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of an accident. so, rather than as mitch mcconnell said not to change course of the policy today we should have been changing course on this design 20-some, 30 years ago. we have a genuine risk. bill: to be fair on all of this and to get the facts right here, this nuclear plant in japan is 40 years old. i think a lot of people are probably not aware of that and we are far more advanced than the soviets in chernobyl of 1986. and i have to think, linda, we have come a long way since three mile island, 1979. what do you think about that, jeffrey? >> we actually have and i think that has to be put into perspective. there have been significant upgrades in the existing facilities of the u.s., post 9/11, for example, additional redundancies in emergency fire protection and responses to take care of large fires and explosions, these are not the same plants they were back in 1940, they -- there were significant enhancements to make
anti-nuclear groups, came out and wanted to shut down the plants immediately and, they were demanding missile systems and large steel barriers around the plants and, the commission will look carefully at what happens to the accident and assess the safety of the existing units and will make a determination, what if any measures will need to be added in order -- >> you are saying we get better with each one. linda, what about that? in general, are we overreacting? do we see the knee-jerk reaction already. >> there was a chance to address this way back in 1972, and we have the same design, the mark-one, and the explosions and the fires in the country, 23 plants and in 1972, a decision was made not to build any mr. of them because of the risk, their safety risk and the nrc themselves, they are safety expert, in 1985, harold denton told a conference that this design had a 90% chance of a containment failure in the event
sure they meet modern-day standards. bill: the reality of all of this is we need energy for our daily lives and that is the way we are built. you think about coal plant and the coal disaster. and, it is unfortunate, when miners go down there, and frankly risk their lives. >> no, the fundamental reason we have nuclear power is because it has proven to be safe in the u.s., over the last 30 years, and is highly reliable, and, 90% capacity factor and is a source of fuel that provides energy stability and energy security and those -- these things still remain. bill: linda, what about the point the germans are making? they have been back-tracking for 20 years and now angela -- angela merkel says, everything will be on pause until we see what happens in japan, is that an overreaction? >> and, i think that is a responsible thing to do, and
do we need nuclear power, could we use it ? is it safe? one certain is urging everyone to back off, right now, listen. >> i think there is no chance of a problem and even to get people concerned thinking there might be, because you know, anything could happen, it is absolutely wrong, there is really zero chance that any radiation is going to move out of the -- even if the outer containment structure exploded, and moved from japan to the united states, and create any health problem whatsoever. bill: is he right? an environmental specialist with beyond nuclear, good morning to you, linda. and a former commissioner for the former nuclear regulatory commission. good morning to you as well. overreaction or fair flay. >> i was a commissioner during the events immediately after 9/11 and we had a number of
significant tsunami and the preliminary information about the plant is it did well with the earthquake and the challenges it has had, really with the tsunami, and wiping out, some of the electrical equipment. now, linda made a charge, shut down all of the plants in the u.s., there is obviously no tsunami that will be in vermont, nor is that an earthquake area but as it relates to vermont yankee the nuclear regulatory commission is our nation's expert on the safety of nuclear power plant and have shown time and time again they have the capability and technology to assist with these plant and made a determination that it is safe and that is a reasoned, sensible view to take. bill: jeffrey, i started with you, and linda, i'll give you the last word. >> i wish that were the case but the track record of the regulatory commission is to basically accede to the significant wishes of the industry, related to profit margin rather than safety margins. unfortunately, the nrc looked
away and relicensed yankee and, another one for 20 years, was relicensed and the owner of the reactor decided to go for another ten and that tells you something. bill: i appreciate you coming in and i understand the passion on both sides and i get it, and let the debate continue, linda, jeffrey, thank you. 20 minutes before the hour. >> it was a week ago, when wisconsin republicans voted in the middle of the night, passing the controversial union bill without senate democrats prompting this reaction. >> this is clearly a violation of the -- it is improper for to you move forward while -- this is a violation of the law and to not allow an amendment, that is wrong. >> time. >> this is -- chairman, this is a violation... >> the representative who you just saw joins us live on the fallout an recall efforts for democrats and republicans. bill: a major milestone for the man behind the makeup, alice