DoomsdaysCW on Nostr: Nuclear Power Plants: #NRC Should Take Actions to Fully Consider the Potential ...
Nuclear Power Plants: #NRC Should Take Actions to Fully Consider the Potential Effects of #ClimateChange
GAO-24-106326 Published: Apr 02, 2024.
"Climate change is likely to exacerbate natural hazards—such as #floods and #drought. The risks to nuclear power plants from such hazards include damage to systems and equipment that ensure safe operation.
"The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's oversight process includes addressing safety risks at these plants. However, NRC doesn't fully consider potential increases in risk from climate change. For example, NRC mostly uses historical data to identify and assess safety risks, rather than data from future climate projections.
"We recommended that NRC fully address climate risks to nuclear power plants.
"Climate change is expected to exacerbate natural hazards—including heat, drought, #wildfires, #flooding, #hurricanes, and #SeaLevelRise. In addition, climate change may affect #ExtremeCold weather events. Risks to nuclear power plants from these hazards include loss of offsite power, damage to systems and equipment, and diminished cooling capacity, potentially resulting in reduced operations or plant shutdowns.
"The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) addresses risks to the safety of nuclear power plants, including risks from natural hazards, in its licensing and oversight processes. Following the tsunami that led to the 2011 accident at Japan's #FukushimaDaiichi nuclear power plant, NRC took additional actions to address risks from natural hazards. These include requiring safety margins in reactor designs, measures to prevent radioactive releases should a natural hazard event exceed what a plant was designed to withstand, and maintenance of backup equipment related to safety functions.
"However, NRC's actions to address risks from natural hazards do not fully consider potential climate change effects. For example, NRC primarily uses historical data in its licensing and oversight processes rather than climate projections data. NRC officials GAO interviewed said they believe their current processes provide an adequate margin of safety to address climate risks.
"However, NRC has not conducted an assessment to demonstrate that this is the case. Assessing its processes to determine whether they adequately address the potential for increased risks from climate change would help ensure NRC fully considers risks to existing and proposed plants. Specifically, identifying any gaps in its processes and developing a plan to address them, including by using climate projections data, would help ensure that NRC adopts a more comprehensive approach for assessing risks and is better able to fulfill its mission to protect public health and safety."
https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-24-106326
#Greenwashing #NoNukes
#NoNewNukes #NuclearPowerPlant #NuclearPlants #NuclearIsNotCarbonFree #RethinkNotRestart #NuclearRegulatoryCommission #ClimateCrisis #ExtremeTemperatures #ExtremeWeather
GAO-24-106326 Published: Apr 02, 2024.
"Climate change is likely to exacerbate natural hazards—such as #floods and #drought. The risks to nuclear power plants from such hazards include damage to systems and equipment that ensure safe operation.
"The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's oversight process includes addressing safety risks at these plants. However, NRC doesn't fully consider potential increases in risk from climate change. For example, NRC mostly uses historical data to identify and assess safety risks, rather than data from future climate projections.
"We recommended that NRC fully address climate risks to nuclear power plants.
"Climate change is expected to exacerbate natural hazards—including heat, drought, #wildfires, #flooding, #hurricanes, and #SeaLevelRise. In addition, climate change may affect #ExtremeCold weather events. Risks to nuclear power plants from these hazards include loss of offsite power, damage to systems and equipment, and diminished cooling capacity, potentially resulting in reduced operations or plant shutdowns.
"The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) addresses risks to the safety of nuclear power plants, including risks from natural hazards, in its licensing and oversight processes. Following the tsunami that led to the 2011 accident at Japan's #FukushimaDaiichi nuclear power plant, NRC took additional actions to address risks from natural hazards. These include requiring safety margins in reactor designs, measures to prevent radioactive releases should a natural hazard event exceed what a plant was designed to withstand, and maintenance of backup equipment related to safety functions.
"However, NRC's actions to address risks from natural hazards do not fully consider potential climate change effects. For example, NRC primarily uses historical data in its licensing and oversight processes rather than climate projections data. NRC officials GAO interviewed said they believe their current processes provide an adequate margin of safety to address climate risks.
"However, NRC has not conducted an assessment to demonstrate that this is the case. Assessing its processes to determine whether they adequately address the potential for increased risks from climate change would help ensure NRC fully considers risks to existing and proposed plants. Specifically, identifying any gaps in its processes and developing a plan to address them, including by using climate projections data, would help ensure that NRC adopts a more comprehensive approach for assessing risks and is better able to fulfill its mission to protect public health and safety."
https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-24-106326
#Greenwashing #NoNukes
#NoNewNukes #NuclearPowerPlant #NuclearPlants #NuclearIsNotCarbonFree #RethinkNotRestart #NuclearRegulatoryCommission #ClimateCrisis #ExtremeTemperatures #ExtremeWeather