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Tuesday, March 22, 2011

NRC Leaders Offer Positive Assessment of U.S. Nuclear Plant Safety and Recent Developments at Damaged Japanese Plant

Blog Post: NRC Leaders Offer Positive Assessment of U.S. Nuclear Plant Safety and Recent Developments at Damaged Japanese Plant

Members and staff of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission reiterated that they believe American nuclear reactors are safe Monday at a briefing at NRC headquarters on the accidents afflicting Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
The agency offered a cautiously positive assessment of recent developments at the Japanese plant, where efforts have progressed to restore power to six reactors and quench spent-fuel pools.
“I would say, optimistically, that things appear to be on the verge of stabilizing,” said NRC executive director for operations William Borchardt.
The agency sent several staff members to Japan as part of USAID efforts to help the country following a magnitude 9 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear plant blackout March 11. Members of the agency also have tracked events from its headquarters and testified before Congress in recent days regarding U.S. plants' safeguards against natural disasters.
Borchardt reiterated that the agency believes its licensing, inspections and design safeguards required for American nuclear plants make them safe to operate. When asked by Commissioner George Apostolakis why the agency hasn’t considered halting operations at older plants, as the government of Germany did last week, Borchardt replied that the plants are assessed frequently, and that each time the latest information indicated they were safe to operate.
In light of the events in Japan, the agency is expected to undertake a 90-day review of safety systems at all 104 commercial U.S. nuclear reactors, per an earlier request by President Barack Obama.
“On the one hand, I believe that our existing licensing and oversight activities assure us that our commercial nuclear power plants in this country are safe. On the other hand, I know that we must, and that we most certainly will, conduct a thoughtful and rational examination of the NRC’s regulatory framework with the information and lessons learned resulting from the incidents in Japan,” Commissioner William C. Ostendorff said during the meeting.
View a webcast of the meeting in its entirety at the NRC’s website.

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