POWER April 2012 - 45

NUCLEAR POWER
growing industry that enjoys public support;
down the other is stagnation.
Three hours later, in his dissent, Jaczko
detailed his position: " I cannot support
issuing this license as if Fukushima had
never happened, " he said with no show of
emotion. In written comments attached to
the NRC order, he elaborated, " I simply
cannot authorize issuance of these licenses
without any binding obligation that these
plants will have implemented the lessons
learned from the Fukushima accident before
they operate. " (The sidebar offers a
time line of events that led up to the Fukushima
accident and looks at the disaster's
ongoing impact.)
The other four commissioners respectfully
disagreed, arguing that the lessons
from Fukushima that the NRC staff has
identified will be incorporated into operating
procedures at Vogtle and across
the industry, without the need to put the
Southern Co. application on hold. Commissioner
Kristine Svinicki said, " There
is no amnesia, individually or collectively,
regarding the events of March 11 and the
ensuing accident at Fukushima. "
Given the turmoil that has characterized
the NRC in recent months, including public
complaints by the other commissioners
about Jaczko's allegedly authoritarian
and temperamental management style, the
meeting was calm, not confrontational.
Svinicki, frequently Jaczko's chief adversary,
congratulated him on the " orderly
manner " he displayed leading the yearslong
Vogtle proceeding.
Fukushima Not Forgotten
All five of the NRC members appear to understand
the significance of the challenge
brought by the March 11, 2011, destruction
of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power
station in Japan. It was a $40 billion act of
a capricious nature, reminding everyone in
the power industry that " low probability "
decidedly does not mean " no probability. "
The specter of Fukushima was clearly part
of the backdrop, from Jaczko's opening address
at the Platts meeting to the vote at the
commission to the final Platts session the
following morning.
But it is not just a terrible accident in
Japan that has tempered optimism in the
nuclear business, despite the positive
boost from the landmark Vogtle vote. The
context for the nuclear industry today includes
low growth in electricity demand,
record and sustained low natural gas prices,
uncertainty about nuclear waste, public
policy preferences for renewable electricity
generation, and an economy that may
or may not be recovering from the worst
April 2012 | POWER
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POWER April 2012

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