Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Encyclopedia
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is an independent agency of the United States government
that was established by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974
from the United States Atomic Energy Commission, and was first opened January 19, 1975. The NRC oversees reactor safety and security, reactor licensing and renewal, radioactive material safety, security and licensing, and spent fuel management (storage, security, recycling, and disposal). Some observers have criticized the Commission as an example of regulatory capture
and the NRC has been accused of doing an inadequate job by the Union of Concerned Scientists
.
The NRC's regulatory mission covers three main areas:
The NRC is headed by five Commissioners appointed by the President of the United States
and confirmed by the United States Senate
for five-year terms. One of them is designated by the President to be the Chairman and official spokesperson of the Commission. The current chairman is Gregory B. Jaczko. He was first sworn in as a Commissioner on Jan. 21, 2005, and his term runs through June 2013. He was designated Chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission by President Barack Obama on May 13, 2009.
in 1975, the NRC was formed as an independent commission to take over the role of oversight of nuclear energy matters, oversight of nuclear medicine
, and nuclear safety
. The development and oversight of nuclear weapon
s was transferred to the National Nuclear Security Administration
, a subcomponent of ERDA. Research and promotion of civil uses of radioactive materials, such as for nuclear non-destructive testing, nuclear medicine, and nuclear power
, was split into the Office of Nuclear Energy, Science & Technology within ERDA by the same act. (In 1977, ERDA became the United States Department of Energy
).
, the NRC previously had five regions. In the late 1990s, the Region V office in Walnut Creek, California
was absorbed into Region IV and Region V was dissolved. The NRC is broken down into 4 regions:
These four regions oversee the operation of 104 power-producing reactors, and 36 non-power-producing reactors. This oversight is done on several levels, for example:
The NRC recognizes the industry's training and accreditation through the Training Rule, which was issued in 1993.
The NRC observes the National Nuclear Accrediting Board accrediting board meetings, and conducts audits and training inspections. In addition, the NRC nominates some members of the National Nuclear Accrediting Board. The National Nuclear Accrediting Board is not a government body, but related to the National Academy for Nuclear Training, created in 1985, which integrates and standardizes the training efforts of the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations
(INPO) and all U.S. nuclear power plants.
Terrorist attacks such as those executed by Al-Qaeda
in New York on September 11, 2001 and in London on July 7, 2005
have prompted fears that extremist groups might use radioactive dirty bomb
s in further attacks in the United States and elsewhere.
In March 2007, undercover investigators from the Government Accountability Office
set up a false company and obtained a license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that would have allowed them to buy the radioactive materials needed for a dirty bomb. According to the GAO report, NRC officials did not visit the company or attempt to personally interview its executives. Instead, within 28 days, the NRC mailed the license to the West Virginia postal box. Upon receipt of the license, GAO officials were able to easily modify its stipulations, and remove a limit on the amount of radioactive material they could buy. A spokesman for the NRC said that the agency considered the radioactive devices a "lower-level threat"; a bomb built with the materials could have contaminated an area about the length of a city block, but would not have presented an immediate health hazard.
was dissolved because it was perceived as unduly favoring the industry it was charged with regulating, and the NRC "seems to have fallen into the same trap". A 1987 Congressional report entitled "NRC Coziness with Industry" concluded that the NRC "has not maintained an arms length regulatory posture with the commercial nuclear power industry... [and] has, in some critical areas, abdicated its role as a regulator altogether". To cite just three examples:
According to Byrne and Hoffman, since the 1980s the NRC has generally favored the interests of nuclear industry and has been unduly responsive to industry concerns. The NRC has often failed to pursue tough regulation. At the same time, it has sought to hamper or deny public access to the regulatory process and created new barriers to public participation.
