Storage of nuclear waste poses threat to US, scientists warn

Washington

THE reluctance of US federal regulators to require operators of nuclear reactors to spend US$5 billion to enhance the security of spent fuel rods stored underground threatens the country with a potential catastrophe, scientists warned on Friday.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) greatly underestimated the risk and potential contamination of a nuclear waste fire triggered by a quake or a planned attack, experts writing in the journal Science said.