Core findings from the NAS study, “Lessons Learned from the Fukushima Nuclear Accident for Improving the Safety of U.S. Nuclear Plants,” validate the actions that the nuclear industry has initiated in recent years to be ready to manage plants if extreme natural events occur that may exceed a plant’s design basis.
“The U.S. nuclear energy industry began taking steps within days of the Fukushima Daiichi accident to ensure that U.S. reactors could respond to events that may challenge safe operation of the facilities,” said Anthony Pietrangelo, senior vice president and chief nuclear officer at the Nuclear Energy Institute. Safety enhancements the industry has completed over the past three years include:
- Implementing a diverse and flexible coping capability, or “FLEX,” an effective, efficient and reliable way to make U.S. nuclear energy facilities even safer. FLEX addresses the critical problems encountered at Fukushima Daiichi: loss of power with reactor and spent fuel pool cooling capability. It provides an additional layer of backup power and water after an extreme event by stationing vital emergency equipment—generators, battery packs, pumps, air compressors and battery chargers—in multiple locations.
- Opening two National Response Centers, in Phoenix and Memphis, Tenn., capable of delivering complete sets of emergency equipment to help facilities respond safely to extreme events no matter what causes them. Equipment at the response centers supplements permanent safety systems built into nuclear energy facilities and multiple sets of portable, backup safety equipment already positioned at the facilities.
- Ensuring that storage pools for used nuclear fuel rods are protected at all times, including adding backup sources of cooling water.
In 2007, wildfires ravaged 380,000 acres of California and prompted the evacuation of 300,000 people. During the evacuation of areas around the San Onofre nuclear energy facility, state and local emergency responders drew upon the relationships and communications links established through their experience with nuclear energy facility emergency preparedness.
As the knowledge and analyses of severe natural events increases, the U.S. nuclear energy industry is reexamining the impact of earthquakes and floods and taking measures to keep those facilities safe.
With two NRC commissioners departing, is there any chance that the Obama administration will stop blocking nuclear energy? Unlikely. Democratic lawyers are taking both spots. Usually departing staffers of Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) go to progressive anti-nuclear think tanks like Center for American Progress, but Jeff Baran, with no degree in science of any kind, is instead going to help guide our nuclear energy policy. Stephen Burns is a former NRC general counsel.
Source: Nuclear Energy Institute
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