Markey: Back-up generators failed during tests at many US nuclear plants

[suffragette]

http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/green/greenblog/2011/05/markey_back-up_generators_fail.html

Nuclear plant emergency generators that failed in Japan following the tsunami, sparking that country’s nuclear crisis, also failed during tests at Seabrook Station and at least 68 other nuclear plants in the last eight years, a new report by Massachusetts Congressman Edward Markey’s office shows.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulations also do not require emergency diesel generators to be operational when there is no fuel in a nuclear reactor core – even though it could leave spent fuel pools without any back-up cooling system in case power is lost, according to the report released this morning. In Japan, large amounts of radioactive material escaped from a spent fuel pool at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant after cooling systems failed.

NRC commissioners are receiving an update this morning from staff on nuclear plant reviews stemming from the Japanese problems and Markey, a staunch nuclear opponent, released the report in hopes of convincing the agency not to issue new license extensions for nuclear power plants until it finishes reviews and upgrades of its safety requirements.

~~~

“..An examination of NRC regulations demonstrates that flawed assumptions and under-estimation of safety risks are currently an inherent part of the NRC regulatory program, due to a long history of decisions made by prior Commissions or by the NRC staff that have all too often acquiesced to industry requests for a weakening of safety standards,’’ the report reads. “It would be unwise to move forward with any pending licensing actions before the NRC fully completes its review and upgrades of its safety requirements.”

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. Hmmm...wonder who made those generators?

[suffragette]

2. Not sure on that. Here's a link for the report from Markey

And more info about it.


http://markey.house.gov/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=4352&Itemid=125
WASHINGTON, D.C. –Congressman Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a senior member of the Energy and Commerce Committee and the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, today released a report prepared by his staff at his direction entitled “Fukushima Fallout: Regulatory Loopholes at U.S. Nuclear Power Plants”, a summary of Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) regulatory inadequacies, practices and decisions that impair effective nuclear safety oversight in the United States.

The report, created in the wake of the Japanese catastrophe, highlights the following key findings:

Widespread malfunctions and inoperability of emergency diesel generators at nuclear power plants
The absence of emergency back-up power requirements at some spent fuel pools
The absence of requirements to prevent hydrogen explosions at reactors and spent fuel pools
Outdated seismic safety requirements, even as applications for new licenses and license extensions for many nuclear reactors continue to be processed by the NRC.
“It is apparent that many of the failures of the reactor cooling systems and measures to prevent explosions that led to the meltdowns in Japan could also occur in the United States, and would not even be violations of current regulations,” said Rep. Markey. “This is unacceptable, and I believe that the NRC must halt its processing of all pending nuclear reactor licensing applications until these vulnerabilities are fully remedied.”

The report concludes that “An examination of NRC regulations demonstrates that flawed assumptions and under-estimation of safety risks are currently an inherent part of the NRC regulatory program, due to a long history of decisions made by prior Commissions or by the NRC staff that have all too often acquiesced to industry requests for a weakening of safety standards. Coupled with reports that the near-term inspections being conducted at United States nuclear power plants may be limited in scope and subject to restrictions on public disclosure, it would be unwise to move forward with any pending licensing actions before the NRC fully completes its review and upgrades its safety requirements.”

A copy of the full report can be found at http://markey.house.gov/docs/05-12-11reportfinalsmall.pdf

[MadHound]

3. That's not the only thing that failed,

Wonder how many backup water supply systems failed. I know of at least one.

[suffragette]

4. Great point

These are so dependent on all of these systems functioning, yet the reality is that they can fail and as we have seen, they do. And the results are far too dangerous for any failure rate to be acceptable.

[Exultant Democracy]

5. So then it isn't a question of if, but when.

Especially if these old reactors get another round of lifespan extensions.

[suffragette]

7. AS with any system, yes, that's the case.

[nc4bo]

6. K&R. nt