Nuclear Power Controversy

Rossin’s column contains all the usual arguments for nuclear power, which is not surprising since he is described as a “consultant for the nuclear industry.”

Of particular interest, however, is his claim that shortly after the TMI disaster “More than $50 million was spent upgrading every nuclear power plant in the nation.” This money, he assures us, was spent to make control rooms “operator friendly” and to modernize control systems. His wording is unambiguous: “every nuclear power plant in the nation.”

By extraordinary coincidence, The Times printed another article on the state of our nuclear plants on Page 2 (Part I). It states in blunt terms: “Few U.S. atomic reactors have completed safety changes mandated in the wake of the Three Mile Island accident although a decade has passed, Nuclear Regulatory Commission records show.”

The report goes on with specifics: “Only 24 of the nation’s 112 licensed commercial reactors have installed all 149 changes required.” Some of these changes were “designated a top priority by the NRC,” yet only 24 out of 112 have completed them.

If Rossin did not know these facts, what kind of a “consultant” is he? On the other hand, if he was aware of these facts and chose to deny them when writing for The Times, what kind of authority is he to be reassuring the public? Expressing opinion is everyone’s right, but no one has the right to distort the facts.

STEPHEN MINOT

Claremont