DAVE LOCHBAUM, Union of Concerned Scientists: The biggest concern I have had with the NRC over the years I have been monitoring them is lack of consistency.
MILES O'BRIEN: Dave Lochbaum is a nuclear engineer who spent 17 years working for the industry before publicly blowing the whistle on safety concerns and joining the Union of Concerned Scientists, which just released an eye-opening report on the NRC and nuclear plant safety in the U.S. in 2011.
It documents 15 near-misses, many occurring because reactor owners either tolerated known safety problems or took inadequate measures to correct them; problems with safety-related equipment that increased the risk of damage to the nuclear core; recognized, but unresolved problems that often cause significant safety-related events at nuclear power plants or increase their severity.
And it says NRC inspectors all too often focus just on a specific problem, not its underlying cause.
DAVE LOCHBAUM: I think the challenge the NRC has is, when something happens, it's easy to convince people they need to spend money, prevent the next one. But when something hasn't happened yet and it's just a postulated event or a hypothetical disaster, it's more difficult to get people to pony up millions of dollars to fix the hypothetical problem.
MILES O'BRIEN: The case in point may be the Indian Point nuclear plant that sits on the Hudson River, 35 miles from Times Square in Manhattan. The 40-year licenses to operate the reactors here are up for renewal.
Indian Point's owner, Entergy, is seeking a 20-year license renewal. But where to set the safety bar, especially after Fukushima, is at the heart of a raging debate over whether Indian Point should get a new lease on life.
Eric Schneiderman is the attorney general of the state of New York.
ERIC SCHNEIDERMAN, New York attorney general: It is clear to us that, at this point in time, they have not met their burden of proof of showing that they deserve to be relicensed.
After Three Mile Island, you might think the nuclear industry would get its poor standards a little bit better. They did not. And that is why it is not safe to have these things anywhere near you. I cannot believe that the Indian Point plant might get a renewal. That thing is not just an eyesore, it is a public menace and needs to be torn down.
You can find out more about the dangers at the No Nukes website.
This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" for esterday:
|
Friday,
May 25, 2012. Chaos and violence continue, the Russian bikers tortured
by Nouri's forces are released, Nouri's brown shirts take to downtown
Baghdad as they've done so many Fridays before to stage a faux protest,
the US prepares to arm Nouri, Memorial Day weekend is upon us, and more.
Starting in Russia. Yesterday
it was learned that four Russian bikers were grabbed in central Iraq by
Nouri's security forces, imprisoned and beaten. The four are: Oleg
Kapkayev of Saint Petersburg, Alexander Vardanyants and Maxim Ignatyev
of Vladimir and Oleg Maximov of Tula. Russian Legal Information Agency reports that the wife Oleg Maximo spoke to her husband and he told her they were being moved to another location.
Dmitry Rogozin is the Deputy Premier of Russian Government tasked with the defense and space industry.
Задержанные в Ираке байкеры уже находятся в Посольстве РФ. Мотоциклы пока не отдали. Спасибо всем, кто помогал
That
Tweet reads: 'The Russian bikers detained in Iraq are at the Embassy of
the Russian Federation [in Baghdad]. Motorcylces have not been
returned yet. Thanks to everyone who helped.' The Moscow Times notes,
"[Russian President Vladimir] Putin has been forging good relations
with the biker community in the past two years, riding motorcycles
and attending biker events." RIA Novosti adds,
"The four men will leave for Russia on Saturday morning, the bikers'
lawyer Alexander Orlov, also a member of the Moscow-based motorcycle
club Rolling Anarchy MCC (RAMCC), told RIA Novosti."
As
many are noticing, the US press has ignored the story completely. That
may be due to the fact that there's a detail that's inconsistent -- not
on-message -- with Barack Obama's current campaign for a second term as
US President. Ekaterina Saviba (Gazeta) reports it today:
They came to Iraq on May 17 and were detained by the Iraqi military on May 20. "Our attempt to go towards Baghdad failed because of Yanks in Hummers – they didn't let us in. Our guys decided to go round the American checkpoints and pass north of them," report motorcyclists' friends on the Russian motorcycling forum Ruriders.ru. "They managed to ride several dozen kilometers a day, while having long heartfelt conversations with local authorities, all while the outside temperature was 42 Celsius." Again, that was also in yesterday's reports. The Russian bikers, en route to Baghdad, were unable to enter the city and had to go around due to Americans blocking them in Hummers, due to American checkpoints. The 20th was Sunday and the US may have activated some branch still in Iraq (there are many) to put up checkpoints in advance of the meet-up in Baghdad. They may have pulled the units stationed outside of Iraq -- in Kuwait for example -- back in to set up those checkpoints.
