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Industry/Regulatory/Political U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has recommended requiring engineered filters to the containment vents for Mark I and Mark II boiling water reactors as a post-Fukushima response. A staff paper released this week for the commission’s consideration said an alternative...

Industry/Regulatory/Political Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority said Monday that its survey of a second fault zone directly beneath one of two reactors at the Tsuruga nuclear energy facility in Fukui prefecture found it likely to be seismically active. NRA Chairman Shunichi Tanaka said that...

Industry/Regulatory/Political Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority last week began examining a fissure beneath Japan Atomic Power Co.’s Tsuruga nuclear energy facility in Fukui prefecture to determine whether it is associated with a nearby active fault. NRA officials investigated samples of rock strata...

Plant Update Tokyo Electric Power Co. has released English translations of its Management Policy Toward Restoration of the Fukushima Daiichi site and environs as well as a 71-item Intensive Reform Implementation Action Plan for executing the policy. The plan includes building an international reactor...

Industry/Regulatory/Political Japan’s nuclear utilities and vendors have created a new group called the Japan Nuclear Safety Institute (JANSI), which the Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan said is modeled on the U.S. Institute of Nuclear Power Operations and the World Association of Nuclear...

The following news article originally appeared in NEI’s Nuclear Energy Overview. The nuclear energy industry is “safer than it was before the Fukushima Daiichi accident” as nuclear energy facility operators around the world continue to upgrade their emergency preparedness and response capabilities, the...

The following news article originally appeared in NEI’s Nuclear Energy Overview. NRC staff last week outlined several options it is considering for creating a more integrated regulatory framework, as recommended by the agency’s post-Fukushima task force. The options, discussed at a Nov. 8 public meeting...

Industry/Regulatory/Political Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s new two-year business plan, released last week, projects that costs for decontaminating the area around Fukushima Daiichi and paying damages to evacuated residents will double from the $62.5 billion estimate from April. The company also expects...

The NRC has issued for public comment draft interim staff guidance for U.S. nuclear energy facility operators to perform certain flooding hazard assessments in response to a request for information the agency issued in March as part of its response to the Fukushima accident. The March request calls for...

Industry/Regulatory/Political The operators of U.S. nuclear energy facilities last week approved a contract to develop two regional response centers that will store emergency equipment for rapid delivery in case of an extreme event at any nuclear plant. “The regional response centers will further increase...

Equipment-sharing program at Memphis, Phoenix locations augments industry protocol to pool safety equipment in event of emergencies WASHINGTON, D.C., Oct. 25, 2012—The nuclear energy industry is adding another layer of safety and public protection by developing regional centers for critical equipment...

Industry/Regulatory/Political AREVA has announced a contract to provide all 23 of Japan’s pressurized water reactors with passive autocatalytic recombiners, which will help prevent hydrogen from building up in emergency situations. The company said it will install more than 100 of the devices, which...

The following news article originally appeared in NEI’s Nuclear Energy Overview. Discussion of the cumulative effects of regulation on NRC licensees dominated a panel at last week’s NEI Licensing Forum, with the views of the industry’s commercial nuclear energy and fuel cycle sectors well represented...

Industry/Regulatory/Political The five commissioners heading Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) unanimously agreed last week to formulate new severe accident regulations for nuclear energy facilities, in line with the country’s atomic energy law that parliament amended in June. Accident scenarios...

The following news article originally appeared in NEI’s Nuclear Energy Overview. NRC Commissioner William Ostendorff told attendees at NEI’s Licensing Forum this week that the nuclear energy industry needs to communicate how the FLEX strategy would work to bolster public safety. FLEX, the industry’s...

Industry/Regulatory/Political The post-Fukushima response steering committees of the nuclear energy industry and Nuclear Regulatory Commission reviewed accomplishments and work in progress during a joint meeting last week. Nuclear energy industry representatives highlighted completion of inspections...

Industry/Regulatory/Political A new study by the Electric Power Research Institute that examines options for minimizing the release of radioactive materials in a severe nuclear accident says that a combination of strategies would be much more effective than depending on any single measure. In particular...

The following news article originally appeared in NEI’s Nuclear Energy Overview. A new study by the Electric Power Research Institute that examines options for minimizing the release of radioactive materials in a severe nuclear accident says that a combination of strategies would be more effective than...

Industry/Regulatory/Political The Japanese government’s Energy and Environment Council last week proposed a goal of phasing out nuclear energy “in the 2030s.” The new policy follows recent public surveys that indicate support for ending the country’s reliance on nuclear energy. The panel said the 48...

The following news article originally appeared in NEI’s Nuclear Energy Overview. The NRC commissioners told congressional leaders this week they are confident, despite acknowledging the schedule as “very aggressive,” that the highest-priority post-Fukushima safety enhancements will be completed...

Industry/Regulatory/Political The Japanese government has announced a plan to rebuild some areas in the Fukushima Daiichi evacuation zone, enabling residents in those areas to return in two years once power, water and sewage services are restored. Returning residents will be offered work in decontaminating...

The following news article originally appeared in NEI’s Nuclear Energy Overview. The NRC has released Interim Staff Guidance on three post-Fukushima orders the agency issued in March on safety enhancements at the nation’s nuclear energy facilities. “The NRC guidance issued last week meets the intent...

The following news article originally appeared in NEI’s Nuclear Energy Overview. The United States and other participants in an international conference last week proposed a series of measures to enhance nuclear safety, including 15 “action-oriented objectives.” Attendees at the Convention on Nuclear...

Plant Update Tokyo Electric Power Co. said it found no significant damage or deformation to two unused fuel assemblies it had removed last week from the used fuel storage pool of Fukushima Daiichi reactor 4. The utility said it also will examine fuel pellets from inside the assembly rods. The relatively...

The following news article originally appeared in NEI’s Nuclear Energy Overview. Member nations of the International Atomic Energy Agency have made “significant progress” in nuclear safety since the accident at Fukushima Daiichi, the organization’s director general said this week. Yukiya Amano cited...