Killing a nuclear watchdog's independence threatens disaster
A Trump Administration Plan would end the independence of the nuclear regulatory commission, where Similar oversight muzzling has been overseas
Prypiat classroom with books lying on the floor, Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine.
Jean-BAPTISTE TUSSAINT/Getty Images
A Trump Administration Executive Order is setting the us on the fastest path to a nuclear accident.
Announced on February 18, The “Ensuring Accountability for All Agency” Executive Order AIMS to Bring Independent Regulatory Agencies under the “Supervision and Control” of the President. Among Them, The Nuclear regulatory commission is the watchdog that americans relay on to hold nuclear energy companies accountable for avoiding reactor accidents and releases of radioactive material into the environment.
By Demanding That The NRC CEASE to Issue Regulations and Guidance without Written Permission from the President or the Attorney General, The Order Effective Demands that Nuclear Safety Take a Backes Politics.
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As Nuclear Engineers, as Well as Former Government and Industry Officials, We Foresee That This Proposed regulatory capture By the Executive Office of the President – WHERE Decisions Are Made for Political Reasons and Not for the Benefit of People Served – Will Severely Increase the Risk of Expected, Unexpected Nuclear Accidents in the US
This is Neither Hypothetical Nor Hyperbole.
History provides too much frightening evidence to ignore. When Soviet Leadership and its captured regulator prioritized National Pride Over Safety, A KNOWN Flaw in Nuclear Reactor Control Rods (Which Slow the Rate of Atomic Fession in a reaction Safety Protocols at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Went Unheeded, and in 1986 the Worst Nuclear Power Accident in History Resulted.
So too when “regulation was entrusted to the same government Bureaucracy Responsible for its promotion“The operators of Japan's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Failed To Deploy Counttermeasures Demanded by Known Seismic Risks; They failed to plan approach for evolution; And in 2011, they failed to avoid the second West nuclear power accident in human history.
In 1974 congress recognized the importance of independent nuclear oversight, reorganizing the atomic energy communication communication in into two distinct agencies: the Department of Energy, Responsible Force for Resource, Development and promotion of nuclear energy; And the NRC, to regulate and oversee the then-booming nuclear energy industry. Five NRC Commissioners, Each Appointed by the President and Confirmed by the Senate, Work TogeTher to “Formulate Policies and Regulations Governing Nuclear Reactor and Materials Safeety, ISSUE ORORErs Licensees, and adjudicate legal matters Broughht Before [them]The president has the authority to designate one of these commissioners as the Chair, acting as the Chief Executive Officer of the Agency.
International Consensus is clear about what works and what doesn'st in nuclear safety regulation. Most fundamentally, the regulator's ability to ensure safe nuclear power operation requires independence, especially from entities with a conflict of interesting. The International Atomic Energy Agency, Humanity's ForeMost Authority on Nuclear Energy Safety and Security, is clear that governments must ensure that the regulatory body is not influised. “Entities Having Responsibilites or Interests That Cold Unduly Influence its decision MakingFailure to MainTain Regulatory Independence from Commercial, Political and Ideological Influence is not Accountability. It is instable regulatory capture.
Both President Trump and Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, by Virtue of their offices, have responsibilities and interests that demand efforts to experts nuclear power. The country's continued prosperity reliaries Nuclear energy is one of the nine pillars of wright's secretarial order Calling for action to “Unleash American Energy.” In a recent cnbc interview, when describing his optimism for growth in nuclear energy, Wright recently Declared, “Do we need some government out of the way to make it work Economically? Absolutely, but that's What america is about,
That's true only if industry accidents are also what america is about. In reality an independent regulator plays a fundamental role in generating public confidence in the safe and secret deployment of nuclear technology. While discussions about the effectiveness of the agency are approve, such discusations Never question the importance of its continued independence. Even for Officials in the office of Nuclear Energy at Doe, The Independence of the NRC is a Red Line No one no one would ever Consider Crossing, PRECISELY COCAUSE DOCAUSE DOECAUSE DOECAUSE DOECAUSE DOECAUSE Nuclear energy.
Nuclear Energy Relies on Precision Technology and An Unwaveering Dedication to Safety, So Regulating it is a Serious Technical Undertaking Meant to Shield Us from UNWANTED RADILOGICAL CONSECAL COM The us has been historically been a global leader in nuclear regulatory practices and princess that uphold the highest standards of safety globally. A critical component of their operation is independence from conflicting motives. Nuclear safety is too important to undermine through uninformed political actions. Regulatory Capture by Industry, Politics or The Whims of an individual is not merely dangerous – a primary cause of the two worst nuclear reactive accidents the World Has KNOWN. We cannot allow this to Occur in the US
The NRC must remain independent to provide the public confidence in the safe implementation of this important technology.
This is an opinion and analysis article, and the views expressed by the author or authors are not necessarily there Scientific American.
