Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
As I'm sure most folks are aware, today is the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl Accident. Just about three weeks ago, we hit 32 years post-TMI. And we are currently in the consequence mitigation and clean-up phase of the only other nuclear accident to rank with Chernobyl (the linked article includes all the Japanese nuclear plants affected by the earthquake but Fukushima Daiichi is the only other INES 7). However, there are differences. TMI was largely a result of poor maintenance/operation and needed improvement in training and information sharing. Many documents concerning TMI are available, but here is the TMI-2 Lessons Learned Task Force Final Report (NUREG-0585). Chernobyl was also mainly caused by people. Here's the NRC's Report on the Accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station (NUREG-1250). We've still got a long way to go and a lot to learn from Japan. However, at present, the bulk of the problems still appear to have been caused by Mother Nature. Mind you, we will probably discover mistakes made by people in the handling of the Japanese accidents. Speaking of which, the first and second public meetings regarding the NRC's Response to the Japanese events are coming soon. I think that the US nuclear industry will see quite a few changes.
Well, I'll leave with the news of a record-breaking April regarding severe weather. Keep in mind, there are more serious storms wreaking havoc in the US as I type. Keep an eye to the sky!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment