Chernobyl Nuclear Accident Congressional Hearings Transcript

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Senator Domenici. Thank you, very much. We will now hear
from Dr. Richard Dean, senior vice president, GA Technologies,
San Diego, CA.
STATEMENT OF DR. RICHARD A. DEAN, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT,
GA TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Dr. Dean. I appreciate the opportunity to appear before you to
discuss the implication of the Chernobyl accident on the domestic
nuclear industry. As accurate information becomes available, I am
sure technical lessons will be learned that will be applied to our
light-water reactor industry, which is already very safe, to make it
even safer.
Furthermore, misconceptions and misinformation, which has
been generated regarding the utilization of graphite will be corrected,
and I have addressed these issues in my written statement.
Now, I would like to focus on just ways that the accident may
affect the nuclear industry in the United States.
The first is a direct near-term impact, and that will be on public
acceptance of nuclear power. Following Three Mile Island, when
public support for nuclear power reached a low, the industry made
efforts to restore the public's confidence in nuclear power, and now
only to see it erode again following Chernobyl.
I do not believe we will be able to revitalize our domestic industry
without strong public support, and therefore, we must take immediate
action to start restoring their confidence in nuclear power.
This will be a multifaceted task. One essential ingredient in my
opinion is that we rapidly develop an inherently safe reactor.
Dr. Hans Blis, the Director General of the IAEA, who you probably
saw on TV following the incident at Chernobyl; he voiced a
sinular opinion in the opening session of the European Nuclear
Conference in Geneva earlier this month when he was discussing
the events and consequences of Chernobyl, and their impact on the
worldwide nuclear industry.
His point was that the next generation of reactors require greater
intrinsic safety, to be more forgiving, and the sooner we obtain
such designs, the better.
Now while the focus on inherently safe plants for domestic use
may be the near-term issue, there may be an even greater implication,
although it is more indirect and of a longer term. When we
look into the early part of the next century
Senator Domenici. Dr. Dean, I again, apologize. The call I made
did not find anybody on the other end, but they found me now, so I
have to go take a call.
[A short recess was taken.]
Senator Domenici. Let's go.
Dr. Dean. Looking into the next century, the only realistic supplies
of energy is coal and fission, nuclear power. The economic expansion
of the Third World and the developing countries will be dependent
on an adequate source of energy, and it is unrealistic to
expect that this can be met by coal.
Lord Marshall of Goring, who is the Chairman of the CEGB in
the United Kingdom, recently stated that we in the West intend to