Chernobyl Nuclear Accident Congressional Hearings Transcript

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in the licensing process. What such legislation will really do is
bring us closer to the regulatory system used by the Russians.
How do we respond to the accident? The National Audubon Society,
like many other organizations, is trying to decide what recommendations
to make in light of Chernobyl. Right now it is far too
early for us to take a formal position on the implications of the accident.
I thought it would be useful to share with you some of the
recommendations that we are contemplating.
The first possible recommendation is to shut down those reactors
with weak containments until the implications of the Chernobyl accident
are thoroughly studied. That is what was done with the
B&W reactors after the TMI accident, and we think maybe that is
what should be done with the old General Electric reactors.
500,000 members,
Now, the National Audubon Society, with its
will not recommend that all reactors be closed. To shut down all
plants immediately would be to guarantee a large increase in the
consumption of coal, which itself carries a drastic public health and
environmental penalty. The National Audubon Society favors a
gradual phase-out of nuclear power.
Nevertheless, we are very concerned about the possible implications
of the Chernobyl accident for small volume containments,
why we are considering supporting a moratorium on
and that is
these types of reactors; small volume reactors.
And fortunately, it will not be very expensive to do that, to keep
those reactors shut down for a few months. Right now, we have
excess generating capacity in most parts of the country, while oil
and natural gas prices are low.
The second and third recommendations are discussed in my text
and require very little explanation.
Senator Domenici. Shut them down for a few months? What
would we do during the few months?
Dr. Beyea. We would evaluate the Chernobyl accident for its implications
to the domestic industry.
Senator Domenici. I thought we were going to fix them; that is
not going to be done in 2 or 3 months.
Dr. Beyea. I don't think we can do that in a few months. I think
it takes several months to understand the full implications of the
Chernobyl accident.
The second and third recommendations we are considering are,
emergency plans should be revised to include dose reducing measures
beyond 10 miles, and in particular, arrangements should be
made with Canada and Mexico to handling the difficult planning
tasks associated with radioactivity crossing national boundaries.
The next recommendation we are considering is that all attempts
to weaken public involvement in reactor licensing should be halted
and that public participation should be made more meaningful by
funding intervenors.
A final recommendation we are considering does require some
explanation. This is a recommendation to impose a 1-cent-per-kilowatt-hour
tax on existing nuclear powerplants, a tax that would be
dedicated to the development of solar electricity, particularly photovoltaics,
and also to the development of a new generation of reactors
that would be meltdown free. We have heard some discussion
on this panel of reactors that may have those capabilities.