According to Frank N. von Hippel
, despite the 1979 Three Mile Island accident
in Pennsylvania, the NRC has often been too timid in ensuring that America’s 104 commercial reactors are operated safely:
There are many forms of regulatory failure, including regulations on the books which lie dormant by the common consent of regulators and industry:
In 2007, Barack Obama
, then running for president, said that the five-member Nuclear Regulatory Commission had become "captive of the industries that it regulates" and a nuclear policy analyst at Greenpeace USA has called the agency approval process a "rubber stamp".
In Vermont, the day before the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
that damaged Japan's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, the NRC approved a 20-year extension for the license of Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant
, although the Vermont state legislature voted overwhelmingly to deny an extension. The plant had been found to be leaking radioactive materials
through a network of underground pipes, which Entergy
had denied under oath even existed. Tony Klein, chairman of the Vermont House
Natural Resources and Energy Committee asked the NRC about the pipes at a hearing in 2009 and the NRC did not even know they existed.
On March 17, 2011, the Union of Concerned Scientists
(UCS) released a study critical of the NRC's 2010 performance as a regulator. The UCS said that over the years, it had found the NRC's enforcement of safety rules has not been “timely, consistent, or effective" and it cited 14 "near-misses" at U.S. plants in 2010 alone.
In April 2011, Reuters reported that the NRC exists to police, not promote, the domestic nuclear industry -- but diplomatic cables show that it is sometimes used as a sales tool to help push American technology to foreign governments, when "lobbying for the purchase of equipment made by Westinghouse and other domestic manufacturers". This gives the appearance of a regulator which is acting in a commercial capacity, "raising concerns about a potential conflict of interest".
San Clemente Green, an environmental group opposed to the continued operation of the San Onofre Nuclear Plant, says that instead of being a watchdog, the NRC too often rules in favor nuclear plant operators.
Edward J. Markey, Democrat of Massachusetts, has been a longtime critic of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. He has been critical of the NRC's decision-making on the proposed Westinghouse AP1000 reactor design and the NRC response to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster
.
In July 2011, Mark Cooper said that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is "on the defensive to prove it is doing its job of ensuring safety".
In October 2011, Gregory B. Jaczko, chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, described "a tension between wanting to move in a timely manner on regulatory questions, and not wanting to go too fast".
The petitioners also are asking the NRC to supplement its own investigation by establishing an independent commission comparable to that set up in the wake of the serious, though less severe, 1979 Three Mile Island accident
. The petitioners include Public Citizen
, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy
, and San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace.
Nuclear safety rules in the United States do not adequately weigh the risk of a single event that would knock out electricity from the grid and from emergency generators, as a quake and tsunami recently did in Japan, Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials said in June 2011.
In October 2011, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission instructed agency staff to move forward with seven of the 12 safety recommendations put forward by the federal task force in July. The recommendations include "new standards aimed at strengthening operators’ ability to deal with a complete loss of power, ensuring plants can withstand floods and earthquakes and improving emergency response capabilities". The new safety standards will take up to five years to fully implement.
In November 2011, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commissioner Gregory Jaczko warned power companies against complacency and said the agency must "push ahead with new rules prompted by a nuclear crisis in Japan while also resolving long-running issues involving fire protection and a new analysis of earthquake risks".
Independent agencies of the United States government
Independent agencies of the United States federal government are those agencies that exist outside of the federal executive departments...
that was established by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974
Energy Reorganization Act of 1974
The Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 is a United States federal law that established the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, a single agency, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, had responsibility for the development and production of nuclear weapons and for both...
from the United States Atomic Energy Commission, and was first opened January 19, 1975. The NRC oversees reactor safety and security, reactor licensing and renewal, radioactive material safety, security and licensing, and spent fuel management (storage, security, recycling, and disposal). Some observers have criticized the Commission as an example of regulatory capture
Regulatory capture
In economics, regulatory capture occurs when a state regulatory agency created to act in the public interest instead advances the commercial or special interests that dominate the industry or sector it is charged with regulating. Regulatory capture is a form of government failure, as it can act as...
and the NRC has been accused of doing an inadequate job by the Union of Concerned Scientists
Union of Concerned Scientists
The Union of Concerned Scientists is a nonprofit science advocacy group based in the United States. The UCS membership includes many private citizens in addition to professional scientists. James J...