Along
with the usual Russian contingent which staffs the country's Baghdad
embassy, other Russian officials were in the country this week as
Nouri's Iraq hosted talks with Iran about the nuclear program. Ali Arouzi (NECN News -- link is text and video) reports,
"International nuclear talks being held in Baghdad this week with Iran
ended inconclusively with both sides at a stalemate." A stalemate grows
in Nouri's Baghdad? What a complete lack of surprise?
The
ongoing political stalemate in Iraq could see Nouri al-Maliki face a
no-confidence vote that, if successful, would remove him as prime
minister. Alsumaria reports
that the 'Badr brigade' says this would be the worst thing that could
happen. The Badr brigade only split or 'split' from the Islamic Supreme
Council of Iraq when it had to (or risk ISCI being outlawed). They
still take their orders from Ammar al-Hakim and the US has been very
successful in buying al-Hakim's support for Nouri. al-Hakim has already
made statements like those made similar statements out of his own
mouth. Now he uses the Badr brigade as a megaphone in the hopes that
this will give the (false) appearance of a wave of support for Nouri
surfacing.
How did things get to this point?
Iraq's
currently in Political Stalemate II. Political Stalemate I followed
the March 7, 2010 elections in which Iraiqya -- headed by Ayad Allawi --
came in first and Nouri al-Maliki's State of Law came in second.
Despite herculean efforts on Nouri's part -- some legal but most
questionable or outright illegal -- to walk away with the election, he
was runner up. But Nouri wanted to be Miss Iraq, he wanted the crown and
felt he did very well in the swimsuit competition. He had the backing
of the White House and the Iranian government. for his desired second
term as prime minister. The Iraqi Constitution, the election results
and the will of the Iraqi people were all against Nouri; however, Barack
Obama doesn't care about rule of law or democracy. He wants what he
wants when he wants it. And like Bully Boy Bush before him, Barack
packed a chubby for Nouri.
So
for over eight months things were at a standstill. Then in November
2010, the US brokered an agreement among the political blocs. This is
known as the Erbil Agreement (because it was signed off in Erbil). In
exchange for giving Nouri a second term, the US insisted, the blocs
would receive concessions that they wanted. This is the agreement that
was agreed to.
The
Erbil Agreement wasn't about all the political blocs saying, "We don't
want anything. Give Nouri a second term!" To get the blocs on board it
was necessary for them to be offered arrangements that would benefit
them. And with everyone agreeing to the deal -- including Nouri -- and
with the US government brokering it and insisting it was sound, the
political blocs fel tthey deal was solid.
Nouri
used it to become prime minister-designate and then, in December 2010,
beging his second term as prime minister. But that's all that
happened. He refused to implement the agreement. He offered one excuse
after another as is his way. He distracts and stalls and hopes the
other side gives up. He's done that over and over.
By
last summer, the Kurds had enough of the stalling. They publicly
demanded that the Erbil Agreement be implemented. Their call was
quickly joined by Iraqiya and Moqtada al-Sadr. And it wasn't
implemented. And it's still not implemented. April 28th, there was
another Erbil meet-up and among those participating were Moqtada, KRG
President Massoud Barzani, Allawi and Iraqi president Jalal Talabani.
In their meeting they agreed that Nouri needed to implement the
agreement or face a no-confidence vote. They also agreed that Moqtada
al-Sadr's 18-point plan needed to be implemented. Moqtada delivered the
message, implement the Erbil Agreement or face a vote of
no-confidence. As the end of the month gets closer, the number of MPs
reportedly willing to vote out Nouri grows. This week alone, it's
grown from over 163 to 200.
A
list of potential replacements has been named. All on the list come
from the National Alliance (a Shi'ite group which ISCI, State of Law,
Moqtada's bloc and others belong to). Kitabat reminds
that the National Alliance is supposed to be naming a single choice of
who should be Nouri's replacement. But through it all, Moqtada has
repeatedly noted publicly that Nouri can stop this at any point prior to
the vote. All he has to do is implement the Erbil Agreement.
Not
only does he refuse to, the White House refuses to call that out. They
brokered the agreement, they gave the political blocs their word that
the agreement was legal and would hold. The White House brokered the
agreement and swore it would be upheld. They have betrayed the Iraqi
people. These are the betrayals that lead people to stop trusting the
US. These are the type of betrayals the people of Iran spent decades
living with. It's not smart to betray people, it's not smart to make a
promise and not keep it.
