NRC Approves Kewaunee Emergency Preparedness Exemptions

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission officially enacted the exemptions for emergency preparedness at the Kewaunee Power Station, the NRC announced yesterday. The Commission had approved the exemptions back in August after Staff had recommended the changes would not have a significant impact on public safety. Dominion will still need to maintain an onsite emergency plan and response capabilities, but the ten mile planning zone has been eliminated.

 

The changes better reflect the risks associated with a decommissioning reactor, the NRC said. “The changes come in the form of exemptions from certain requirements in NRC’s regulations for operating nuclear power plants that may not be applicable for a plant undergoing decommissioning,” the NRC said in a release. “The NRC staff agreed with Dominion’s analyses that the exemptions are warranted because the risk of an offsite radiological release is significantly lower, and the types of possible accidents are significantly fewer, at a nuclear power reactor that has permanently ceased operations and removed fuel from the reactor vessel than at an operating power reactor.”