We recently issued the
draft report summarizing
several years’ worth of detailed research and analyses into what might
happen during an accident at a nuclear power plant. Now we’re heading to
the two plants we analyzed -- one in Virginia and one in Pennsylvania
-- to discuss the results with the surrounding communities.
The
project, called the State-of-the-Art Reactor Consequence Analyses, or
SOARCA, looked at situations that could disable a reactor’s normal
safety systems. The project used powerful computer programs to predict
the plants’ behavior based on decades of real-world experiments into
issues such as how reactor fuel responds during the extreme temperatures
expected during these accidents. SOARCA then plugged up-to-date
information about the plants, including the latest updates to plant
systems and operations, into the programs and examined how an accident
might unfold.
SOARCA
found that additional equipment the NRC required after the 9/11 attacks
can, if used according to plan, help prevent a reactor accident from
affecting public health. Even if accidents can’t be controlled with the
new equipment, the research came to three basic conclusions:
• Accidents occur much more slowly than we originally thought;
• Accidents release much less radioactive material that we originally thought; and
• The emergency plans every U.S. reactor has in place can keep people safe.
The
project came to some more specific conclusions about accident effects
around the two plants, Surry (southeast of Richmond, Va.), and Peach
Bottom (southeast of Lancaster, Pa.). For example, the slowly developing
nature of the accidents and the existing emergency plans would keep
everyone safe, even during uncontrolled accidents.
Some
of the NRC staff involved in SOARCA will discuss the project on Feb. 21
in Surry, Va., and then on Feb. 22 in Delta, Pa. Details are available
in the
press release .
If you have comments on the draft report, you have until March 1 to send them in. The best way to comment is through
regulations.gov ,
using Docket ID NRC-2012-0022. You can also mail comments (referencing
the Docket ID) to Cindy Bladey, Chief, Rules, Announcements, and
Directives Branch (RADB), Office of Administration, Mail Stop:
TWB-05-B01M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001. Comments can also be faxed to
301-492-3446, referencing the Docket ID.
If you submit comments in writing or in electronic form, they will be posted on the NRC website and on
regulations.gov.
The NRC will not edit or remove any identifying or contact information;
please don’t include any information you wish to keep private.
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