And all those promises
That you made me from the start
Were filled with emptiness
From the desert of your heart
Every sweet caress
Was just your second best
Broken promises
-- "All Those Promises," written by Janis Ian, first appears on her Folk Is The New Black
And
now the White House thinks they can act like they're not involved? Now
they want to pretend like they have to stand on the sidelines?
And
they're not on the sidelines, they're repeatedly pimping for Nouri.
For example, the US State Dept issued this readout of the meeting
between William Rurns, Deupty Secretary of State, and "Iraqi Acting
Minister of Defense" Saadoun al-Dulaymi:
Today,
Deputy Secretary Burns met with Iraqi Acting Minister of Defense
Saadoun al-Dulaymi, at the Department of State to discuss issues of
mutual interest and our shared commitment towards a long-term
partnership under the Strategic Framework Agreement. Minister Dulaymi
is in Washington as lead of the Iraqi delegation for inaugural meetings
of the Defense and Security Joint Coordinating Committee between the
United States and the Government of Iraq. Deputy Secretary Burns noted
the importance of these meetings as an excellent mechanism to build our
mutual commitment to an enduring security partnership under a
civilian-led process.
The meeting also
covered bilateral issues on the security and political fronts and the
Deputy Secretary offered our continued support as Iraq strengthens its
democratic institutions and enhances the capacity of its security forces
to bring greater stability and prosperity to its people. On Iraqi
political issues, the two discussed the importance of resolving
differences through dialogue and compromise and in a democratic fashion
in accordance with the Iraqi constitution.
The
Deputy Secretary expressed appreciation to Minister Dulaymi for Iraq's
willingness to host the E3+3 meetings in Baghdad and noted that,
following the successful hosting of the Arab Summit in March, it is
another sign of Iraq taking a constructive role in the region and with
the international community to reach shared goals of greater regional
stability. Deputy Secretary Burns assured Minister Dulaymi that the
United States would continue to support Iraq in its effort to strengthen
ties with its regional neighbors.
And the Defense Dept issued this American Forces Press Service story
about Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta meeting with al-Dulaymi.
There's no "acting defense minister." Not per the Iraqi Constitution.
The prime minister nominates someone to be Minister of Defense and
Parliament says yes or no via a vote. That's how it's supposed to work
per the Constitution. But Nouri's never put a name to the Parliament.
The minute he does, he doesn't control the Defense Ministry, the
Minister does. Why are US public servants wasting time and tax payer
money meeting with these non-ministers? If they hadn't lied so much --
the White House -- $500 million wouldn't have already been wasted on the
police training program this year. Most Americans don't realize that
the Iraqi police are under the Ministry of the Interior and even more
aren't aware that Nouri has never named a nominee for that position
either.
How
do you waste $500 million US tax payer dollars on a training program
for a ministry that has no minister? That's your first clue that the
money's going to be wasted. Nouri was supposed to have named a full
Cabinet before he was moved from prime minister-designate to prime
minister. It's a power-grab and the US government enables and endorses
it.
Doubt that?
The Defense Dept issued the following late yesterday:
I
seem to remeber, a few years back, a US Senator talking about the
danger that we would arm Nouri with the weapons he could use on his own
people. Maybe that observation doesn't matter because the man is no
longer a US Senator -- now he's Vice President of the United States.
Joe Biden knew this was a problem in 2008. I'm failing to see how
anything's changed to make Nouri less at risk of attacking the Iraqi
people.
Yesterday the US State Dept released 2011 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices and here's how the section on Iraq opens:
During
the year the most significant human rights developments were continuing
abuses by sectarian and ethnic armed groups and violations by
government-affiliated forces. Divisions between Shia and Sunni and
between Arab and Kurd empowered sectarian militant organizations. These
militants, purporting to defend one group through acts of intimidation
and revenge against another, influenced political outcomes. Terrorist
attacks designed to weaken the government and deepen societal divisions
occurred during the year.
The three most important
human rights problems in the country were governmental and societal
violence reflecting a precarious security situation, a fractionalized
population mirroring deep divisions exacerbated by Saddam Hussein's
legacy, and rampant corruption at all levels of government and society.
That doesn't qualify as a ringing endorsement of Nouri al-Maliki.
Today the US puppet sent his little cult into the streets of downtown Baghad. Alsumaria reports
that the thug's thugs were out in full force, carrying signs supproting
Nouri and insisting that anyone not supproting Thug Nouri was
influenced by foreign countries. They also threatened violence if Nouri
was subjected to a no-confidence vote. Ayad Allawi, leader of Iraqiya,
noticed what took place this morning. Alsumaria reports
that he charges Nouri with attempting to take the political crisis into
the Iraqi street and to scare people into silence. Allawi says that if
there is any bloodshed, Nouri will be responsible.
"We
were preparing a party for her birthday, which was May 11, a party she
was not able to enjoy. She was going to be 26 years old when she
died." That's Ramon Rubalcava speaking about the 2004 death of his
daughter Isela Rubalcava. Spain's wire service EFE notes
Isela Rubalcava was born in El Paso to Maria Isela and Ramon Rubalcava
and she was killed in a Mosul mortar attack on May 8, 2004 becoming "the
third woman of Mexican descent to die on the Iraq war front and the
first woman from El Paso to die in combat." She is one of at least 4488 US service members to die in the Iraq War. Monday is Memorial Day. At Huffington Post, Jim Downs offers the origins and history of Memorial Day. Dora Robles Hernandez (Detroit Free Press) notes that Saturday through Monday will see the Detroit area host 20 different Memorial Day parades. Though not all metro areas will see that many events -- for example, the states of New Hampshire and Maine will have about that many events this weekend combined
-- there will be observations throughout the US. And because it's
Memorial Day, the Sunday chat and chews finally find veterans issues and
the Chair of a veterans committee. Sunday on CNN's State of the
Union, Senator Patty Murray (Chair of the Senate Veterans Affairs
Committe) will be among the guests which also include Iraq War veteran
Paul Rieckhoff of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, the American
Legion's Tim Tetz and Peter Chiarelli who is now a retired general and
who has carved out a role for himself advocating on behalf of those with
Post-Traumatic Stress and coming up with proposals to allow the stigma
attached to PTS to be removed. It should be a very interesting
broadcast. (I was asked to note this by a friend who endorses
Chiarelli's PTS work.)
To
address veterans issues in a meaningful way that actually helps,
bi-partisanship is needed in the Congress -- a point Senator Mike
Johanns made Wednesday in a Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hearing
entitled "Seamless Transition: Review of the Integrated Disability
Evaluation System." Senator Patty Murray is the Chair of the Committee,
Senator Richard Burr is the Ranking Member. There Committee heard from
one panel of witnesses: DoD's Dr. Jo Ann Rooney, GAO's Daniel Bertoni
and the VA's John Gingrich. We covered Chair Murray's questions and
some of the report entitled Interim Committee Staff Report:
Investigation of Joint Disability Evaluation System in Wednesday's snapshot, Ava covered Senator Jon Tester's questioning in "How to keep the witness focused (Ava)," Kat reported on Ranking Member Richard Burr's participation with "Senator Burr: I've had too many of these hearings" and Wally
focused on how the VA claiming next year they'll fix things or the next
year or the next never does anything but waste the Committee's time and
the taxpayers' money with "It's your money (Wally)." Ava, Kat and Wally covered important aspects of the hearing so please read their reports. From Kat's, we'll note this:
Ranking
Member Richard Burr: So we're all in agreement that we're just south of
400 days in the cycle of an applicant being processed? 395, I think,
394. In May 2011, the Secretary of the Defense and the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs committed to revising the IDES [Integrated Disability
Evaluation System] so that it could be completed in 150 days and went
further and agreed to explore options for it to be 75 days. Now I-I --
I've had too many of these hearings. We have them every year. And we
hear the same thing: "Oh, gosh, look at what we're doing." Now I've
heard the most glowing progress report from both of you and then I get
the realities of the days haven't changed. You have met some
improvements in certain areas. I commend you on that. The timeliness
goals in areas have been better. But the reality is that we've got a
broken system and we're five years into it and I hear testimony where
'we're starting to begin to review our business processes.' Well, you
know, why did it take five years to get to this? What -- What can you
convey to me today that's concrete, that tells me a year from now, we're
not going to be at 393 days. When you [Dr. Jo Ann Rooney] said
earlier, "We're instituting IT changes this summer that will improve our
times by thirty or forty," I thought you were going to say "percent."
And you said "days." So now my expectations are that if we implement
what you just said, we're going to be down to 360 days which exceeds the
DES [Disability Evaluating System] and Secretary of the VA by the 110
days over what their goal was for today.
