Dive Brief:
- Federal regulators want nuclear plant operators to be better prepared for emergencies and on Friday proposed a framework to manage severe accidents such as the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan.
- In a Federal Register notice, Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff suggested "developing a proposed rule that would require integrated accident mitigation procedures and associated severe accident exercises, identify requirements for a severe accident command and control organization, and amend current rules for training to include requirements related to severe accidents."
Dive Insight:
The U.S. nuclear industry has been resisting regulators' calls for changes in their operations in the aftermath of the Fukushima disaster following an earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. Any new safety requirements have been portrayed by industry as burdensome and costly, especially at a time when the economics that have long favored nuclear power are under assault from market prices for electricity slammed by the abundance of cheap natural gas.
