U.S.
Eighty-four of the 99 Nuclear Regulatory Commission-licensed nuclear plants are now in compliance with new emergency response safety equipment orders the agency has implemented through its Fukushima Lessons Learned initiative, according to NRC spokesman Scott Burnell.
Compliance is up from 70 percent in September, when the agency explained in documents that it anticipated the American nuclear fleet being 87 percent compliant by the end of 2016.
The foundation for the NRC’s response to the 2011 nuclear reactor meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan is the rollout of flex equipment, which is standard, portable cooling gear now required at U.S. reactors. The Nuclear Energy Institute drew up the flex strategy, with NRC support.
The flex rollout includes a standard set of vehicles, water pumps, motors, and generators, as well the development of two national response centers in Memphis, Tenn., and Phoenix, Ariz. The agency has spent about $50 million on the project, which includes equipment and staffing support to implement the program. According to Platts, the nuclear industry has spent more than $3 billion on implementing measures to address Fukushima lessons learned, including plant modifications designed to prevent nuclear reactors and their spent fuel pools from overheating.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission in October discovered a small amount of “special nuclear material” in an unauthorized area at the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station, the agency disclosed in documents this week.
According to agency spokesman Neil Sheehan, the Oct. 6 discovery involved Local Power Range Monitors (LPRMs) found in a warehouse outside the New Jersey plant’s Protected Area. LPRMs measure levels in the reactor core, but these particular devices were not designed for use at Oyster Creek, according to Sheehan, who said the devices contain less than a gram of special nuclear material. After the discovery, the devices were moved inside the plant’s protected area, which, according to Sheehan, is a fenced-in, highly secure area in the reactor building. The NRC has not taken any regulatory action against Exelon, the owner of the plant.
“Given the small amount of material involved and the fact that it had not been irradiated, there is no health and safety risk for plant workers or the public,” Sheehan wrote.
Oyster Creek, the country’s oldest operational nuclear power plant, is set to close by the end of 2019.
“An inspection of the entire warehouse was completed to ensure there were no other similar stored materials,” Exelon spokeswoman Suzanne D’Ambrosio wrote in an email Friday, noting the absence of any radiological threats to the public or employees. “This event was entered into the Station’s robust Corrective Action Program (CAP) to prevent reoccurrence.”
