[kidd]

“AP hit piece”

That’s perfect.

No mention that nearly all of the steam generator have been replaced with material that has no experience of cracking AT ALL in operation (under extreme laboratory conditions it can crack). No mention that the inspection techniques are way better. No mention that we developed 50 years of experience. No mention that plant safety is radically improved.

And to suggest that the NRC and nuclear plant operators have developed a friendly relationship is akin to saying that the Department of Fish&Wildlife have developed a close relationship with hunters.

The 40-year license life was based on similar regulations for hydroelectric dams. Because in the mid-1950s, no one had any idea of what to expect. We’ve had 50 years to learn, and we are applying our knowledge to IMPROVE safety, not to skirt around it.

[chimera]

What the article did not say is that since 2002 there have been ZERO safety-related abnormalities at US nuclear plants. The last one was the Davis-Besse vessel head corrosion problem, which was the result of an inspection breakdown. The article also did not mention that on average each nuclear plant in this country gets 3500 hours of NRC inspection/analysis, as well as oversight from resident inspectors. What other industry has resident inspectors? Certainly not natural gas, which has caused hundreds of verifiable deaths in this country in the past few years. Certainly not commercial aviation, which has thousands of fatalities “on the books”. Certainly not the automotive industry, which has tens of thousands of deaths to its records.