Is nuclear disaster imminent?

Chernobyl. The city is synonymous with nuclear catastrophe. The human and environmental toll exacted by this Soviet facility left an indelible mark on the Soviet Union’s engineering credibility, and played a role in the demise of its communist government.

The explosion at the Ukrainian facility is recognized as the worst nuclear plant accident ever. Yet, as those in the corrosion world know, even well-designed facilities are subject to the unrelenting march of time. This is true for protecting nuclear plants and dumping grounds.

Just last weekend, news broke that salt water had corroded three enormous storage tanks at a nuclear waste dump in the Russian Arctic, off the coast of Norway. The tanks held spent nuclear fuel rods.

These problems aren’t always a world away. The United States derives 20 percent of its electricy from some 100 nuclear facilities -- all in their third decade of operation, all nearing the end of their 40-year design life.

Some already received 20 year extensions to their operating permits by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Most of the rest are expected to apply for and receive extensions.

While the U.S. nuclear industry takes pride in its outstanding leak-free operation record, these aging facilities are increasingly at risk for corrosion.

Once example is Ohio's Besse-Davis facility. It was shut down in 2002, when a routine inspection uncovered a football-sized corroded area on the reactor head, the result of a leaking boric acid line.

These incidents should sound alarms. My proposed solution: The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) should work with the NRC to require all nuclear plants, storage facilities, and other such structures to develop aggressive integrity management programs, mirrored after the Department of Transportation’s pipeline integrity program. Frequent risk-based inspections are the only way to assure public safety.