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Major Energy and Environmental News and Commentary affecting the Nuclear Industry.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

NEI Update: Applying Lessons Learned from Fukushima

Applying Lessons Learned from Fukushima

Charles Pardee Exelon Generation Co.'s Chief Operating Officer Charles Pardee
Guest Commentary by Charles Pardee
Chief Operating Officer of
Exelon Generation Co.
Chairman of the Fukushima Response Steering Committee

Nearly a year after a massive earthquake and tsunami disabled the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan, the U.S. nuclear energy industry remains dedicated to applying lessons learned from these events to enhance safety at the nation’s 104 reactors. Over the past year, both the industry and the independent U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), have systematically reviewed the events for applicable lessons and independently assessed areas to target for safety improvements at nuclear energy facilities. These reviews complemented ongoing safety inspections at nuclear energy facilities.
As part of these reviews, the U.S. nuclear industry:
  • verified that all systems to mitigate potential damage are functioning
  • completed inspections of systems that protect plants against extreme natural events
  • is enhancing protection of used fuel storage pools
The industry independently developed a strategy that provides an effective and efficient way to apply the lessons learned from Japan’s experience. This approach, known as the “diverse and flexible coping strategy,” or FLEX, addresses the main safety problem at Fukushima—the loss of electrical power to vital cooling systems—to make U.S. facilities even safer. Using FLEX, the industry will prioritize its work so that measures that provide the greatest safety benefits are implemented first.
FLEX will provide reliable backup electrical power and cooling capability if an extreme event disables a facility’s permanent layers of safety equipment. It will provide multiple ways of obtaining power and water for the key safety functions of reactor cooling, containment integrity and spent fuel pool cooling.  The strategy is “flexible” in that it relies on portable equipment, such as additional pumps, generators, batteries and chargers, to protect against even the most unlikely events—events with forces that go beyond what the plant is designed to withstand.
One of the unique benefits of the FLEX approach is it can mitigate the consequences of a wide variety of natural phenomena and extreme events. This approach is also site-specific, taking into account the most likely threats at each facility. This allows companies to better prepare for projected events in their region, such as hurricanes in the southeast or earthquakes on the West Coast.
FLEX is just one part of a larger industry response that began almost immediately after the March 11 events in Japan and is organized by the Fukushima Response Steering Committee, a group that I chair. The committee, supported by senior electric utility executives, reactor vendors and owners groups, the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO) and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), has spent the past year ensuring that lessons from Japan are fully understood and that the industry is coordinated in its response efforts.
We based the FLEX concept on the safety and preparedness measures that were established after the events of 9/11, which included pre-positioning portable equipment to support key safety functions in the event of large fires and explosions. FLEX builds on this concept and will enable operators to maintain safety even if challenged by a wide variety of extreme events.
We presented the FLEX concept to the NRC in January and have found an emerging consensus among NRC staff, industry and key committees in Congress that this approach offers the most promise for enhancing the safety at nuclear energy facilities. The industry has unanimously voted to execute the strategy, and under NRC oversight, will implement it in a timely fashion.
We have already begun taking action: U.S. nuclear operators collectively have acquired or ordered more than 300 pieces of major equipment. Further, every company has committed to order or enter into contract for an extensive, plant-specific list of emergency equipment by March 31.
Without a doubt, we are making America’s nuclear plants even safer. With the FLEX approach, we will provide the best opportunity to achieve the greatest safety benefit in the shortest period of time.

Charles Pardee is the chief operating officer of Exelon Generation Co. and is chairman of the industry’s Fukushima Response Steering Committee. The committee is comprised of industry executives from around the nation and representatives from the Electric Power Research Institute, the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations and the Nuclear Energy Institute.

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