.
Mission
The NRC's mission is to regulate the nation's civilian use of byproduct, source, and special nuclear materials to ensure adequate protection of public health and safety, to promote the common defense and security, and to protect the environment.The NRC's regulatory mission covers three main areas:
- Reactors - Commercial reactors for generating electric power and research and test reactors used for research, testing, and training
- Materials - Uses of nuclear materials in medical, industrial, and academic settings and facilities that produce nuclear fuel
- Waste - Transportation, storage, and disposal of nuclear materials and waste, and decommissioning of nuclear facilities from service
The NRC is headed by five Commissioners appointed by the President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
and confirmed by the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
for five-year terms. One of them is designated by the President to be the Chairman and official spokesperson of the Commission. The current chairman is Gregory B. Jaczko. He was first sworn in as a Commissioner on Jan. 21, 2005, and his term runs through June 2013. He was designated Chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission by President Barack Obama on May 13, 2009.
History
The NRC was one component of the United States Atomic Energy Commission prior to 1975. When the U.S. AEC became the Energy Research and Development AdministrationEnergy Research and Development Administration
The United States Energy Research and Development Administration was a United States government organization formed from the split of the Atomic Energy Commission in 1975...
in 1975, the NRC was formed as an independent commission to take over the role of oversight of nuclear energy matters, oversight of nuclear medicine
Nuclear medicine
In nuclear medicine procedures, elemental radionuclides are combined with other elements to form chemical compounds, or else combined with existing pharmaceutical compounds, to form radiopharmaceuticals. These radiopharmaceuticals, once administered to the patient, can localize to specific organs...
, and nuclear safety
Nuclear safety
Nuclear safety covers the actions taken to prevent nuclear and radiation accidents or to limit their consequences. This covers nuclear power plants as well as all other nuclear facilities, the transportation of nuclear materials, and the use and storage of nuclear materials for medical, power,...
. The development and oversight of nuclear weapon
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
s was transferred to the National Nuclear Security Administration
National Nuclear Security Administration
The United States National Nuclear Security Administration is part of the United States Department of Energy. It works to improve national security through the military application of nuclear energy...
, a subcomponent of ERDA. Research and promotion of civil uses of radioactive materials, such as for nuclear non-destructive testing, nuclear medicine, and nuclear power
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
, was split into the Office of Nuclear Energy, Science & Technology within ERDA by the same act. (In 1977, ERDA became the United States Department of Energy
United States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...
).
Regions
Currently Headquartered in Rockville, MarylandRockville, Maryland
Rockville is the county seat of Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It is a major incorporated city in the central part of Montgomery County and forms part of the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area. The 2010 U.S...
, the NRC previously had five regions. In the late 1990s, the Region V office in Walnut Creek, California
Walnut Creek, California
Walnut Creek is an incorporated city located east of the city of Oakland. It lies in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. While not as large as neighboring Concord, Walnut Creek serves as the business and entertainment hub for the neighboring cities within central Contra Costa...
was absorbed into Region IV and Region V was dissolved. The NRC is broken down into 4 regions:
- Region I, located in King of Prussia, PennsylvaniaKing of Prussia, PennsylvaniaKing of Prussia is a census-designated place in Upper Merion Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population was 19,936. The community took its name in the 18th century from a local tavern named the King of Prussia Inn, which was named after...
, oversees the north-eastern United States. - Region II, located in Atlanta, GeorgiaAtlanta, GeorgiaAtlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
, oversees the south-eastern United States. - Region III, located in Lisle, IllinoisLisle, IllinoisLisle is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. The population was 22,930 at the 2011 census, and estimated to be 23,135 as of 2008. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Illinois Technology and Research Corridor...
