Thank goodness there wasn’t more this month; nuclear news can be pretty dire sometimes.
Indian Point Restart
Despite objections from environmentalists and local residents, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has voted to restart the Indian Point nuclear power plant, which is located 35 miles north of New York City on the Hudson River. Some experts have termed the site an “insane” place to locate a reactor, because of the difficulty of planning emergency evacuation procedures for the thickly populated area. Though the first disaster drills weren’t held until March, the plant was given the green light to start up by the head of the NRC, who said, “It is very unlikely that a serious accident will occur in the next few months.” With a cool head like that in charge, what are we worried about?
Missing Uranium
Since the beginning of the Atoms for Peace program in 1954, some 43 countries have received shipments of highly enriched uranium from the U.S. Unfortunately, the agencies responsible for monitoring the export of the nuclear fuel have no clear records of what has become of it; the General Accounting Office reports that only 70% has been shipped back to the U.S. Would an international “lost and found” listing help?