At
its most basic, the VA and the Defense Dept are attempting to make the
transition from service member (DoD's role) to veterans (VA's role)
seamless and timely. That's not happening currently. with respect to
Integrated Disability Evaluation System, this is supposed to determine
whether or not a service member is able to continue serving. If the
answer is no, the service member then becomes a veteran and VA needs to
have a disability claim. The disability rating will determine the
benefits. So it matters. And the Interim Committee Staff Report noted
examples including, "A servicemember with a lung condition who was being
treated with steroids and immunosuppressive drugs was incorrectly rated
at 0% rather than 100%."
Not
only are there problems with the disability ratings, there's the
problem with the length of time they take. This isn't minor if you're
the veteran and you're waiting for a disability check that you've more
than earned to come but it's not in the mail. Committee Chair Patty
Murray noted 27,000 have waited over 100 days to go through the system.
As
he questioned the witnesses, Senator Mike Johanns observed, "I don't
hear anything that makes me feel 'Gosh, we're going to turn the corner
here.' In fact, I must admit, quite the opposite, I'm going to walk
away from this hearing very, very worried that the system is
imploding." Even the issue of supervision was a question mark. Senator
John Boozman wanted to know who was in charge of overseeing the
joint-DoD and VA effort? The best answer he received was that John
Gingrich was the point-person for the DoD side; however, he stated he
does not oversee the VA effort.
Who is responsible for overseeing the full project and not components or pieces?
No answer was ever provided.
Senator
Boozman declared, "I guess I would like to see somebody accountable for
the whole system. And you may be that person but it's not fair to you
if you don't really have authority to see it through. So I personally
think that the two Secretaries need to designate somebody that's got the
authority." Possibly if there was one person responsible for
overseeing it, the process would be moving along more smoothly and much
quicker. That was the argument Boozman made and it sounds reasonable.
But did anybody listen? Will a single person be named to be responsible
for overseeing the entire project?
Senator Johanns
wanted to know much longer it is going to take -- "1 year, 2 years, 5
years?" -- for the goals to be met? No one could provide an answer. "I
can't give you a specific time frame," Daniel Bertoni told him. But he
did note that enrollments continue to rise -- 19,000 just last year --
and that this adds to to the delays.
We'll close with this from Senate Veterans Committee Chair Patty Murray's office:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, May 24, 2012
CONTACT:
Murray (202) 224-2834 Collins (202) 224-2523 Michaud (202) 225-6306
VETERANS: Murray, Collins, Michaud Applaud Veterans Homes Fix in Military Construction Spending Bill
(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and Susan Collins (R-ME), members of the Military Construction Appropriations Subcommittee, along with U.S. Representative Mike Michaud (D-ME), Ranking Member of the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Health, applauded the inclusion of an amendment in the Senate Military Construction and Veterans Affairs spending bill which would modify the way State Veterans' Homes are reimbursed for nursing home care provided to veterans. The Senate Committee on Appropriations approved the bill on Tuesday by a vote of 30-0. The amendment, authored by Senator Murray, would result in more flexibility in determining reimbursement rates by requiring VA and the State Veterans' Homes to collaborate in setting rates that accurately reflect the level of care provided. Washington and Maine are home to State Veterans' Homes which require a high level of skilled nursing due to requirements by Medicare and Medicaid. However, currently the VA payments do not cover this level of care.
"This
amendment is a critical step to ensuring Washington State Veterans'
Homes will not lose out on millions of dollars they need to keep
operating," said Senator Murray.
"Thankfully we were finally able to move forward to provide this
flexibility -- preventing staff layoffs which would have dramatically
reduced the number of Washington veterans they serve. I am grateful to
Senator Collins and Representative Michaud for their leadership on this
issue."
"By
granting the Department of Veterans Affairs increased flexibility in
reimbursement rates, our goal is to recognize the high-quality of care
State Veterans' Homes provide disabled veterans and ensure they never
have to turn away any of our veterans because of inadequate
reimbursement from the VA," said Senator Collins.
"The men and women cared for by State Veterans' Homes defended our
freedom, many of them in combat. We must defend their right to the care
they deserve."
"Our
severely disabled and elderly veterans deserve access to the best
possible care and Congress cannot wait any longer to address the
shortfalls our State Veterans' Homes are facing," said Representative Michaud.
"I am grateful for Sen. Patty Murray's collaboration and leadership on
this issue and I look forward to continuing to work with her to ensure
that this issue is resolved before the end of the year."
###
Meghan Roh
Deputy Press Secretary | Social Media Director
Office of U.S. Senator Patty Murray
202-224-2834
| ||||||
Dmitry Rogozin 
