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including more conservative assumptions 23. The NRC should fully restore the
<br /> about weather and other variables (e.g., Public input has public's right to obtain information and
<br /> by using results for the ninety-fifth question witnesses in hearings about
<br /> percentile rather than the average). improved safety on changes to existingpowerplant licenses
<br /> numerous occasions. andapplicationsfor new licenses.
<br /> Ensuring Public Participation When the NRC announced in 2004
<br /> Public input has long played an im- Nevertheless,the NRC that it was rejecting the public's right to
<br /> portant role in the NRC's process for discovery and cross-examination during r
<br /> has effectively limited g t
<br /> licensing power plants, and the agency licensing hearings, the attorneys general
<br /> has admitted that the public's participa- such participation by of five states voiced their opposition to
<br /> tion has improved safety on numerousthe change, but the agency adopted it
<br /> occasions." Nevertheless, the NRC has eliminating the public's anyway. Neighbors of existing and pro-
<br /> effectively limited such participation by right to discovery and posed reactors deserve to play an active
<br /> eliminating the public's right to discovery part in the licensing process.
<br /> and cross-examination. cross-examination.
<br /> Endnotes
<br /> 1 A current example is the Areva EPR www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/ LOCA and RIA and its implication on the -
<br /> (Evolutionary Power Reactor),which has congress-docs/monthly-reports. current safety criteria.Institut de Radio-
<br /> safety systems not required by the NRC protection et de Surete Nucleaire.Online
<br /> and has attracted much less interest in 6 For more information on these five genes- at w .mrosafefomm.orgoiles/Presmtatiom
<br /> the United States and abroad than the is safety issues,see:Beasley,B.G.2011. 2009/Seminar2/Abstracts/2.5-Fuel%20
<br /> Westinghouse AP 1000,which meets but Generic Issue Management Control Sys- behaviour%20undcr%20L0CA 9620
<br /> does not exceed NRC re uirements. tem report(FY 2011,Q2).Nuclear Regu-
<br /> latory
<br /> o
<br /> q Commission memorandum,April and/o20RIA-Barrepdf
<br /> 2 See,for example:Lyman, E.2010.NRC: 7.Online at http://Phadupws.nrc.gov/docs/ 10 Lyman,E. 2001.Public health conse-
<br /> Taking spent fuel security in the wrong ML11081ML 110810919.pdf quences of substituting mixed-oxide for
<br /> direction. 51st annual meeting of the In- uranium fuel in pressurized water reac-
<br /> stitute of Nuclear Materials Management. 7 For additional information on this prob- tors.Science Global Security 9:33-79.
<br /> lem,see:Lochbaum, D.2003.Regulatory
<br /> Baltimore,MD. Online at www.ucrusa. malpractice:NRC's , D.2 03.Regu PWR Online at wwwprinceton.edu/sgs/
<br /> org/assets/documents/nwga/Lyman-INMM- containment sum "handl. g"of
<br /> thd e publications/rgs/pdf/9-llyman.pdf
<br /> 2010 papecpdf p p Cambridge,
<br /> MA:Union of Concerned Scientists. 11 Ibid.
<br /> 3 National Research Council.2006. October 29. Online at wwwucswa.org/
<br /> Safety andsecurity of commercial spent nuclear-power/nuclear-power-risk/safety/ 12 Appelbaum,B.2011.A life's value:
<br /> nuclear fuel storage.Washington,DC: regulatory-malpractice-nres.html. It may depend on the agency.New York
<br /> t
<br /> The National Academies Press,68. Times,February 17. �{
<br /> Online at www. g nap.edsocatalo . 8 For additional information,see Lochbaum,
<br /> D.2004. U.S. nuclearplants in the 21st 13 PRA calculations were first developed
<br /> php?record id=11263. p
<br /> century: The rick ofa lifetime. Cambridge, in the NRC's Reactor Safety Study of
<br /> 4 For information on the specific reactors MA:Union of Concerned Scientists.May. 1975 (a.k.a. the Rasmussen report).
<br /> that do nor comply with fire regulations, Online at wwwucsus corg/nuclear-power/ 14 For examples,see:Union of Concerned
<br /> see the UCS Nuclear Power Information nuclearpower Scientists. 1985.The value of public
<br /> Tracker at wwwucsusa.org/nucleartrackec plants-in-the.html. participation.In:Safety second:A critical
<br /> 5 The NRC began submitting these reports 9 Barre,E,C.Grandjean,M.Petit,and evaluation ofthe NRC's first decade.
<br /> in 1999;they are available online at F.Arreghim.2009.Fuel behaviour under Cambridge,MA.February,77.
<br /> - f
<br /> t
<br /> Union of The Union of Concerned Scientists is the leading science-based nonprofit working for a healthy
<br /> Concerned environment and a safer world.
<br /> Scientists This document is available online(in PDF format)at www.ucsusa.org/nuclear-power.
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<br /> p P,;p,ad on,ecy lee pap„ National Headquarters Washington,DC,Office West Coast Office Midwest Office
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