David Neiwert has an interesting point to make about the environmental movement and its sometimes blinkered approach to the issues it addresses. The gist of his post is that there needs to be a balance between a recognition of the practical concerns of the people engaged in seemingly anti environmental activities and an unbridled idealism that labels divergent views as irredeemably evil. Nuclear energy has experienced some mind meltingly complex trips around the ideological circuit over the last several decades, and Neiwert neatly explicates how a focus on an (presumed) absolute good can lead to wrong-headedness, cultural blindness and social marginalization - even when right. Read the whole thing - it's better than this summary.
From NEI’s Japan micro-site: NRC, Industry Concur on Many Post-Fukushima Actions Industry/Regulatory/Political Issues • There is a “great deal of alignment” between the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the industry on initial steps to take at America’s nuclear energy facilities in response to the nuclear accident in Japan, Charles Pardee, the chief operating officer of Exelon Generation Co., said at an agency briefing today. The briefing gave stakeholders an opportunity to discuss staff recommendations for near-term actions the agency may take at U.S. facilities. PowerPoint slides from the meeting are on the NRC website. • The International Atomic Energy Agency board has approved a plan that calls for inspectors to evaluate reactor safety at nuclear energy facilities every three years. Governments may opt out of having their country’s facilities inspected. Also approved were plans to maintain a rapid response team of experts ready to assist facility operators recoverin...
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