The International Atomic Energy Agency is the UN agency whose responsibilities include the development of
nuclear safety standards and, based on these standards, promotes the achievement and maintenance of high levels of safety in applications of nuclear energy, as well as the protection of human health and the environment against ionizing radiation
Inspector Hans Blix was the leader of the IAEA for 16 years (1981 to 1997). On April 26, 1986, the worst nuclear accident man has ever known occurred at Chernobyl. In a 1992 speech, Blix stated that The accident at Chernobyl occurred because of deficiencies in the design and because several safety systems had in fact been switched off. [emphasis added]. Last week Dean and yours truly had a disagreement about the safety of nuclear power. We both agreed that nuclear power has the potential to be a safe source of power and the engineering hurdles can be overcome. However, I oppose the production of any new nuclear facilities near human development because of the potential for human error. Chernobyl has been a case in point -- the human element in the equation turned off several safety systems that were designed to prevent such a disaster. This brings to mind an old engineer adage that you cannot make something foolproof because fools are so ingenious.
Today, another example of the problems with the human element and nuclear power was emailed to me by Drew (California). The concrete-and-steel sarcophagus containing the damaged Chernobyl nuclear reactor in Ukraine is in danger of collapsing, Russia's atomic energy minister said Tuesday. A little research turned up this piece of history. According to the Associated Press (January 13, 1987) the Swedish director-general of the U.N.-affiliated agency [Hans Blix] "expressed satisfaction" with the clean-up work Drew remembered that the IAEA had certified that the concrete shell around the reactor would last for centuries. I could not find verification of this, but it sounds reasonable given the half-life of the materials - some will still be hot in 3000 AD. Yet less than 20 years later, more containment is needed to prevent further environmental harm.
So, I will remain with the leftists (and a large number of independents and conservatives) on this issue. There are safer ways to obtain electricity than nuclear power. The costs of mistakes are just too high - and my reasons for opposing new nuclear facilities continues to be my assessment of human nature, not engineering constraints.