NRC Prioritizes Potential Changes for Power Plants Following Japan Disaster

Oyster Creek Generating Station will soon have to address various issues after the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) voted on recommendations that should be implemented “without delay” in response to the Japanese reactor events, NRC spokesperson Neil Sheehan said.

“The approved plan calls for the changes to be carried out via orders, rulemakings (the development of new regulations) and NRC requests for plant-specific information,” Sheehan said in an e-mail.

Following the disaster at Fukushima Daiichi last March, the NRC established a Japan Task Force to determine potential necessary changes at U.S. nuclear power plants, he said. Near-term recommendations were issued in July and the NRC was asked to prioritize the recommendations.

Sheehan said top priorities in the plan include seismic and flooding hazard re-evaluations; seismic and flooding plant walkdowns (physically assessing any vulnerabilities); checks on hardened vents for Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) Mark I and II designs (including Oyster Creek); emergency planning regulatory actions (specifically with respect to staffing and communications); and assessments of Station Blackout (loss of off-site power and on-site emergency back-up power) response capabilities.

“Many of those issues are not issues here at Oyster Creek. We’re confident in the plant’s integrity with a number of those things,” plant spokesperson Suzanne D’Ambrosio said.

The NRC will now move ahead on implementing changes by developing different timeframes and milestones for each of the recommendations, Sheehan said. A combination of orders and letters will be sent to plant owners requiring a response and rulemaking.

“We will do what we need to do as our regulators require and also as we as an independent corporation and as an industry determine what needs to be done,” D’Ambrosio said. “We stand by the integrity of the plant and the safety systems designed in Oyster Creek. We’re confident at this point. Which isn’t to say we’re not taking a role in this. We are taking an active role at looking at Fukushima and the lessons to be learned.”

Janet Tauro, co-chair of Grandmothers, Mothers and More for Energy Safety, complimented the NRC Task Force on “a job well done.”

“These are issues that as citizens we have brought up as safety issues in NRC hearings and particular events,” she said. “These are things we’ve been talking about for a very long time so its great that the NRC is finally getting around to mandating updating safety procedures.”

But the reevaluation of seismic vulnerability is still a concern, Tauro said.

“In the case of Oyster Creek, there is no seismic viability,” she said.

Over a week ago, the plant’s manufacturer General Electric announced that the boiler water reactors would likely fail in the event of an earthquake because the control rods would malfunction, Tauro said.

The control rods deploy to stop nuclear reaction, but if the earthquake causes a shift, the rods would go down into the cylinder, she explained.

“That’s a huge problem,” Tauro said.

Tauro said Oyster creek should have been addressing these issues all along.

“They shouldn’t wait to be ordered to do it. These are risks they should have been assessing from day one,” she said. “This is typical of the way the plant has reacted. Safety last, profit first.”

The Commission’s vote and the policy issue on recommendation prioritization can be found in the PDF section of this article.

The NRC is also performing a long-term Fukushima lessons learned review, Sheehan said. The charter for the review was issued on Wednesday and is also attached as a PDF.