, oversees the northern mid-western United States - Region IV, located in Arlington, TexasArlington, TexasArlington is a city in Tarrant County, Texas within the Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area. According to the 2010 census results, the city had a population of 365,438, making it the third largest municipality in the Metroplex...
, oversees the southern midwestern and the western United States.
These four regions oversee the operation of 104 power-producing reactors, and 36 non-power-producing reactors. This oversight is done on several levels, for example:
- Each power-producing reactor site has Resident Inspectors, who monitor day to day operations
- Numerous special inspection teams, with many different specialties, routinely conduct inspections at each site
- WhistleblowerWhistleblowerA whistleblower is a person who tells the public or someone in authority about alleged dishonest or illegal activities occurring in a government department, a public or private organization, or a company...
reports are investigated by the Office of Enforcement, specifically the Allegations branch
Training and accreditation
The NRC observes the National Nuclear Accrediting Board accrediting board meetings, and conducts audits and training inspections. In addition, the NRC nominates some members of the National Nuclear Accrediting Board. The National Nuclear Accrediting Board is not a government body, but related to the National Academy for Nuclear Training, created in 1985, which integrates and standardizes the training efforts of the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations
Institute of Nuclear Power Operations
The Institute of Nuclear Power Operations , headquartered in the Atlanta suburb of Marietta, GA, is an organization established in 1979 by the U.S. nuclear power industry in response to recommendations by the Kemeny Commission Report, following the investigation of the Three Mile Island Unit 2 event...
(INPO) and all U.S. nuclear power plants.
Terrorism threats
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
in New York on September 11, 2001 and in London on July 7, 2005
7 July 2005 London bombings
The 7 July 2005 London bombings were a series of co-ordinated suicide attacks in the United Kingdom, targeting civilians using London's public transport system during the morning rush hour....
have prompted fears that extremist groups might use radioactive dirty bomb
Dirty bomb
A dirty bomb is a speculative radiological weapon that combines radioactive material with conventional explosives. The purpose of the weapon is to contaminate the area around the explosion with radioactive material, hence the attribute "dirty"....
s in further attacks in the United States and elsewhere.
In March 2007, undercover investigators from the Government Accountability Office
Government Accountability Office
The Government Accountability Office is the audit, evaluation, and investigative arm of the United States Congress. It is located in the legislative branch of the United States government.-History:...
set up a false company and obtained a license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that would have allowed them to buy the radioactive materials needed for a dirty bomb. According to the GAO report, NRC officials did not visit the company or attempt to personally interview its executives. Instead, within 28 days, the NRC mailed the license to the West Virginia postal box. Upon receipt of the license, GAO officials were able to easily modify its stipulations, and remove a limit on the amount of radioactive material they could buy. A spokesman for the NRC said that the agency considered the radioactive devices a "lower-level threat"; a bomb built with the materials could have contaminated an area about the length of a city block, but would not have presented an immediate health hazard.
Criticism
The Atomic Energy CommissionAtomic Energy Commission
Many countries have or have had an Atomic Energy Commission. These include:* Australian Atomic Energy Commission * Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission * Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique...
was dissolved because it was perceived as unduly favoring the industry it was charged with regulating, and the NRC "seems to have fallen into the same trap". A 1987 Congressional report entitled "NRC Coziness with Industry" concluded that the NRC "has not maintained an arms length regulatory posture with the commercial nuclear power industry... [and] has, in some critical areas, abdicated its role as a regulator altogether". To cite just three examples:
A 1986 Congressional report found that NRC staff had provided valuable technical assistance to the utility seeking an operating license for the controversial Seabrook plant. In the late 1980s, the NRC 'created a policy' of non-enforcement by asserting its discretion not to enforcement with license conditions; between September 1989 and 1994, the 'NRC has either waived or chosen not to enforce regulations at nuclear power reactors over 340 times'. Finally, critics charge that the NRC has ceded important aspects of regulatory authority to the industry's own Institute for Nuclear Power Operations (INPO), an organization formed by utilities in response to the Three Mile Island Accident.
