Arnold Gundersen: Difference between revisions
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==Work== |
==Work== |
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Gundersen is chief engineer of Fairewinds Associates, an energy consulting company.<ref name=autogenerated1 /> He previously worked for Nuclear Energy Services in [[Danbury, Connecticut|Danbury]], a consulting firm where he was a senior vice president. Gundersen holds a master's degree in nuclear engineering.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nytimes.com/1995/02/12/nyregion/paying-the-price-for-blowing-the-whistle.html |title=Paying The Price For Blowing The Whistle |author=Julie Miller |date=February 12, 1995 |work=The New York Times }}</ref> |
Gundersen is chief engineer of Fairewinds Associates, an energy consulting company.<ref name=autogenerated1 /> He previously worked for Nuclear Energy Services in [[Danbury, Connecticut|Danbury]], a consulting firm where he was a senior vice president. Gundersen holds a master's degree in nuclear engineering.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nytimes.com/1995/02/12/nyregion/paying-the-price-for-blowing-the-whistle.html |title=Paying The Price For Blowing The Whistle |author=Julie Miller |date=February 12, 1995 |work=The New York Times }}</ref> |
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==Whistleblowing== |
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In 1990, Gundersen discovered radioactive material in an accounting safe at ''Nuclear Energy Services'' the Danbury consulting firm. Three weeks after he notified the company president of what he believed to be radiation safety violations, Gundersen was fired. According to the [[New York Times]], for three years, Gundersen was "awakened by harassing phone calls in the middle of the night" and "became concerned about his family's safety". Gundersen believes he was blacklisted, harassed and fired for doing what he thought was right.<ref name=gunder>{{cite web |url=http://www.nytimes.com/1995/02/12/nyregion/paying-the-price-for-blowing-the-whistle.html |title=Paying The Price For Blowing The Whistle |author=Julie Miller |date=February 12, 1995 |work=The New York Times }}</ref> |
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==AP1000== |
==AP1000== |
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Revision as of 21:55, 22 June 2013
Arnold "Arnie" Gundersen is a nuclear power expert and a former nuclear industry executive and engineer with over 30 years of experience.[1][2] Arnie Gunderson currently serves as the chief engineer of Fairewinds Associates, an energy consulting company.[3]
Gunderson questioned the safety of the Westinghouse AP1000, a proposed third-generation nuclear reactor[4] and has expressed concerns about the operation of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant. He served as an expert witness in the investigation of the Three Mile Island accident[5] and has provided commentary on the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.[6]
Work
Gundersen is chief engineer of Fairewinds Associates, an energy consulting company.[4] He previously worked for Nuclear Energy Services in Danbury, a consulting firm where he was a senior vice president. Gundersen holds a master's degree in nuclear engineering.[7]
Whistleblowing
In 1990, Gundersen discovered radioactive material in an accounting safe at Nuclear Energy Services the Danbury consulting firm. Three weeks after he notified the company president of what he believed to be radiation safety violations, Gundersen was fired. According to the New York Times, for three years, Gundersen was "awakened by harassing phone calls in the middle of the night" and "became concerned about his family's safety". Gundersen believes he was blacklisted, harassed and fired for doing what he thought was right.[8]
AP1000
In April 2010, Gundersen released a report (commissioned by several anti-nuclear groups) which explored a hazard associated with the possible rusting through of the AP1000 containment structure steel liner. In the AP1000 design, the liner and the concrete are separated, and if the steel rusts through, "there is no backup containment behind it" says Gundersen.[9] If the dome rusted through the design would expel radioactive contaminants and the plant "could deliver a dose of radiation to the public that is 10 times higher than the N.R.C. limit" according to Gundersen. Westinghouse has disputed Gundersen’s assessment.[9] Gundersen has testified before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards saying that "if a hole appeared, the chimney effect would disperse radioactive material far and wide".[10]
Vermont Yankee
Gundersen has also expressed concerns about the operation of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant, saying a leak of radioactive tritium there could be "followed by releases of other, more dangerous materials if the plant keeps operating".[11]
Gundersen has said that the U.S. nuclear industry and regulators need to reexamine disaster planning and worst-case scenarios, especially in reactors such as Vermont Yankee, which have the same design as the crippled nuclear plant at the center of the 2011 Japanese Fukushima nuclear emergency. He says that Vermont Yankee and similar plants are vulnerable to a similar cascade of events as in Japan.[12]
Fukushima
As part of Fairewinds Energy Education, Gundersen has hosted numerous videos and provided updates about the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.[13][14] He was also a regular guest on Democracy Now discussing the issue.[6] In an interview with Al Jazeera, Gunderson referred to Fukushima as "the biggest industrial catastrophe in the history of mankind".[15]
See also
- Nuclear accidents in the United States
- Nuclear safety in the United States
- Anti-nuclear movement in the United States
- Nuclear power whistleblowers
- David Lochbaum
References
- ^ 'The government could still save lives' | The Japan Times
- ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/03/world/asia/bursts-of-fission-detected-at-fukushima-reactor-in-japan.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all
- ^ Fairewinds | Moving Energy Education Forward
- ^ a b Robynne Boyd. Safety Concerns Delay Approval of the First U.S. Nuclear Reactor in Decades Scientific American, July 29, 2010.
- ^ David Case (March 14, 2011). "Nuclear expert: "50-50 chance of a catastrophic radiation" from Japan". Global Post.
- ^ a b Shows featuring Arnie Gundersen | Democracy Now!
- ^ Julie Miller (February 12, 1995). "Paying The Price For Blowing The Whistle". The New York Times.
- ^ Julie Miller (February 12, 1995). "Paying The Price For Blowing The Whistle". The New York Times.
- ^ a b Matthew L. Wald. Critics Challenge Safety of New Reactor Design New York Times, April 22, 2010.
- ^ Wald, Matthew L. (January 31, 2011). "Disputed Reactor Design Moves Forward". The New York Times.
- ^ John Dillon. Nuclear Expert Says Yankee Should Shut Down VPR News, February 11, 2010.
- ^ John Dillon (March 15, 2011). "Nuclear expert: U.S. should review worst case scenarios". Reuters.
- ^ Fairewinds Videos | Fairewinds Energy Education
- ^ Fukushima Daiichi | Fairewinds Energy Education
- ^ Fukushima: It's much worse than you think - Features - Al Jazeera English