"Regulators should begin decommissioning the Palisades Nuclear Plant"

NRC file photo of Palisades atomic reactorMark Muhich, a Jackson County resident and chairman of the Central Michigan Group of the Sierra Club, has published a column by the title above at the Jackson Citizen Patriot/MLive. Muhich begins his column:

"The Palisades Nuclear Plant bordering Michigan’s Van Buren State Park squats menacingly between high sand dunes and pristine Lake Michigan waves. Palisades rates as one of the three most dangerous nuclear plants in the U.S., out of 120 total nuclear plants. In the past two years Palisades has suffered more than two dozen serious breaches of safety protocol and seven complete shutdowns. A catastrophe at Palisades could kill tens of thousands of people and destroy more than $116 billion in property.

How could the Nuclear Regulatory Commission need more evidence for decommissioning Palisades? Is there a reason why more than half the serious accidents at nuclear facilities worldwide have occurred in the U.S? The General Accounting Office, Office of the Inspector General and the Union of Concerned Scientists all find the NRC’s “enforcement of existing regulations inadequate.” Does the NRC regulate the nuclear industry, or promote it? An independent inspection team, Conyer-Elsea, found “a lack of accountability at all levels at Palisades.” Is the NRC waiting for Chernobyl 2?..."

NRC rubberstamped Palisades' 20 year license extension in 2007, despite widespread environmental oppositionnot only in Michigan but throughout the Great Lakes basin.