Kamps on video: NRC, nuclear industry have leak-first-fix-later philosophy

[madokie]

http://vtdigger.org/2010/02/02/kamps-on-video-nrc-nucle... /

Kamps on video: NRC, nuclear industry have leak-first-fix-later philosophy

By Anne Galloway on February 2, 2010

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission ignored its own rules when it neglected to assess “the adequacy of aging management programs” (for a variety of reactor systems at Vermont Yankee), including buried piping carrying radioactive water, according to Kevin Kamps, a self-described community organizer for Beyond Nuclear, a nuclear watchdog group from Takoma Park, Md.

(snip)

“Once tritium is released, it can rapidly exchange with hydrogen in the biosphere, including in human bodies, opening up a number of internal exposure pathways,” Kamps said. “Predominantly these are inhalation from tritium gas and tritiated water vapor, ingestion through food and water of tritium contaminated food, and even the absorption of tritium through human skin.”

“(Tritium) is mistakenly portrayed by some as harmless to human health,” Kamps said. “But the problem is, it can integrate itself into our biology at the most intimate levels, right down to the DNA, which is the basis of our genetic material.”

(snip)

“We call it a con game,” Kamps said. “It’s the illusion of a solution to a problem we don’t have a solution for, and we need to stop making this waste.”