Gregory Jaczko grilled by Barbara Boxer: Nuclear Activity in United States
Gregory Jaczko, Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, is grilled by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif) in this video.
After the devastating earthquake in Japan, the United States is wondering how it can avoid a similar nuclear disaster in the future.
California Senator Barbara Boxer is taking a look at the Japanese nuclear situation, being as her state is one of the most seismically active in the country, and is looking to better prepare the coast against nuclear devastation.
Barbara Boxer has also introduced legislation to lower earthquake insurance for Californians. (Which really, is a GREAT idea. Not sure about California, but it is not cheap here in Washington State.)
In the video above, Gregory Jaczko, Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, is questioned about the Nuclear plants in this country, which ones are around seismic activity, and what is being done to make sure this does not happen in the U.S.
When questioned about which nuclear plants are around seismic activity, Gregory Jaczko said the number was relatively small but that, “we’ll have to get back to you.” That’s when Barbara Boxer tells Gregory Jaczko about an article in the Los Angeles Times. She reads it to him:
“California tsunami could come with no warning . . . it quotes John Parrish who is a California State geologist, and he said, and I’m quoting him, ‘Mother Nature is notorious for not obeying rules that we make.’ We go in, and we decide what the earthquake risk is and Mother Nature says, ‘Excuse me, you didn’t ask my opinion!’ And that’s a fact.”
She continues:
“I’m very concerned . . . because this Japanese plant, I’m not asking you to comment on it, you don’t want to comment on it, was built to withstand, I believe, a 7.5 earthquake and a 9.0 happened. Let me ask you, not about the Japanese earthquake, just in general. Given the stakes, which are unbelievable, do we know how many Japanese have been evacuated from their homes?”
Gregory Jaczko replies: “Uh, I have seen reports somewhere in the several hundred thousands.”
Barabara Boxer: “We have 7 million around San Onofre and half a million around Diablo. That’s a lot of people.”
Photo Below: San Onofre Nuclear Facility
Senator Barbara Boxer brings up some extremely valid points – and some scary ones. Unfortunately I believe she is right to want this information from Gregory Jaczko, and to pressure him to take the conservative route when dealing with the nuclear facilities. At one point Senator Boxer lived up to her name, grilling Gregory Jaczko on why he has not made any changes since the Japanese nuclear catastrophe.
“Right now, according to your executive director, you’re doing nothing new. Nothing! Not one thing! I haven’t heard anything.”
Gregory Jaczko replied: “First of all, we are going to be looking very seriously at what happend in Japan. If we get information that tells us there’s a safety issue we’ll take action on that immediately. We are not doing nothing.”
This video is good to sit down, take 13 minutes, and watch it. I think it’s great that Senator Barbara Boxer is coming down on Gregory Jaczko, she’s not asking a lot, just that we rethink our current policies regarding nuclear devastation and being prepared for massive earthquakes. Is that asking too much?
No, that is not asking too much. They need to get on this PRONTO! My heart bleeds for Japan…they have gone through so much, and they were said to be PREPARED for this. We would be in much worse shape here in CA if the same thing happened. We are hardly prepared for an earthquake, let alone a tsunami.
No, that is not asking too much. They need to get on this PRONTO! My heart bleeds for Japan…they have gone through so much, and they were said to be PREPARED for this. We would be in much worse shape here in CA if the same thing happened. We are hardly prepared for an earthquake, let alone a tsunami.