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Contact: Eben Burnham-Snyder, 202-225-6065
Giselle Barry, 202-225-2836
 

Conflicting Accounts Require Clarity, Says Lawmaker; Nuclear Industry Updates Hampered by Tokyo Electric Power Co. Membership
 

WASHINGTON (March 18, 2011) – Amidst conflicting information regarding the status of the meltdowns and condition of the spent nuclear fuel pools at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan, today, Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee and a senior Democratic member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, is calling on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to provide the American public and Congress the latest in information on the nuclear emergency in Japan.
 
Now that the NRC is on the ground and involved in the response in Japan, Rep. Markey asks the agency to provide daily reports and an analysis of multiple scenarios, including worst-case events, to Congress and the public.
 
“I believe that it is vitally important to all those who may be considering leaving the vicinity of the impacted reactors to be receiving accurate and unbiased written assessment of current conditions,” wrote Rep. Markey in the letter to NRC head Greg Jaczko. “It is also important that the American public fully understand the potential magnitude and timing associated with a worst-case core melt-down and radiation release or spent fuel fire.”
 
A copy of the letter to the NRC can be found HERE.
 
Along with daily situation reports, Rep. Markey is asking the NRC to provide scenario readouts on the following events at each of the affected reactor units and spent nuclear fuel pools:
--The loss of water in the spent fuel cooling ponds and subsequent fire and/or release of radiation.
--A full core meltdown assuming that no further breaches in containment occur.
--A full core meltdown assuming containment structures are already breached or become breached.
 
Rep. Markey also notes in the letter that Tokyo Electric Power Co., the owner of the Fukushima reactors, is a member of the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), which has been sending updates on the situation in Japan to Congress and the public. Rep. Markey notes in the letter that NEI has “a clear vested interest in providing a highly optimistic assessment of the situation.”
 
Since the earthquake and tsunami hit Japan, Rep. Markey has called for a series of immediate actions in response to the resulting nuclear emergency.
 
Rep. Markey has asked the Obama administration to fully implement the 2002 law he authored that potassium iodide, the “emergency pills” taken after a nuclear disaster which can help prevent the cancer-causing effects of radiation poisoning, be distributed to those living within 20 miles of a U.S. nuclear facility. The Bush administration ignored the law and the Obama administration has not yet reversed the Bush policy despite a letter Rep. Markey sent in 2009 urging President Obama to implement the law.
 
Rep. Markey also called for a moratorium on all new reactors that could be placed in seismically active areas until a top-to-bottom review of design resiliency, emergency response, backup power to prevent a meltdown during long electricity outages, and evacuation plans has been conducted. Operating nuclear reactors should then also be retrofitted to incorporate the findings of the review. Rep. Markey has also demanded a safety review of the 31 reactors in the United States that are the same design as those currently experiencing major failure in Japan.
 
And Rep. Markey has asked the NRC to suspend a pending approval of the design for the AP1000 nuclear reactor. One of NRC's most senior staff warned that the containment structure for this reactor design would not be able to withstand a strong earthquake and it was so brittle it could “shatter like a glass cup” under sufficient stress.
 
Rep. Markey has served on the Committees that have oversight over the NRC and the nuclear utility industry since 1976.  For more than three decades, Rep. Markey has worked to secure nuclear power plants and ensure the public safety in the event of a nuclear disaster. In 1979, before the Three Mile Island accident occurred, Rep. Markey introduced legislation providing for a three year moratorium on licensing of new nuclear power plants until a top to bottom safety analysis on nuclear reactors could be performed. In 1986, he chaired hearings on the causes and consequences of the disaster at Chernobyl. Following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Rep. Markey passed a law to strengthen security for nuclear reactors and materials, and a law providing for distribution of potassium iodide to those living within 20 miles of a nuclear reactor (which still has not been implemented). And before the catastrophe in Japan, Rep. Markey raised concerns of the seismic resiliency of our reactors.

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PEACH BOTTOM ATOMIC POWER STATION - NRC SECURITY INSPECTION REPORT 0500027 7 | 20 1 1 403 AN D 05000 27 I | 20 I 1 403

Download Report

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PEACH BOTTOM ATOMIC POWER STATION, UNITS 2 AND 3: ACCEPTANCE FOR REVIEW OF RELIEF REQUEST 14R-51 (TAC NOS. ME5392 AND ME5393)

Download ML110730602

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THREE MILE ISLAND NUCLEAR STATION, UNIT 1 - REQUEST FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING PROPOSED RELOCATION OF EQUIPMENT LOAD LIST FROM THE TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS TO A LICENSEE CONTROLLED DOCUMENT (TAC NO. ME4732)

Download ML110540374

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When Chernobyl happened NRC and the radiation establishment raised what they claimed is “background” radiation from 80-100 to 360 mr/year.

Note: This includes natural and manmade.

Now as Fukushima continues melting…NRC is claiming it is 620 mr/year.

The terrestrial and cosmic Natural radiation IS only about 60-80 mr/year (of course with variations on altitude and geology)

Then they add radon (largest amount >50% of estimated total) and medical and consumer goods and more to increase the so-called background.

This press release came out in advance of NRC press conference March 21, 2011 Mon AM.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 20, 2011

Reports of radiation in food near Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan underscore need for monitoring

 
WASHINGTON, D.C. – In response to reports of variable but high levels of dangerous radiation being emitted from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan, today on CBS's "Face The Nation," Reps. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Ranking Member on the House Natural Resources Committee and senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, announced he and Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-N.J.), Ranking Member on the House Subcommittee on Health of the Energy and Commerce Committee, today sent a letter to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Margaret Hamburg asking for information on how the Agency is ensuring that contaminated radioactive food or other agricultural products are prevented from entering the domestic food supply here in the United States.
 
Media reports confirm that trace amounts of radiation have been found in spinach and milk up to 75 miles from the distressed reactor prompting Japanese officials to halt shipments of milk from contaminated farms, though officials warn that some products may have already entered the market. The Japanese government has found contamination on canola and chrysanthemum greens in additional areas.
 
“Radiation can pose a dire threat to our food chain, and it is imperative we monitor all food imports and agricultural products from Japan, as well as seafood harvested from areas that might be contaminated from radiation,” said Rep. Markey. “We have to ensure nuclear fallout doesn’t defile our food chain.” 
 
“We don’t want to see the people of Japan suffer any more due to radiation contamination from the damaged nuclear power plants, but we also don’t want the danger spread to America,” said Rep. Pallone. “Radioactive particles are an insidious threat that can enter the food chain in so many different ways, resulting in contaminated products on the dinner tables of American families. We should take all precautions to prevent that from happening and we should do it now.”
 
In the wake of the nuclear emergency in Japan, several countries, including South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines have stepped up efforts to ensure that produce and seafood imported from Japan are checked for radiation. The European Union has also advised all member states to check levels of radioactivity in food imports from Japan. Russia has begun testing Pacific Ocean fish and other sea life for radiation on Friday in the wake of the nuclear crisis.
 
In the letter today, the lawmakers ask for additional information from the FDA on the monitoring and testing of animal and plant products for the presence of radiation and the federal standards that exist to protect the public from consuming contaminated food.
 
The full letter can be found HERE.
 

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