According to Byrne and Hoffman, since the 1980s the NRC has generally favored the interests of nuclear industry and has been unduly responsive to industry concerns. The NRC has often failed to pursue tough regulation. At the same time, it has sought to hamper or deny public access to the regulatory process and created new barriers to public participation.
According to Frank N. von Hippel
Frank N. von Hippel
Frank N. von Hippel, Professor and Co-Director, Program on Science and Global Security, Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.-Positions held:...
, despite the 1979 Three Mile Island accident
Three Mile Island accident
The Three Mile Island accident was a core meltdown in Unit 2 of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania near Harrisburg, United States in 1979....
in Pennsylvania, the NRC has often been too timid in ensuring that America’s 104 commercial reactors are operated safely:
Nuclear power is a textbook example of the problem of “regulatory captureRegulatory captureIn economics, regulatory capture occurs when a state regulatory agency created to act in the public interest instead advances the commercial or special interests that dominate the industry or sector it is charged with regulating. Regulatory capture is a form of government failure, as it can act as...
” — in which an industry gains control of an agency meant to regulate it. Regulatory capture can be countered only by vigorous public scrutiny and Congressional oversight, but in the 32 years since Three Mile Island, interest in nuclear regulation has declined precipitously.
There are many forms of regulatory failure, including regulations on the books which lie dormant by the common consent of regulators and industry:
A worker (George GalatisGeorge GalatisGeorge Galatis was a senior nuclear engineer and whistleblower who reported safety problems at the Millstone 1 Nuclear Power Plant, relating to reactor refueling procedures, in 1996...
) at the Millstone nuclear power plant in Connecticut kept warning management that the spent fuel rods were being put too quickly into the spent storage pool and that the number of rods in the pool exceeded specifications. Management ignored him, so he went directly to the NRC, which eventually admitted that it knew of both of the forbidden practices, which happened at many plants, but chose to ignore them. The whistleblower was fired and blacklisted.
In 2007, Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
, then running for president, said that the five-member Nuclear Regulatory Commission had become "captive of the industries that it regulates" and a nuclear policy analyst at Greenpeace USA has called the agency approval process a "rubber stamp".
In Vermont, the day before the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
The 2011 earthquake off the Pacific coast of Tohoku, also known as the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, or the Great East Japan Earthquake, was a magnitude 9.0 undersea megathrust earthquake off the coast of Japan that occurred at 14:46 JST on Friday, 11 March 2011, with the epicenter approximately east...
that damaged Japan's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, the NRC approved a 20-year extension for the license of Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant
Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant
Vermont Yankee is a General Electric boiling water reactor type nuclear power plant currently owned by Entergy. It is located in the town of Vernon, Vermont, and generates 620 megawatts of electricity at full power. The plant began commercial operations in 1972...
, although the Vermont state legislature voted overwhelmingly to deny an extension. The plant had been found to be leaking radioactive materials
Radionuclide
A radionuclide is an atom with an unstable nucleus, which is a nucleus characterized by excess energy available to be imparted either to a newly created radiation particle within the nucleus or to an atomic electron. The radionuclide, in this process, undergoes radioactive decay, and emits gamma...
through a network of underground pipes, which Entergy
Entergy
Entergy Corporation is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations. It is headquartered in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana.-History:...
had denied under oath even existed. Tony Klein, chairman of the Vermont House
Vermont House of Representatives
The Vermont House of Representatives is the lower house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The House comprises 150 members. Vermont legislative districting divides representing districts into 66 single-member districts and 42 two-member...
Natural Resources and Energy Committee asked the NRC about the pipes at a hearing in 2009 and the NRC did not even know they existed.
On March 17, 2011, the Union of Concerned Scientists
Union of Concerned Scientists
The Union of Concerned Scientists is a nonprofit science advocacy group based in the United States. The UCS membership includes many private citizens in addition to professional scientists. James J...
