nuclear-news

Still more to be done, to decrease danger risk in USA’s nuclear reactors

US hardens nation’s power plants seven years after Fukushima nuclear disaster, Washington Examiner,   by John Siciliano | Mar 10, 2018  “…….. Seven years later, all of the nation’s 99 reactors comply with NRC regulations established in the wake of the Fukushima disaster, according to the commission.

However, the reactors that are of the same or similar design to the Japanese Daiichi power plant still have some work to do.

The commission ordered all boiling-water reactors with Mark I and Mark II designs to achieve “full compliance” with new venting requirements beginning at the end of June 2018………..

Lawsuits filed against the Japanese utility company that ran the Daiichi plant will be heard in court later this year.

More than 100 U.S. sailors and servicemen who participated in the rescue effort after the tsunami hit Japan are suing the TEPCO electricity company for not warning them about the threat of radiation after they knew of the damage to the power plant.

“The NRC was not a party to that,” said Burnell, who said the agency has not been requested by the courts to participate.

….In 2011, the commission issued warnings to U.S. citizens in Japan about the risk of radiation, directing all citizens who live within 50 miles of the Daiichi plant to evacuate. Japanese authorities downplayed the seriousness of the radiation and refuted the claims made by then-NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko.

Senior management at the NRC have visited Fukushima and interacted with their Japanese counterparts since then, Burnell said. The NRC and the Energy Department meet regularly with Japanese officials to discuss what happened.  http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/us-hardens-nations-power-plants-seven-years-after-fukushima-nuclear-disaster/article/2651239

March 12, 2018 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA