The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Friday released a preliminary list of nuclear plants that will require detailed seismic analyses as part of the agency's response to the Fukushima Daiichi accidents in Japan.
The NRC said it has prioritized analyses at 21 plants in the central and eastern U.S. based on updated earthquake hazard information. The agency made a point to note, though, that all have significant safety margins beyond current assumptions about their sites' potential seismic activity.
"We’re confident the plants are safe to continue operating. If a plant’s new hazard exceeds the original design, the plant has to do a detailed analysis to determine any changes in accident risk from a quake. Plants must also do shorter-term work to see if they should enhance key safety equipment," Eric Leeds, director of the NRC’s Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, said in a release.
The following plants will be required to submit detailed risk analyses by the end of June 2017: Callaway, Cook, Indian Point, North Anna, Oconee, Peach Bottom, Pilgrim, Robinson, Vogtle and Watts Bar. Additional plants will have to submit them by the end of 2019. They are: Beaver Valley, Browns Ferry, Catawba, Dresden, Fermi, Hatch, LaSalle, Oyster Creek, Palisades, V.C. Summer and Sequoyah.
The NRC has not yet decided whether an additional 23 sites will require detailed risk evaluations. West of the Rockies, the Columbia, Diablo Canyon and Palo Verde Plants will be required to submit new hazard estimates by March of next year, when the NRC will evaluate whether they require detailed analyses. Under a separate, expedited process, many plants must also submit a review by December on whether reinforcements are in order for critical cooling equipment.