Nuclear Commission: U.S. Nuclear Reactors Need More Backup Options

by Mario Trujillo

While experts say there is little threat that the high levels of radiation seen in Japan will reach America, the United States has begun to look at its own 104 nuclear sites, searching for vulnerabilities.

Just 18 days after an earthquake and tsunami damaged the nuclear plant in Japan, David Lochbaum, director of Nuclear Power Project of Concerned Scientists, said Tuesday that the U.S. must learn to provide workers with multiple options when dealing with power blackouts — a leading factor in the damage suffered in Japan. 

The Fukushima plant lost power when the 9.0 earthquake hit on March 11. An hour later, backup power was lost due to the ensuing tsunami, leaving the responsibility to power the plants solely on backup batteries that had an eight-hour lifespan. 

Eleven sites in the U.S. have similar backup systems designed to provide battery power for eight hours, while 93 plants have backup battery power to operate for four hours, according to Lochbaum. He said U.S. plants need to have emergency diesel for generators and additional batteries at workers’ disposal to avert a similar crisis, should the circumstance present itself.

Executive director of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Bill Borchardt said that when handing out nuclear licenses, U.S. regulators factor in location, disaster potential and require appropriate safeguards. Yet he did not know if Japan had similar safeguards in place.

Borchardt also said a “passive designed reactor” is another remedy to minimize the risk from blackouts. Instead of electrical current, the “passive design” relies on stored air pressure, DC battery power and natural process like gravity, eliminating the risk of overheating when the electrical grid goes down. None of the 104 reactors in the U.S. have such a system.

Borchardt said he didn’t see any reason why the NRC should stop relicensing in the wake of the Japan disaster and that any stricter regulations being issued across the board would take place outside of the licensing stage.

The panelists noted that information is still filtering in from Japan. In fact, Senate Energy Committee Chair Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) noted that Tuesday’s event was classified as a briefing rather than a hearing to avoid having outdated testimonies from being submitted. A 90-day report and a long-term report have been commissioned to further study the site and the U.S. plans to send robot devices that would allow workers to explore inside the plant without risking radiation exposure.