By John Stang
Two Democratic senators this week pressed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to explain its reasoning for leaving out certain requirements in a final rule intended to safeguard nuclear power plants from flooding and earthquakes.
The commission in January voted 3-2 in favor of the rule on mitigation of beyond-design-basis events. The proceeding had been in the works since a March 2011 earthquake and tsunami caused three reactors to melt down at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in Japan.
Under the rule, reactor operators will be required to sustain cooling for reactors and spent fuel pools, along with reactor containment; even if alternating-current power sources are damaged; ensure spent fuel pool water levels can be measured after an incident; and provide resources to safeguard reactor cores and containment, plus spent fuel pools, from outside dangers.
But one criticism of the rule, including from dissenting Commissioners Stephen Burns and Jeff Baran, is that it does not require licensees to incorporate newer data on flooding and earthquake hazards in mitigation plans for beyond-design-basis events. These concerns have been amplified by climate change leading to rising sea levels, which threaten to seep seawater into coastal reactors.
Sens. Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) raised that issue Monday in a letter to NRC Chairman Kristine Svinicki and then Tuesday during a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee oversight hearing on the agency attended by all five commissioners.
“In the final rule, NRC decided to ignore staff recommendations (made in 2015 and tentatively approved in 2016) and make preventive actions to address beyond-design flooding and seismic events voluntary,” the two lawmakers wrote. “Most of industry has already addressed these issues, but not requiring mandatory action to continually address the two main issues that arose during Fukushima seems very concerning.”
On Tuesday, Whitehouse asked the commissioners whether there was “some kind of industry back door” in which nuclear corporations approached the commission after the public-comment period ended for the rule but before January’s vote.
The five NRC commissioners did not respond to Whitehouse’s comment. Svinicki, who voted in favor of the final rule with Commissioners Annie Caputo and David Wright, said she would get back to the committee on this matter.
On Thursday, an NRC spokesperson referred questions on the “back door” comment back to what the commissioners said Tuesday.
Whitehouse noted that the commission’s three Republicans voted for the voluntary option, while Democrat Baran and independent Burns voted to keep that plank mandatory.
Whitehouse’s and Carper’s letter also asked the commission to by May 1 answer several questions, including:
- Whether the commissioners received any comments outside of the formal comment period on the rule that sought to have the commission change the mandatory requirement in the 2016 draft rule to a voluntary matter in January’s final rule.
- In what way the commission evaluated the latest scientific reports on how rising sea levels will affect nuclear power plants near coastlines, along with the potential impact of heavy rains and flooding throughout the nation.
- Provide a list of when nuclear plants had to be shut down, including the duration of those outages, during the past decade due to high winds, floods, or lack available cooling water.
