NRC Task Force Recommends Regulatory Overhaul for U.S. Nuclear Powerplants after Fukushima

On July 18, NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko said he would like the NRC to make a decision on each of the recommendations within 90 days, with full implementation of changes in place by 2016.

Some Key Recommendations of the NRC's Japan Task Force
• Establish a systematic and coherent regulatory framework for adequate protection.
• Require plants to re-evaluate and upgrade as necessary the seismic and flooding protection of their facilities, systems and components for each operating reactor and reconfirm the safety of their designs every 10 years.
• Strengthen station blackout-mitigation capability for existing and new reactors.
• Require additional instrumentation and seismically protected systems to provide additional cooling water to spent-fuel pools if necessary and require at least one system of electrical power to operate spent-fuel pool instrumentation and pumps at all times.
SOURCE: Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Pam Hunter McFarland was a Senior Editor of ENR and her expertise was: Sourcebooks, Environment, Labor

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