SEN. MARKEY CRITICIZES NRC STUDY ON THREATS TO SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL POOLS

Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) criticized a Nuclear Regulatory Commission draft study that said spent nuclear fuel pools were not at risk from severe earthquakes in a letter to NRC Chairman Allison Macfarlane early this week. The letter also points to a peer-reviewed study from 2003, co-written by Macfarlane, which concluded that air-cooling would be “relatively ineffective” in a dense spent fuel pool after water loss and recommended all spent nuclear fuel be moved to dry casks, as evidence to flaws in the study. Markey wrote to Macfarlane, “I believe the NRC draft is biased, inaccurate, and at odds with the conclusions of other scientific experts—including those expressed in a peer-reviewed article that was co-authored by you in 2003. I urge you to direct your staff to make appropriate revisions in order to ensure that NRC regulations designed to mitigate the consequences of an accident, natural disaster, or terrorist attack account for the true potential for the draining of and subsequent fire in and radiation release from the spent fuel pools.”

 

The NRC’s draft study, released in June, came in response to the 2011 earthquake that caused the Fukushima disaster in Japan. The NRC concluded that the pools were not in danger from severe earthquakes and calls for moving the spent nuclear fuel to dry casks would not provide any “substantial safety enhancements.” The draft study states, “The NRC continues to believe, based on this study and previous studies that spent fuel pools protect public health and safety.” A NRC spokesperson said, “We will respond to the Senator in the normal course of business.”