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WASHINGTON — The meltdown threat and blasts at a nuclear power plant in northern Japan is prompting an on-the-ground review of the safety design standards in place at the 104 nuclear reactors in the United States.
"We don't stop at what (standards) we are licensed to," said Tony Pietrangelo, senior vice president and chief nuclear officer of the Nuclear Energy Institute, "but I suspect those design-safety standards are being reviewed by every plant operator today."
That review, Pietrangelo said, will be ongoing and apply the lessons learned in the months to come from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant.
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Emergency workers forced to retreat from a tsunami-stricken Japanese nuclear power plant when radiation levels soared prepared to return Wednesday night after emissions dropped to safer levels."One of the things we want to better understand in Japan is sequence of events and in that review how to apply the lessons going forward," he said, stressing that every nuclear reactor in the United States is sited with rigorous protection measures in place that contemplate natural disasters.
"From a seismic perspective, from a tsunami perspective, I am very confident in the robustness of these plants. … It's more complicated than just a number on the Richter scale."
The explosions and risk of meltdown in Japan have also highlighted concerns expressed by critics of a plan to build a nuclear power plant outside of Green River in Emery County. The plant, however, is far from reality, with its construction dependent on the acquistion of water rights and clearing numerous hurdles, including state approvals and federal licensing.
Pietrangelo spoke during a Tuesday morning teleconference hosted by the institute in Washington, D.C., where he touched on a variety of nuclear energy questions that have urgently crystallized in light of explosions that have rocked the plant, radiation that has been released and the uncertainty of when the situation will be controlled.
"Until they restore AC power to those units (to cool it down) we could be in this situation for while, a few more days, a week or more."
What wasn't contemplated in Japan was a "beyond-design" tsunami of such magnitude it is "highly unlikely," to be replicated in coastal areas of the United States such as California, Pietrangelo said.
"The design standards are different at every site. They are either at or greater than what they have at these Japanese units."
Still, he said organizations and agencies such as the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the institute will assess if any new safety standards can be incorporated going forward.
With the world's attention riveted on the unfolding events in Japan, the crisis has renewed the cry by some that the United States halt its march toward increasing reliance on nuclear power as an energy source.
Pietrangelo said despite the criticism, he does not suspect what's happening in Japan to have an impact on license renewals of existing nuclear power plants in the country or to slow new construction.
"It is unwise to make policy decisions in the middle of an event," he said. "People need to calm down. We need to fully understand what has happened in Japan. There is plenty of time to make policy decisions going forward."
E-mail:aodonoghue@ksl.com
