Jones Beene wrote:
. . . how much effective oversight and dynamic innovation is really given to, or expected from, the "utilities" who are responsible for power generation? All of commerce depends on cheap power, yet the power companies are often so "tight" and over-regulated that they generally only attract those slackers who cannot get hired elsewhere (ok that is hyperbole, but there is some truth to it).
No doubt there is plenty of blame to go around.
But we should remember that this mess was partly caused by a history of success. When power generation was invented in the late 19th century, the "utility" model really was best, in my opinion. The same goes for the telephone network. When unregulated small telephone companies competed openly in the 1880s, the results were utter chaos, with wires hanging everywhere. The utility model gradually became obsolete. What works well at one stage in the development of the technology may be dysfunctional 50 years later.
Capitalism needs a different kind of motivating influence for electric utilities. This can be done, but the real culprit as always is ourselves - i.e. capitalists wanting "government" to go away and not intervene - even where they should.
Quite right. Capitalism tends to be its own worst enemy, just as Marx said.
Government doesn't have to do the actual work - just provide the framework for risk, rewards, and some kind of effective 'punishment' for mediocrity. Did anyone at TMI get their pay docked?
Yes. An NRC engineer named Creswell investigated two previous accidents that were almost exactly the same as TMI. He repeatedly warned management that this reactor design was unreliable, and he pointed out that the problem could easily be fixed for a few dollars with a new sensor. As you might expect, he was harassed and ridiculed, and his report was suppressed. After TMI he was given a pat on the head, awarded $4,000 for diligence, but soon after that the harassment was redoubled and he was forced out, in 1980. The NRC officials who were directly responsible for suppressing his report and approving the TMI design were given $10,000 rewards. See: D. Ford, Three Mile Island - Thirty Minutes to Meltdown, (Penguin Books, 1982). So despite what you say, the system does work, and people are rewarded and punished.
- Jed
