Chernobyl Nuclear Accident Congressional Hearings Transcript

10
But all of this causes me concern; makes me believe that it
should result in more emphasis on safety and emergency planning
in this Nation and a reevaluation of the current approach of risk
assessment which serves as the basis for estimating the effectiveness
of safety measures at nuclear facilities.
I am frank to say that I am not confident that those who have a
responsibility in this area are not more concerned about stepping
on the toes of the nuclear energy, or in somehow affecting the nuclear
energy industry than they are concerned about the health
and safety of American people.
Incredibly, industry and Government have responded to the
Chernobyl accident with a fortresslike mentality.
They tell us that the probability of a severe accident is already
so low that there is no undue level of risk and nothing more needs
to be done to make plants safe.
The Chief of Staff of the NRC said, "We see nothing coming out
of this accident to suggest we need to change." To that I just respond—I
cannot believe you said it.
This manifests an air of unbelievable, dangerous complacency.
The record does not justify this complacency.
Accidents which the NRC deems to be incredible, that is of such
low probability that plants do not have to be designed for them,
keep occurring. Time after time after time, we have an accident or
a near miss caused or complicated by unquantifiable factors such
as poor management, human error, regulatory violations and poor
design or construction.
These experiences argue for more aggressive, rather than more
relaxed, efforts to improve safety. Yet, the NRC, at the urging of
the nuclear industry, has engaged in defacto regulation, and effectively
halted all efforts to improve safety.
The residents of the State of Ohio have a justified concern about
the NRC's effectiveness. Ohio has hosted the Zimmer Plant, the
Davis-Besse Plant, and the Perry Nuclear Plant. One facility has
been abandoned due to poor construction, another suffered the
most serious accident in the United States since Three Mile Island,
and the third is involved in a controversy relating to its location
near an earthquake fault.
Many Ohio residents feel poor regulation by the NRC is responsible
for many of the problems which have occurred.
All of this leads me to conclude that the public is not receiving
the kind of protection it deserves.
In human terms, the Chernobyl accident was a tragedy. Estimates
of cancers and fatal cancers resulting from the accident
range from the tens of thousands to the hundreds of thousands.
Out in the West, there is a man by the name of Dr. John Goffman.
Dr. John Goffman was one of the atomic scientists involved
at Los Alamos. Dr. John Goffman was one of those involved at the
Livermore Laboratory and had a high-ranking position. Today, he
is professor emeritus of medical physics at the University of California
at Berkeley.
I remember when Dr. Goffman lost his subvention from the U.S.
Government because he was asked to do an investigation of the
safety and usage of nuclear energy in this country. He came up