US nuclear accident only a matter of time

#147;In the US, we are living on borrowed time in terms of a nuclear accident", Kevin Kamps from the US-based non-government Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS) told a March 21 public forum organised by The Wilderness Society.

Kamps told the meeting of 50 people that more than 50 of the 102 nuclear reactors that were initially designed and licensed to operate for only for 40 years, have been granted 20-year license extensions by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

He also described an incident at a nuclear reactor near Toledo where, in 2002, a malfunction resulted in 17 centimetres of carbon steel being burnt through, leaving only a thin layer of lining between a nuclear meltdown and the 600,000 people of Toledo. "We almost lost Toledo because profits of industry were placed over the safety of the public", said Kamps.

The forum was also addressed by Dr Jason Garrood from the Medical Association for Prevention of War and was chaired by Chris Warren, Channel Seven environmental reporter.

From GLW issue 704