A allied task force set up following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan says not immediate changes are needed to enhance the safety of nuclear reactors in the United States. But it mentioned it expects to suggest alterations while it completes its learn in 60 days.
"As we stand today, the task force has not identified anyone issues that we meditation would undermine our trust in the proceeded safety and emergency planning for nuclear plants in this nation," task force chairman Charles Miller told the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Thursday. "That said, we do anticipate that we're promising to have discoveries and recommendations that will further improve the safety of the nuclear plants in this nation."
But an industry watchdog team said the NRC task force namely "dragging its punches" along failing to take immediate actions to residence shortcomings.
"I think whether you're listening cautiously, they're acquainting 2 differ stories," said Ed Lyman of the Union of Concerned Scientists. "On the one hand, they say we don't need to take any immediate action. On the other hand, their inspections have rotated up problems with obedience on the amounts that are supposed to be in place to deal with caustic accidents. It doesn't sound favor the picture is very as rosy."
The NRC set up the interior task force presently following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan to invest a quick review of the incident and report on lessons that could be applied domestically. The task force will likewise brief the NRC in June and July, and its recommendations will set the stage as more in-depth studies.
An NRC official, meantime, told the commission that post-Fukushima safety inspections of U.S. nuclear plants base some lapses.
"None of the observations poses a meaningful safety issue," Martin Virgilio testified. "But there were observations that equipment namely was relied above would not begin, that it had not been nourished. There were some locations where the capability apt deal with colossal bombards and blasts ... there were discrepancies in terms of the programs, the equipment and the exercising."
The problems have been addressed, he said.
At Thursday's summarizing, the task force listed a number of areas it is exploring and gave prompts where it believes change may be needful. Among them:
Scenarios involving multiple reactors or spent fuel pools: Disaster maneuvers in the U.S. typically muse problems at an reactor alternatively warehouse facility. But the Fukushima catastrophe showed the complications of dealing with multiple, concurrent disasters, the mission compel said. "If you're dealing with a multi-unit event in the meantime, you have considerations with regard to ample staffing, how to triage, who makes determinations on how to triage and how you go almost continuing with what you absence to do 1st," Miller said.
Examining lengthy blackouts: The Fukushima event is challenging notions that power blackouts tin rapidly be decided. And the NRC needs to see at contingencies where infrastructure harm prevents quick repairs to damaged nuclear sites.
Severe accident management guidelines: The manufacture implemented the guidelines, understood as SAMGs, as a voluntary initiative in the 1990s. "Consequently, we do not reckon them as portion of the agency's routine reactor oversight process," Miller said. He said the task force placarded during its exam that the guidelines apply to the reactor core and containment architectures but do not cover spent fuel pools.
Radioactive contamination: Miller said the task force is exploring the industry's competence to have real-time radiation measurements during accidents, both on site and off site.
Potassium iodide: "If you look at the days following Fukushima, even in the United States, there were various levels of information being given out about the prophylactic secondhand of KI (potassium iodide's formula), not entire of which was discreet. And I think we need to take a look at whether further pedagogy in that regard is necessary."
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