The Nuclear Regulatory Commission was to meet this week to give the interested public an update on its plans for fully resuming antiterrorism drills at nuclear power plants, according to a meeting notice.
During the meeting, to be held virtually Thursday, NRC’s security and incident response office will discuss how the agency will conduct its force-on-force inspections at nuclear plants “with tiered approaches to account for COVID conditions,” according to the meeting notice. Representatives from the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), Union of Concerned Scientists, NextEra and Entergy will also be present, the notice said.
NRC resumed in-person force-on-force inspections in March — they had previously been suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The agency said in February that it had been conducting the antiterrorism drills in a limited capacity, allowing site staff to participate as needed and simulating some exercises.
Since the pandemic began, NRC has made dozens of accommodations for nuclear plants facing COVID-related staffing challenges. Between March and November of last year alone the commission granted 48 exemptions to force-on-force inspections.
According to commission guidelines, force-on-force inspections include tabletop exercises and combat drills with nuclear plant security staff designed to prepare sites for sabotage or terrorist attacks.
NRC scheduled the update with federal agencies broadly mulling a full-scale return-to-the-office for most employees some time after New Year’s.
