Markey Statement on Three-Year Anniversary of Fukushima Meltdowns

U.S. Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA)FOR IMMEDIATE RELASE

Contact: Giselle Barry (Markey) 202-224-2742

In 2011 in the House of Reps., lawmaker introduced nuclear safety legislation to ensure U.S. nuclear power plants could withstand earthquakes, tsunamis, long power outages, or other major events

Washington (March 10, 2014) – Senator Edward J. Markey, Congress’s leading voice on nuclear safety, released the following statement today decrying the lack of progress on key improvement to America’s nuclear fleet in the wake of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that led to the meltdown of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear reactors in Japan. 

“America’s nuclear reactors are no more protected than they were three years ago when Japan experienced the worst nuclear disaster in history,” said Senator Markey, a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee.  “Since the catastrophic meltdowns at Fukushima, reactors in the United States have yet to be required to implement a single new safety measure. While the NRC’s technical expert report called for swift mandatory adoption of all of its recommendations, the Commission voted to extend implementation deadlines, add cost-benefit analysis barriers to moving forward and delay consideration of some of the recommendations altogether. Three years later, it is past time to immediately act to implement all of the NRC technical staffs’ recommendations and ensure Americans, especially those living near nuclear reactors, are safe.”

Since the tragic events in Japan, Senator Markey has written to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and President Obama for more information on the implications for America’s domestic nuclear industry. He has repeatedly urged the NRC to consider specific domestic policies to ensure increased nuclear safety and introduced legislation to require their implementation.  He also queried the Food and Drug Administration on how the agency is ensuring that contaminated radioactive food or other agricultural products are prevented from entering the domestic food supply.

Beyond Nuclear on WHDT TV for Fukushima nuclear catastrophe three year mark

WHDT TV interviewed Beyond Nuclear's Kevin Kamps regarding the high-level radioactive waste storage pools at Fukushima Daiichi, the wrecked reactors' radioactive discharges to the Pacific, and what lessons the U.S. should have learned from the nuclear catastrophe.

U.S. Nuclear Agency Hid Concerns, Hailed Safety Record as Fukushima Melted

As reported by NBC News's Bill Dedman, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) Office of Public Affairs defended its own image, as well as that of the nuclear power industry, as its top priority during the first days of the fast-breaking Fukushima Daiichi nuclear catastrophe three years ago. As revealed by internal NRC emails obtained via the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), NRC went so far as to attack Dedman's own reporting at the time, when he used a little known NRC report published in 2010 to rank the seismic risk at atomic reactors across the U.S. The confusion created by NRC's attack on Dedman's reporting dissuaded other news outlets, including the New York Times, from mentioning NRC's ranking of seismic risks -- of which Entergy Nuclear's twin reactor Indian Point nuclear power plant on the Hudson River near New York City had the worst ranking in the U.S. 21 million people live or work within 50 miles of Indian Point. In 2008, seismologists at Columbia University warned about previously unknown earthquake fault lines near Indian Point.

NRDC: Preventing Hydrogen Explosions in Severe Nuclear Accidents

Hydrogen explosion at Fukushima Daiichi Unit 3 in mid-March 2011, which turned the reactor building into rubble and deposited 50 tons of debris into the high-level radioactive waste storage poolAs the fourth year of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear catastrophe is about to begin on March 11th, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has published a report, Preventing Hydrogen Explosions in Severe Nuclear Accidents: Unresolved Safety Issues Involving Hydrogen Generation and Mitigation. This report was authored by nuclear safety consultant Mark Leyse. Christopher Paine, who served as contributing editor on the report, has published a blog. NRDC has also put out a press release.

The hydrogen explosions at the General Electric Mark I Boiling Water Reactors at Fukushima Daiichi Units 1, 3, and 4 contributed to Beyond Nuclear's decision to launch its Freeze Our Fukushimas campaign, in April 2011, calling for the immediate and permanent shutdown of the 23 identically-designed U.S. Mark Is, and the 8 similarly-designed Mark IIs, across the U.S.

EPA: Should 1977 radiation standards be revised? Comments needed

The EPA is considering revising its limits for radiation releases and doses to the public from normal operation of nuclear power and other uranium facilities. In the Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR), EPA makes clear that it is not proposing any changes currently but is gathering information and comments. It is hosting a series of informational webinars (scroll to bottom), the next of which is March 19, 2014 at 1pm EST (click to register). Beyond Nuclear will continue updates and make comments closer to the deadline. Details.

COMMENTS MUST BE SUBMITTED BY WEDNESDAY JUNE 4, 2014 on this ANPR.

Public comment is essential as the EPA decides whether or not to revise these standards. EPA has already, with heavy nuclear industry input, revised the radiation recommendations in cases of catastrophic releases so that as many as 1 in 6 people could get cancer in addition to current cancer rates. We cannot allow EPA to weaken the standards for routine releases as well.