NRC should overhaul regulations to assure the public that plants are safe

Friday, July 15, 2011 | 2:01 a.m.

A special task force of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a report Wednesday calling for improved oversight and safety for American nuclear power plants.

The task force considered the catastrophe at the nuclear power plant in Japan to determine what the United States should do to protect against disaster. Although it said that such a natural event like the massive earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan was unlikely here, the task force said more could still be done in the United States.

For example, it found that the NRC had a “patchwork of regulatory requirements” that were developed over decades and didn’t necessarily get equal treatment by power plants or the agency during reviews and inspections. It called for a “logical, systemic and coherent regulatory framework” with the aim of “significantly enhancing safety.”

The task force also recommended addressing some of the issues that plagued the Japanese by improving standards to protect against flooding, earthquakes and reactor power outages.

American nuclear power industry officials didn’t embrace the recommendations but called for hearings and more study, saying that the nation’s reactors are safe. But industry officials have tried to downplay any safety concerns, even as the problems in Japan were unfolding. They have said the potential for similar problems in this country is unlikely, saying standards here are high and the likelihood of a disaster is remote.

Of course, no one thought the disaster in Japan would happen.

The NRC should examine the task force’s recommendations and give them serious consideration given the potential consequences of a nuclear accident, particularly as the nation’s nuclear reactors, which provide about 20 percent of the country’s power, are aging. The plants were designed to last 40 years and licensed to operate for that period. As the Associated Press recently reported, the licenses of 66 of the nation’s 104 reactors have been extended by the commission, most of them for 20 years.

And AP found that when the commission reviews applications to extend plants’ licenses, it doesn’t require extensive site inspections nor does it mandate tighter standards to compensate for the decades of use at the plants. The news service found that despite a string of potentially dangerous problems at nuclear power plants, federal officials have eased regulations and safety standards over the years. The fact is that there has long been a cozy relationship between the commission and the nuclear industry.

Paul Blanch, a whistleblower and nuclear safety expert, told AP that when it comes to safety, there is “a philosophical position that (federal regulators) take that’s driven by the industry and by the economics: What do we need to let those plants continue to operate? They somehow sharpen their pencil to either modify their interpretation of regulations, or they modify their assumptions in the risk assessment.”

That isn’t the way things should be done. Regulators should set safety standards and make sure they are met. It can’t be good enough to think that something bad is unlikely to happen. The events in Japan should serve as a reminder of what can happen when things go wrong with a nuclear power plant.

The commission should make sure its regulations are rigorous. The public needs to be assured that nuclear power plants are safe and can handle an emergency.