nuclear-news

USA’s new nuclear regulations will take years to be developed

Analysis: After Fukushima, glacial change seen for U.S. nuclear, (Reuters) 11 July 11, – The U.S. nuclear industry this week gets its first peek at a roadmap for new regulations that ultimately could cost it billions in the wake of Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi disaster.

But the bottom-line impact of Fukushima on the U.S. fleet of 104 reactors could take most of the next decade to calculate.

Most expect Tuesday’s report from a task force of senior staff members at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to be just the first step in years of deliberations and rule-makings…….

The last time the NRC did this kind of regulatory soul-search — after the September 11, 2001, attacks — it took a decade to get the entire plan in place.

After Fukushima, the world’s worst nuclear accident in 25 years, the NRC is expected to step up requirements for U.S. plants to be able keep running even if they lose power for days or weeks.

“I do think that the industry is expecting to make some changes that will cost a great deal of money,” said Craven Crowell, a former chairman of the Tennessee Valley Authority, a government-owned utility, who has worked in the nuclear industry for more than 30 years.

The changes could be expensive for plant owners, such as Exelon, Entergy, and PG&E, and could affect the first new plants planned in 30 years — Southern Co’s Vogtle plant in Georgia and SCANA Corp’s plant in South Carolina.

The NRC has so far ignored public calls to hold off on renewing operating licenses for aging plants and making decisions on new reactor designs until the Fukushima reviews are complete.

THIS WILL TAKE YEARS…….

“We want a procedure set up so that new licenses and renewed licenses are not approved unless there’s an opportunity for public participation,” said Diane Curran, a public interest lawyer in Washington who has represented groups fighting power plants for 30 years.

The NRC needs to take its time to fully examine whether its rules and inspections need to be ratcheted up to deal with disasters that go beyond the “design basis” that plants are currently required to live up to, Curran said.

“It does seem to be one of the lessons of the Fukushima accident that the whole regulatory program needs to shift,” she said…… http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/11/us-usa-nuclear-taskforce-idUSTRE76A0GV20110711?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews

July 11, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA