U.S. NRC Blog

NRC Chat Considers A Possible “Small” Future

2013-06-18T13:07:27Z

Scott Burnell Public Affairs Officer The NRC’s first few Chats have focused on the present or past, but this week we’re going to look ahead a couple years by talking about Small Modular Reactors, or SMRs. These reactor concepts are much smaller than today’s nuclear power plants. The small designs currently being discussed would […]...(read more)

Palisades Tank Leak Repaired — Safe to Restart

2013-06-17T20:33:14Z

Prema Chandrathil Region III Public Affairs Officer After intense NRC scrutiny that confirmed the plant is safe to operate, the Palisades nuclear power plant in Michigan restarted yesterday after more than a month shutdown. In total 10 NRC inspectors performed a wide range of inspections to ensure the leak in a refueling water tank, […]...(read more)

Retracing the Steps of Post-Fukushima “Walkdowns”

2013-06-13T18:19:24Z

George Wilson Team Lead Japan Lessons-Learned Directorate Every U.S. nuclear power plant recently completed “walkdowns” to review its existing flood and earthquake protection features. This work is part of the NRC’s efforts to learn from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident. Now, NRC experts are checking up on how a few plants carried out this […]...(read more)

Do Not Fear Your Smoke Detector – It Could Save Your Life

2013-06-11T12:55:17Z

Maureen Conley Public Affairs Officer We sometimes get calls from people worried about radiation from smoke detectors in their homes. There are many reasons why the public need not fear these products. Ionization chamber smoke detectors contain very small amounts of nuclear material. They might use americium-241, radium-226 or nickel-63. These products detect fires […]...(read more)

Today’s SONGS Announcement: Now What?

2013-06-07T16:47:21Z

Victor Dricks Senior Public Affairs Officer Region IV Today, Southern California Edison Co. announced it will permanently shut down the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in San Clemente, Calif. This has left many people — who have been closely following events there — wondering what happens next? First, SCE has not formally notified the […]...(read more)

Let’s Chat – What Are Your Thoughts?

2013-06-06T16:41:07Z

Holly Harrington Senior Advisor Office of Public Affairs The NRC launched a pilot of a new social media platform – Let’s Chat – in April. It’s somewhat similar to this blog, but it features a real-time discussion on a specific issue with an NRC expert responding to the questions. So far, we’ve held three […]...(read more)

Before the Browns Ferry Fire: Antiquated Notions That Electricity and Water Didn’t Mix

2013-06-04T12:49:34Z

Tom Wellock NRC Historian Few events altered nuclear power regulation as much as the Browns Ferry Unit 1 fire. In March 1975, thousands of electrical cables burned for nearly eight hours disabling all of Unit 1’s and many of Unit 2’s emergency core cooling systems. Only creative action by plant operators prevented reactor damage, […]...(read more)

Community Leaders Get Invites to SONGS Small Group Discussions

2013-05-31T19:21:59Z

Victor Dricks Senior Public Affairs Officer Region IV This week, the NRC is sending letters to dozens of state and local government officials in California, as well as environmental groups and business leaders, inviting them to participate in small group discussions with NRC officials. The discussions will focus on the processes and activities we’re […]...(read more)

Assessing NRC’s Nonproliferation Efforts

2013-05-31T18:03:43Z

David McIntyre Public Affairs Officer The NRC has denied a petition for rulemaking filed by the American Physical Society. The APS wanted the NRC to require applicants for licenses for uranium enrichment or spent fuel reprocessing facilities to include a proliferation risk assessment in their license applications. In denying the petition, the Commission approved […]...(read more)

Decoding the NRC’s Acronym Soup

2013-05-30T19:26:23Z

Eliot Brenner Director, Office of Public Affairs A recent post talked about writing in plain language, and as one commenter pointed out, one of the stumbling blocks to that goal is often acronyms. Acronyms aren’t new. According to historians, acronyms and initialisms were used in ancient Rome. Today, some initialisms are so accepted they […]...(read more)

An NRC-Recommended Video in Honor of Memorial Day

2013-05-28T14:16:33Z

Leonard Carsley NRC Veterans Employment Coordinator In honor of Memorial Day, the NRC highly recommends the video, “Fields of Honor,” produced by the American Battle Monuments Commission. This independent federal commission manages 24 overseas military cemeteries, and 25 memorials, monuments, and markers, nearly all of which honor those who served in World War I […]...(read more)

Fort Calhoun – A Mixed Report Card

2013-05-24T17:20:10Z

Lara Uselding Public Affairs Officer, Region IV NRC inspectors held a public meeting in Omaha, Neb., on May 17, to share preliminary information from a recent restart readiness inspection at the Fort Calhoun Station, operated by the Omaha Public Power District (OPPD). The plant entered into the NRC’s increased oversight category in 2011 after […]...(read more)

An Update on Taking the Next Step – Building a 21st Century Digital Government

2013-05-23T15:07:12Z

Stu Reiter Senior Advisor, E-Government Last August, we noted our efforts in support of President Obama’s May 23, 2012, memorandum on Building a 21st Century Platform to Better Serve the American People. That memorandum launched a comprehensive Digital Government Strategy to make government services and information available anywhere, anytime, and on any device, and […]...(read more)

How a Questioning Attitude Encourages Safety

2013-05-21T13:41:22Z

Maria E. Schwartz Office of Enforcement Senior Project Manager Are we there yet? Why is the sky blue? Why is rain wet? Children have an endless list of questions as they discover the world around them. But as we grow older, most people tend to ask fewer questions. This may be due, at least […]...(read more)

Updating Nuclear Materials Transportation Regulations

2013-05-16T13:06:50Z

Jessica Umaña Project Manager, Division of Spent Fuel Storage and Transportation The idea of transporting nuclear materials can make people nervous. It’s easy to imagine worst-case accidents on the highway or involving a train. But stringent safety requirements, as well as coordination among federal agencies, international regulators, and state and local officials, help to […]...(read more)