Skip to main content

“A Review of Our Nuclear Plants Is an Appropriate Step…”

We shouldn’t forget through all the coverage of Japan that the nuclear energy industry is still moving along here. It would be foolish for the American industry not to apply lessons learned as soon as the apparent lessons begin to reveal themselves – and the industry and Nuclear Regulatory Commission are prepared to do this.

NEI Shares Obama Call to Incorporate Safety Lessons From Japan Accident

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 17, 2011—The following is a statement by Marvin S. Fertel, president and chief executive officer at the Nuclear Energy Institute, on President Obama’s remarks today regarding the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan.

“We appreciate the President’s leadership during this difficult time for the people of Japan. Like the President, our industry recognizes that there is concern about the accident in Japan and we are providing resources and expertise to the Japanese industry to return the Fukushima plant to a safe condition. This is a very serious matter in Japan, but we echo the assessment of health experts that there is currently no health threat to the United States.

“A review of our nuclear plants is an appropriate step after an event of this scale and we expect that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will conduct its own assessment. The industry’s highest priority is the safe operation of 104 reactors in 31 states and we will incorporate lessons learned from this accident at American nuclear energy facilities. The commitment, along with the strict regulation of the industry by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, has made U.S. reactors the safest in the world.

“Even before we can get lessons learned from Japan, all companies that produce electricity at nuclear power plants are verifying their capability to maintain safety even in the face of severe adverse events.”

(This will appear on the NEI site soon.)

“A review of our nuclear plants is an appropriate step…” may seem an understatement, but the actions the industry is taking are anything but understated:

The U.S. nuclear energy industry has already started an assessment of the events in Japan and is taking steps to ensure that U.S. reactors can respond to events that may challenge safe operation of the facilities. These actions include:

  • Verify each plant’s capability to manage major challenges, such as aircraft impacts and losses of large areas of the plant due to natural events, fires or explosions. Specific actions include testing and inspecting equipment required to mitigate these events, and verifying that qualifications of operators and support staff required to implement them are current.
  • Verify each plant’s capability to manage a total loss of off-site power. This will require verification that all required materials are adequate and properly staged and that procedures are in place, and focusing operator training on these extreme events.
  • Verify the capability to mitigate flooding and the impact of floods on systems inside and outside the plant. Specific actions include verifying required materials and equipment are properly located to protect them from flood.
  • Perform walk-downs and inspection of important equipment needed to respond successfully to extreme events like fires and floods. This work will include analysis to identify any potential that equipment functions could be lost during seismic events appropriate for the site, and development of strategies to mitigate any potential vulnerabilities.

You can see the echoes of Fukushima in this list and a recognition that some events are more likely here than in Japan. The industry and the NRC already account for events like earthquakes and tsunamis in design specifications and regulations, as Japan no doubt does; still, a further accounting to develop ways to provide a greater ability to mitigate natural catastrophes can only be for the good.

A section I did not reprint here says “The accident at Fukushima Daiichi was caused, in part, by extraordinary natural forces that were outside the plant’s required design parameters.” This is so – the events in Japan were much beyond anything ever seen there.

But nuclear plants are constructed to withstand natural disasters much more potent than those historically seen in an area. After all, the most powerful earthquake will always be superseded in time. So the nuclear energy industry isn’t looking to create a regime to counter natural disaster but to enhance a regime that has been sterling to date in operating though fury and tempest.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Activists' Claims Distort Facts about Advanced Reactor Design

Below is from our rapid response team . Yesterday, regional anti-nuclear organizations asked federal nuclear energy regulators to launch an investigation into what it claims are “newly identified flaws” in Westinghouse’s advanced reactor design, the AP1000. During a teleconference releasing a report on the subject, participants urged the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to suspend license reviews of proposed AP1000 reactors. In its news release, even the groups making these allegations provide conflicting information on its findings. In one instance, the groups cite “dozens of corrosion holes” at reactor vessels and in another says that eight holes have been documented. In all cases, there is another containment mechanism that would provide a barrier to radiation release. Below, we examine why these claims are unwarranted and why the AP1000 design certification process should continue as designated by the NRC. Myth: In the AP1000 reactor design, the gap between the shield bu...

Fluor Invests in NuScale

You know, it’s kind of sad that no one is willing to invest in nuclear energy anymore. Wait, what? NuScale Power celebrated the news of its company-saving $30 million investment from Fluor Corp. Thursday morning with a press conference in Washington, D.C. Fluor is a design, engineering and construction company involved with some 20 plants in the 70s and 80s, but it has not held interest in a nuclear energy company until now. Fluor, which has deep roots in the nuclear industry, is betting big on small-scale nuclear energy with its NuScale investment. "It's become a serious contender in the last decade or so," John Hopkins, [Fluor’s group president in charge of new ventures], said. And that brings us to NuScale, which had run into some dark days – maybe not as dark as, say, Solyndra, but dire enough : Earlier this year, the Securities Exchange Commission filed an action against NuScale's lead investor, The Michael Kenwood Group. The firm "misap...

Nuclear Utility Moves Up in Credit Ratings, Bank is "Comfortable with Nuclear Strategy"

Some positive signs that nuclear utilities can continue to receive positive ratings even while they finance new nuclear plants for the first time in decades: Wells Fargo upgrades SCANA to Outperform from Market Perform Wells analyst says, "YTD, SCG shares have underperformed the Regulated Electrics (total return +2% vs. +9%). Shares trade at 11.3X our 10E EPS, a modest discount to the peer group median of 11.8X. We view the valuation as attractive given a comparatively constructive regulatory environment and potential for above-average long-term EPS growth prospects ... Comfortable with Nuclear Strategy. SCG plans to participate in the development of two regulated nuclear units at a cost of $6.3B, raising legitimate concerns regarding financing and construction. We have carefully considered the risks and are comfortable with SCG’s strategy based on a highly constructive political & regulatory environment, manageable financing needs stretched out over 10 years, strong partners...