(UCS) released a study critical of the NRC's 2010 performance as a regulator. The UCS said that over the years, it had found the NRC's enforcement of safety rules has not been “timely, consistent, or effective" and it cited 14 "near-misses" at U.S. plants in 2010 alone.
In April 2011, Reuters reported that the NRC exists to police, not promote, the domestic nuclear industry -- but diplomatic cables show that it is sometimes used as a sales tool to help push American technology to foreign governments, when "lobbying for the purchase of equipment made by Westinghouse and other domestic manufacturers". This gives the appearance of a regulator which is acting in a commercial capacity, "raising concerns about a potential conflict of interest".
San Clemente Green, an environmental group opposed to the continued operation of the San Onofre Nuclear Plant, says that instead of being a watchdog, the NRC too often rules in favor nuclear plant operators.
Edward J. Markey, Democrat of Massachusetts, has been a longtime critic of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. He has been critical of the NRC's decision-making on the proposed Westinghouse AP1000 reactor design and the NRC response to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster
The is a series of equipment failures, nuclear meltdowns, and releases of radioactive materials at the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, following the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami on 11 March 2011. The plant comprises six separate boiling water reactors originally designed by General Electric ,...
.
In July 2011, Mark Cooper said that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is "on the defensive to prove it is doing its job of ensuring safety".
In October 2011, Gregory B. Jaczko, chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, described "a tension between wanting to move in a timely manner on regulatory questions, and not wanting to go too fast".
Post-Fukushima
A total of 45 groups and individuals from across the nation are formally asking the NRC to immediately suspend all licensing and other activities at 21 proposed nuclear reactor projects in 15 states until the NRC completes a thorough post-Fukushima reactor crisis examination:
The petition seeks suspension of six existing reactor license renewal decisions (Columbia, Davis-Besse, Diablo Canyon, Indian Point, Pilgrim, and Seabrook); 13 new reactor combined construction permit and operating license decisions (Bellefonte Units 3 and 4, Bell Bend, Callaway, Calvert Cliffs, Comanche Peak,Fermi, Levy County, North Anna, Shearon Harris, South Texas, Turkey Point, Vogtle, and William States Lee);a construction permit decision (Bellefonte Units 1 and 2); and an operating license decision (Watts Bar). In addition, the petition asks the NRC to halt proceedings to approve the standardized AP1000 and ESBWR reactor designs.
The petitioners also are asking the NRC to supplement its own investigation by establishing an independent commission comparable to that set up in the wake of the serious, though less severe, 1979 Three Mile Island accident
Three Mile Island accident
The Three Mile Island accident was a core meltdown in Unit 2 of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania near Harrisburg, United States in 1979....
. The petitioners include Public Citizen
Public Citizen
Public Citizen is a non-profit, consumer rights advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., United States, with a branch in Austin, Texas. Public Citizen was founded by Ralph Nader in 1971, headed for 26 years by Joan Claybrook, and is now headed by Robert Weissman.-Lobbying Efforts:Public Citizen...
, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy
Southern Alliance for Clean Energy
The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy is a non-profit, nonpartisan energy watchdog group based in the Southeastern United States . SACE was originally organized under the name Tennessee Valley Energy Coalition in 1985...
, and San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace.
Nuclear safety rules in the United States do not adequately weigh the risk of a single event that would knock out electricity from the grid and from emergency generators, as a quake and tsunami recently did in Japan, Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials said in June 2011.
In October 2011, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission instructed agency staff to move forward with seven of the 12 safety recommendations put forward by the federal task force in July. The recommendations include "new standards aimed at strengthening operators’ ability to deal with a complete loss of power, ensuring plants can withstand floods and earthquakes and improving emergency response capabilities". The new safety standards will take up to five years to fully implement.
In November 2011, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commissioner Gregory Jaczko warned power companies against complacency and said the agency must "push ahead with new rules prompted by a nuclear crisis in Japan while also resolving long-running issues involving fire protection and a new analysis of earthquake risks".
