Guest Post from Marc Goldsmith
Knowing all of you have an interest in the current nuclear state of affairs , I thought you would find this interesting. Attached link is to the US NRC FAQ’s on the Japanese nuclear situation and the impact on US Nuclear plants:
http://www.nrc.gov/japan/faqs-
Could an accident sequence like the one at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plants happen in the US?
It is difficult to answer this question until we have a better understanding of the precise problems and conditions that faced the operators at Fukushima Daiichi. We do know, however, that Fukushima Daiichi Units 1-3 lost all offsite power and emergency diesel generators. This situation is called “station blackout.” US nuclear power plants are designed to cope with a station blackout event that involves a loss of offsite power and onsite emergency power. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s detailed regulations address this scenario. US nuclear plants are required to conduct a “coping” assessment and develop a strategy to demonstrate to the NRC that they could maintain the plant in a safe condition during a station blackout scenario. These assessments, proposed modifications to the plant, and operating procedures were reviewed and approved by the NRC. Several plants added additional AC power sources to comply with this regulation.
In addition, US nuclear plant designs and operating practices since the terrorist events of September 11, 2001, are designed to mitigate severe accident scenarios such as aircraft impact, which include the complete loss of offsite power and all on-site emergency power sources.
US nuclear plant designs include consideration of seismic events and tsunamis’. It is important not to extrapolate earthquake and tsunami data from one location of the world to another when evaluating these natural hazards.
Could an accident sequence like the one at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plants happen in the US?
It is difficult to answer this question until we have a better understanding of the precise problems and conditions that faced the operators at Fukushima Daiichi. We do know, however, that Fukushima Daiichi Units 1-3 lost all offsite power and emergency diesel generators. This situation is called “station blackout.” US nuclear power plants are designed to cope with a station blackout event that involves a loss of offsite power and onsite emergency power. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s detailed regulations address this scenario. US nuclear plants are required to conduct a “coping” assessment and develop a strategy to demonstrate to the NRC that they could maintain the plant in a safe condition during a station blackout scenario. These assessments, proposed modifications to the plant, and operating procedures were reviewed and approved by the NRC. Several plants added additional AC power sources to comply with this regulation.
In addition, US nuclear plant designs and operating practices since the terrorist events of September 11, 2001, are designed to mitigate severe accident scenarios such as aircraft impact, which include the complete loss of offsite power and all on-site emergency power sources.
US nuclear plant designs include consideration of seismic events and tsunamis’. It is important not to extrapolate earthquake and tsunami data from one location of the world to another when evaluating these natural hazards.
Your Japanese readers might be interested in the pertinent question of how to treat their radioactively contaminated drinking water:
ReplyDeletehttp://crisismaven.wordpress.com/2011/03/22/dangers-properties-possible-uses-and-methods-of-purification-of-radioactively-contaminated-drinking-water-e-g-in-japan/