Divisions Shown in Nuclear Commission

[flamingdem]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704322804576303444178441506.html?mod=WSJ_topics_obama

By STEPHEN POWER And TENNILLE TRACY

A congressional hearing Wednesday revealed sharp divisions within the Nuclear Regulatory Commission as it re-examines the safety of the U.S. nuclear-power industry in the wake of the events that crippled a nuclear-power plant in Japan.

Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko in recent days has publicly questioned if U.S. reactors needed to install more emergency power, a potentially expensive step. Mr. Jaczko has also suggested that the commission should examine the industry's flood preparedness and methods for storing spent fuel, both issues connected to the problems at the Fukushima Daiichi plant after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

But on Wednesday, Mr. Jaczko's leadership came under attack at a House hearing where Republican lawmakers accused him of improperly delaying a decision on the fate of a proposed nuclear-waste repository in Nevada's Yucca Mountain. Some of the chairman's fellow commissioners also acknowledged they have disagreed with Mr. Jaczko over certain aspects of his handling of the proposed repository.

"The chairman...appears to me to be playing some sort of foot-dragging game" on Yucca Mountain, said Rep. Joe Barton (R., Texas).

Mr. Jaczko defended his actions as lawful and said it would be a "tremendous waste of money" for the NRC to devote extensive resources to reviewing the project, given that the Obama administration has called for killing it and has already closed the Department of Energy office that had been in charge of managing it. MORE AT LINK

[flamingdem]

1. The battles at the NRC come amid a 90-day review examining safety of US nuke plants...

(con't)The battles at the NRC come amid a 90-day review at the agency examining safety of U.S. nuclear plants in light of the Fukushima Daiichi accident.

At an NRC hearing last week, Mr. Jaczko questioned whether it is reasonable to assume that U.S. facilities would be able to access reliable power within a matter of hours. Dozens of U.S. nuclear plants rely on batteries for emergency power. The NRC assumes those facilities will be able to access reliable power—either by reconnecting to the grid or jump-starting diesel generators—within four hours of losing power.

At Fukushima Daiichi, the earthquake and tsunami knocked out primary power and backup generators, hobbling the reactors' cooling systems. In response, congressional Democrats have introduced legislation that would require nuclear plant owners to have 72-hour batteries and 14 days of fuel for backup diesel generators.

A spokesman for the Nuclear Energy Institute, which represents the U.S. nuclear power industry, said it was appropriate for the NRC to review technical requirements. He said U.S. nuclear power plants "have clearly demonstrated the ability to maintain plant safety" during extreme weather events, including the tornadoes last week when a plant in Alabama lost primary power but shut down properly using diesel generators and batteries. --- snip

[enough]

2. k&r (nt)