---------- Forwarded message ----------
From:
Andrew Daley <daley.andrew@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, May 17, 2010 at 2:51 PM
Subject: BP Oil Spill: What are the Lessons Learned?
To: Nuclear <
cdn-nucl-l@mailman.mcmaster.ca>
All,
I was recently "volun-told" to give a Safety Meeting to my department. While the focus of these meetings is usually "Conventional Safety" I couldn't help throw in a bonus topic dealing with Nuclear Safety.
That talk (attached, with corporate logos removed) was not "lessons learned" focused but was rather intended merely as "something to think about".
A lot of good talk was generated. One disturbing development... my section manager subsequently asked some of his networked colleagues the question "what can the nuclear industry learn from the BP oil disaster?"
One of the answers was: "Nothing. They should be learning lessons from us".
To me, that answer reeks of over-confidence.
Are we that far removed from TMI (which was before i was born!) and Chernobyl that we have developed a "can't happen here" attitude all over again?
So, I thought I'd ask this forum, with its collective wisdom (and it's collective brain, right Jeremy :-) ) the same question:
"What can the nuclear industry learn from the BP oil disaster?"
I believe we have learned that:
1) TALKING the safety talk is not the same as WALKING the safety walk. BP said they were safe. They were not safe enough.
2) Perhaps the most important thing we can do is make damn certain our assumptions are reasonable. (i.e. max credible accident according to BP was ~ 3500... estimates range from 5000 min to > 70 000)
Looking forward to your thoughts!
Andrew
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*Please note: The views expressed in this e-mail are solely those of the author. The contents are personal opinion only. No further meaning can be attributed in any circumstance.*