On Campus: Student Opinion Survey
Russellville’s Nuclear Plant
By Pauline Kuhn Ortega
The sudden crisis in Japan – the earthquake and huge tsunami which killed thousands and left millions affected by a lack of water, electricity, and transportation – also undermined the integrity of the Fukushima nuclear reactor complex. Wondering how much UA Fort Smith students worried about Arkansas Nuclear One just down the road in Russellville, I polled several students to get their opinions about how safe and secure the facility is.
Michael Payne, freshman:
“…[it’s] something I never really think about. It is not on a fault line or in a disaster area. Safety issue could be that the safety regulations are old for the cooling systems.”
Jeremy Green, freshman:
“…don't think about it that much. Anything with nuclear is not necessarily unsafe but we should be cautious.”
Ashley Hight, junior:
“Probably safe… I have thought about it, when we had earthquakes, and even more so with the tornados.”
Odis Stephens, sophomore:
“I've had people tell me things who work there, like aunts and other family, but it's doing its job and they do have regular maintenance.”
Matt Robinson, junior:
“I don't think it's much of a threat…could be other things to cause a malfunction. But I think we are doing alright.”
Jordan Burnett, WATC:
“It's not by an ocean so it's not so risky. I'm still concerned about how safe it is but not about natural disasters.”
Anonymous, senior:
“No place on the face of the earth is disaster proof…this plant is not too far from a fault line, and tornadoes do plague the area. But those will probably not cause a melt down.”
