Fukushima Aftermath: Whither the Indian Point Nuke?/Public official interventions

AP National Writer Jeff Donn broke a story June 23, 2011 asserting that due to leaks of radioactive tritium from at "three-quarters" of U.S. NPP's, three U.S. senators asked for a congressional investigation, or a Government Accountability Office investigation, of nuclear power plant safety and regulation, putatively based upon results of an Associated Press investigation. The Senators are


 * Barbara Boxer of California, chairs the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works
 * Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island
 * Bernard Sanders of Vermont

The AP report also contends that:


 * leaks of radioactive water are "undetected for years [and are] are not going to stop"
 * 75% of high rad waste an NPP's are pooled, whereas at DCPP that figure is at 81%

The New Jersey Oyster Bay angle
The article quotes Janet Tauro, co-founder of Grandmothers, Mothers, and More for Energy Safety near the Oyster Creek, N.J. NPP expressing the point of view that the NRC is "a very closed regulatory agency."

At the GAO, similar demands were brought by New Jersey Senators


 * Frank R. Lautenberg
 * Robert Menendez

GAO meeting
On Tuesday June 21, GAO hearings, other speakers included Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Peter Welch of Vermont, who also complained about the alleged leaks.

The article acknowledges, however, that "the NRC has said it disagrees with AP's conclusions" and the Nuclear Energy Institute blasted the report as "selective, misleading reporting".

The AP report also notes that 66 of 104 American nuclear reactors have been relicensed and sixteen are pending.

Despite such assurances, safety activists are laying plans to mobilize the public.

"Now it's mothers and housewives who are concerned about fallout from Fukushima and from reactors in their own neighborhood," Gunter said.

According to the AP report, NJ State Assemblyperson Annette Quijano is "drafting a legislative resolution asked [sic]for stronger federal oversight of the state's four commercial nuclear reactors". However, any such resolution would have no jurisdiction.

The report also indicates that the NRC is preparing a safety report for release in July and quoted Chairman Jaczko as recognizing that the Fukushima disaster was exacerbated by "power outages, spent fuel pools and emergency planning" issues.