NYT: Sciences Academy, Nuclear Reg. Comm. Fight Over Atomic Waste Report

[DeepModem Mom]

Agencies Fight Over Report on Sensitive Atomic Wastes
By MATTHEW L. WALD

Published: March 30, 2005


WASHINGTON, March 29 - A semisecret debate is raging between the National Academy of Sciences and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission about the vulnerability of nuclear wastes to terrorist attack and about how secret the debate should be.

The academy, under orders from Congress, produced a study last summer about whether the spent-fuel pools at nuclear reactors were vulnerable to terrorist attacks. The pools hold most of the radioactive material ever produced at the reactors, far more than the reactors themselves. After the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, an independent group of scientists published a paper in a Princeton scientific journal asserting that an enemy could drain a pool and set a fire that would be "significantly worse than Chernobyl."

Academy officials say they have hit a roadblock in releasing their report. By law, the academy, which Congress charters, coordinates the work of academic experts from around the country, and it is supposed to make its findings public. In cases like the nuclear waste one, it is supposed to work with the relevant federal agency to develop a version of its report that has no information that would be useful to terrorists.

The academy sent a draft to the regulatory commission in November. But the two have not agreed on what information to release. A commission official said the problem was "aggregation." Although no secret facts appear in the academy version, piecing together the material disclosed would provide useful information.

This month, the academy took the unusual step of sending its version to members of Congress, with classified information removed but still including "safety sensitive information."...


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/30/politics/30nuke.html

[Nothing Without Hope]

1. To these corrupt politicians, EVERYTHING is just part of the game.

This is what happens when there are so many lies, any appearance of the truth becomes dangerous.

[DeepModem Mom]

2. And add to that the denial of science...

and the scientific community, and you have the potential for disaster.

[struggle4progress]

3. kick