrelicensing nuclear plants, and congressional lawmakers are continuing to push a \r\nmeasure that would require taxpayers pay the majority of the costs in the event \r\nof a nuclear accident.

\"Since Sept. 11, the public has been seeking \r\nassurances that nuclear power plants will not be the next, and incredibly \r\ndevastating, targets of terrorist attacks,\" said Wenonah Hauter, director of \r\nPublic Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program. \"Yet \r\nastonishingly, even in the midst of a seemingly interminable series of \r\nheightened alerts, federal policymakers are acting to enrich the target \r\nenvironment for terrorists by taking steps to build new nuclear plants and \r\nextend the lives of old ones.\"

Nuclear power plants were originally \r\nlicensed to operate for 40 years. Relicensing allows them to operate for another \r\n20. In the weeks since Sept. 11, the NRC has forged ahead with the process of \r\nrenewing licenses for reactors at several nuclear power plants. (The plants are \r\nEdwin E. Hatch, located northwest of Savannah, Ga.; Turkey Point, located \r\nnortheast of Miami, Fla.; Surry, located near Williamsburg, Va.; North Anna, \r\nlocated northwest of Richmond, Va.; Catawba, in South Carolina, just south of \r\nCharlotte, N.C.; McGuire, located west of Charlotte, N.C.; and Peach Bottom, \r\nlocated west of Philadelphia.) Ultimately, perhaps as many as two-thirds of the \r\nnation's 103 operating reactors could be granted extensions through the NRC's \r\npro forma relicensing procedure.

 \"It's often said that September 11 \r\nchanged everything,\" Hauter said. \"But not for the NRC, which is continuing \r\nbusiness as usual. For the agency to just keep moving along on these license \r\nrenewal applications is irresponsible and bizarre.\"

Meanwhile, on \r\nWednesday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved H.R. 2983, which \r\nreauthorizes the Price-Anderson Act. That act provides government-backed \r\nindemnification for the nuclear power industry in the event of any nuclear power \r\naccident. This will ensure that most of the cost of a nuclear plant accident \r\nwould be paid for by taxpayers, not the nuclear power industry.

The \r\nbill's supporters say it is crucial for the construction of new nuclear power \r\nplants - evidence that the government wants to shield the industry from \r\ncompetitive market forces and effectively pave the way for the construction of \r\nnew plants.

\"The construction of new nuclear power plants is out of step \r\nwith public sentiment, particularly now,\" Hauter said. \"It's also unnecessary \r\nand incomprehensible. Really, what are these people \r\nthinking?\"

###

Public Citizen is a nonprofit consumer advocacy \r\norganization based in Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit \r\nwww.citizen.org. \r\n

\r\n\n","contact":"","link":"http:\/\/www.citizen.org","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/html","summary":"\"Since Sept. 11, the public has been seeking assurances that nuclear power plants will not be the next, and incredibly devastating, targets of terrorist attacks,\" said Wenonah Hauter, director of Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program. \"Yet astonishingly, even in the midst of a seemingly interminable series of heightened alerts, federal policymakers are acting to enrich the target environment for terrorists by taking steps to build new nuclear plants and extend the lives of old ones.\"","numcomment":0,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/2001\/11\/publi7tut2n.htm","filesize":"4.5 kibibytes","article_url":"\/news\/2001\/11\/12588.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[]}