Since well before the 1979 accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, UCS has been the leading watchdog on nuclear safety. That accident, along with many subsequent close calls, exposed the failings of the nuclear industry and its government regulators to ensure safe nuclear power. While no new nuclear plants have been built since the TMI accident, more than 100 nuclear plants continue to operate in the United States.
A severe nuclear accident has the potential to do catastrophic harm to people and the environment. A combination of human and mechanical error could result in an accident killing several thousand people, injuring several hundred thousand others, contaminating large areas of land, and costing billions of dollars.
UCS continues to be vigilant in monitoring the performance of nuclear plants and their regulators—the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. We continue to find and expose safety problems at individual plants, in industry standards, and in the failure of regulators to take effective action. We file formal petitions to the NRC, testify before Congress, and provide technical assistance to groups of citizens living near nuclear plants.
And we are effective. Our actions have resulted in safety regulations being upgraded, plants being shut down, and important modifications made to plant emergency systems and procedures. But there is much more work to do.
A severe nuclear accident has the potential to do catastrophic harm to people and the environment. A combination of human and mechanical error could result in an accident killing several thousand people, injuring several hundred thousand others, contaminating large areas of land, and costing billions of dollars.
UCS continues to be vigilant in monitoring the performance of nuclear plants and their regulators—the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. We continue to find and expose safety problems at individual plants, in industry standards, and in the failure of regulators to take effective action. We file formal petitions to the NRC, testify before Congress, and provide technical assistance to groups of citizens living near nuclear plants.
And we are effective. Our actions have resulted in safety regulations being upgraded, plants being shut down, and important modifications made to plant emergency systems and procedures. But there is much more work to do.
