Nicho/as Chr)'ssafopoulos
¡NUCLEAR ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT SITING•••
ply because a nuclear power plant it not a bombo For the latter,
there is a need for a chain of events which cannot occur in a nu·
clear power plant in which the components of the chajn are not
_ presento
The storag¡e of nuclear wastes is a problem under continuous
study on the part of regulatory agencies such as the International
Atomic Energy Agency
(lAcEA)
and the U. S. Nuclear RegullaJtory
Commission
(NRC)
However, for a new plant, the problem is not
really a problem for at least 15 to 20 y¡ears after the beginning of
operations.
The reactor, its containment vessel, and the building in which
they are housed, are built in a way that they can withstand the
most severe earthquakes and even a direct hit, by something like
the accidental crash of an airplane. All these factors are taken into
account during the selection of the site of a nuclear power planto
Earlier in this seminar, a paper was presented discussing the
"why" of nuclear energy. Perhaps it would be better to say "if not
nuclear energy, what?".
NUCLEAR
POWER PLANT SlTING SroDIES
The purpose of a siting study for a nuclear power plant is
to
select
a site, within the areas of interest, at which the plant will be safe
and where its operation will have the least adverse impact on the
environment. Such a study must be performed in accordance with
criteria and guidelines established by
lAEA
or
NRC,
modified as neo
cessary
lO
satisfy pertinent needs of the country where the plant is
to
be
built.
Issues that must be studied and evaluated in the
de~ermination
of the best location for a nudear power plant are relaled either to
engineering feasibility and construction costs, or to concems of
public safety and environmental impacto iUsing a cost/benefit ana·
lysis these issues are studied and their relative importance weighed.
and candidate sites ar,e selected for detailed study which will event–
ual1y result
in
the licensing of the power plant for oper.ation at the
selected location.
The issues of concem may be listed as follows:
