Representative Edward Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, has faulted U.S. oversight of reactor safety. Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, both California Democrats, have called on the NRC to examine nuclear power plants located in areas of seismic activity. In June, rising waters of the Missouri River in Nebraska threatened to breach flood walls protecting two nuclear plants.

Nuke industry weighing $1B emergency response plan, Fuel Fix, By Brian Wingfield, 8 July 11 (Bloomberg) — The U.S. nuclear-power industry is considering a $1 billion plan that would create regional centers to store equipment for delivery to reactors within 24 hours of an emergency. 

The centers would be stocked with portable pumps and generators, radiation-monitoring equipment, anti-contamination clothing, spare batteries and flashlights, Adrian Heymer, director of strategic programs at the Nuclear Energy Institute, a Washington-based industry group, said in an interview this week.

The plan, which may also store equipment and station personnel at power plants, might cost the industry an average of $8 million to $10 million for each of the 104 commercial U.S. reactors over the next 10 years, Heymer said.

The U.S. nuclear industry is developing plans as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission prepares to release on July 19 a review of reactor safety after Japan’s March disaster. ……..Representative Edward Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, has faulted U.S. oversight of reactor safety. Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, both California Democrats, have called on the NRC to examine nuclear power plants located in areas of seismic activity. In June, rising waters of the Missouri River in Nebraska threatened to breach flood walls protecting two nuclear plants…http://fuelfix.com/blog/2011/07/07/nuke-industry-weighing-1b-emergency-response-plan/