The Fukushima subcommittee to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards is set to meet Wednesday to discuss a draft final rulemaking package for mitigation of beyond-design-basis events at American reactors.
Beyond-design-basis events include earthquakes and flooding like those experienced at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in 2011. The proposed rulemaking is intended to strengthen protections at U.S. plants against such events. The NRC, if the rule is approved, would require plants to comply within about two years, from 2019 to 2020, with exact dates varying for each site.
The public commented on the proposed rule until February 2016. NRC staff is considering those comments and expects to deliver a final rule to the commission next month. The meeting, to be held from 1 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at agency headquarters in Rockville, Md., will include presentations from NRC staff and the Nuclear Energy Institute.