US nuclear power plants are effectively implementing safety
modifications mandated by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission in
the aftermath of the devastating Fukushima I nuclear accident in
Japan in 2011, agency chairman Stephen Burns told a Platts Energy
Podium event in Washington Tuesday.
"I think there's been some good progress," said Burns.
US reactors will mostly complete in 2016 modifications ordered by
NRC in 2012 requiring that they increase their ability to handle
extreme external events such as earthquakes and flooding, Burns
said.
One of the agency's post-Fukushima orders required that a
combination of permanent, portable and offsite equipment be
available to provide water to cool reactors and supply electricity
to safety systems in such situations.
Some reactors have been given additional time to make those
modifications if they are also installing hardened vents that would
reduce the pressure in the vessel housing the reactor during a
severe accident, he noted, and analysis continues for additional
modifications that could be required at certain plants.
Burns told reporters the agency has not seen any evidence that
nuclear operators facing challenging market conditions are cutting
corners on safety, adding that his agency's system of inspections
would pick up on such behavior if it occurred.
This "is something we pay attention to," Burns said. "We aren't
seeing ... a real degradation in attention to safety" at
economically challenged plants.
Burns also said he is not aware of any change in the status of the
nomination of Jessie Roberson, a commissioner at the Defense Nuclear
Facilities Safety Board, to become the fifth NRC commissioner.
Roberson was nominated by President Barack Obama in July to the
vacant position, but the US Senate has not acted on the nomination.
Burns said the lack of a full complement of members of the
commission has not kept it from tackling any issues.
--Steven Dolley,
steven.dolley@platts.com
--William Freebairn,
william.freebairn@platts.com
--Edited by Keiron Greenhalgh,
keiron.greenhalgh@platts.com
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