See also
- Anti-nuclear movement in the United StatesAnti-nuclear movement in the United StatesThe anti-nuclear movement in the United States consists of more than 80 anti-nuclear groups which have acted to oppose nuclear power or nuclear weapons, or both, in the United States. These groups include the Abalone Alliance, Clamshell Alliance, Institute for Energy and Environmental Research,...
- Peter A. BradfordPeter A. BradfordPeter A. Bradford is a former member of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and former chair of the Maine and New York utility commissions. He teaches energy policy and law at the Vermont Law School and has taught at Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies...
- Gerald W. BrownGerald W. BrownGerald W. "Jerry" Brown is an American whistleblower who concerned himself with deficiencies in passive fire protection systems in US and Canadian nuclear power plants.-Thermo-Lag scandal:...
- Kenneth Monroe CarrKenneth Monroe CarrKenneth M. Carr became Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on July 1, 1989. He has been a member of the Commission since August 14, 1986. He retired from the U.S. Navy as a vice admiral on May 1, 1985, last serving as Deputy and Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief Atlantic Command...
- George GalatisGeorge GalatisGeorge Galatis was a senior nuclear engineer and whistleblower who reported safety problems at the Millstone 1 Nuclear Power Plant, relating to reactor refueling procedures, in 1996...
- Joseph HendrieJoseph HendrieJoseph M. Hendrie is a former Chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. On August 9, 1977 he was named to a four-year term on the Commission and designated as its Chairman by President Jimmy Carter...
- Institute of Nuclear Materials ManagementInstitute of Nuclear Materials ManagementThe Institute of Nuclear Materials Management is an international technical and professional organization that works to promote safe handling of nuclear material and the safe practice of nuclear materials management through publications, as well as organized presentations and meetings.The INMM's...
- Institute of Nuclear Power OperationsInstitute of Nuclear Power OperationsThe Institute of Nuclear Power Operations , headquartered in the Atlanta suburb of Marietta, GA, is an organization established in 1979 by the U.S. nuclear power industry in response to recommendations by the Kemeny Commission Report, following the investigation of the Three Mile Island Unit 2 event...
- List of nuclear reactors in the United States
- Nuclear and radiation accidentsNuclear and radiation accidentsA nuclear and radiation accident is defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency as "an event that has led to significant consequences to people, the environment or the facility...
- Nuclear accidents in the United StatesNuclear accidents in the United StatesAccording to a 2010 survey of energy accidents, there have been at least 56 accidents near nuclear reactors in the United States . The most serious of these was the Three Mile Island accident in 1979...
- Nuclear Implosions: The Rise and Fall of the Washington Public Power Supply SystemNuclear Implosions: The Rise and Fall of the Washington Public Power Supply SystemNuclear Implosions: The Rise and Fall of the Washington Public Power Supply System is a 2008 book by Daniel Pope, a history professor at the University of Oregon, which traces the history of the Washington Public Power Supply System, a public agency which undertook to build five large nuclear power...
- Nuclear Information and Resource ServiceNuclear Information and Resource ServiceThe Nuclear Information and Resource Service is an anti-nuclear group founded in 1978 to be the information and networking center for citizens and organizations concerned about nuclear power, radioactive waste, radiation and sustainable energy issues...
- Nuclear power in the United States
- Nuclear safety in the United StatesNuclear safety in the United StatesNuclear safety in the U.S. is governed by federal regulations and continues to be studied by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission . The safety of nuclear plants and materials controlled by the U.S...
- Nuclear safety in the United States#Emergency Classifications
External links
- NRC website
- NRC public blog
- List of power-producing nuclear reactors
- List of non-power-producing reactors
- Canceled Nuclear Units Ordered in the United States
- Nuclear Regulatory Commission Meeting Notices and Rule Changes from The Federal Register
- The future of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in the Bulletin of the Atomic ScientistsBulletin of the Atomic ScientistsThe Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists is a nontechnical online magazine that covers global security and public policy issues, especially related to the dangers posed by nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction...