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US Nuclear Regulators To Vote On Proposal To Review Japan Crisis, Assess US Safety
Date : 03/21/2011 @ 12:21PM
Source : Dow Jones News

http://ih.advfn.com/p.php?pid=nmona&article=46958493

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is expected to vote today on a proposal that directs nuclear officials to conduct a 90-day review of events at Japan's Fukushima power plant and to identify potential new rules for the U.S. nuclear industry.

This 90-day review marks one of the first formal steps taken by the commission to digest incoming information on the Japanese nuclear crisis and to determine whether the U.S. needs to adopt new standards at its own facilities as a result.

In the meantime, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is also conducting "temporary" inspections of the 104 nuclear reactors in the U.S. to assess their ability to respond to severe accidents -- namely, to determine whether they can deal with total losses of power, mitigate problems associated with flooding and deal with equipment losses due to seismic events.

The commission will also outline goals for a longer-term review of the Japanese crisis and the safety of the U.S. industry.

The 90-day review, meanwhile, will include an evaluation of the ability of reactors to respond to station blackouts and severe accidents. It will also involve a radiological consequent analysis, said Bill Borchardt, NRC's executive director for operations.

The review "will evaluate all of the currently available information from the Japanese event and look at it to evaluate our 104 operating reactors' ability to protect against natural disasters," Borchardt said during a briefing Monday.

The NRC's commissioners are expected to vote on the 90-day review proposal today. The proposal should be made public shortly thereafter, an NRC spokesman said.

Within the 30 days of the review, NRC staff will deliver a "quick look" report to the commissioners that outlines the condition of the U.S. fleet of nuclear reactors. "The idea is just to get a quick snapshot," Borchardt said.

Given the time constraints of the 30-day review, Borchardt said the commission will not collaborate with the nuclear industry on its initial quick-look report.

Following both the temporary inspections and the 90-day review, the commission will determine whether it needs to adopt new rules or standards.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is also evaluating updated seismic information, from the U.S. Geological Survey, for the central and eastern United States.

As more information about the Japanese nuclear disaster becomes available, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will conduct a long-term analysis to identify possible areas of future research and potential changes to the reactor oversight program. This review could also lead to new rules.

Borchardt said he did not know when the commission will launch this long-term review but that it will welcome "substantial stakeholder involvement" when it does.

-By Tennille Tracy, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6619; [e-mail]