* Post-Fukushima inspections found issues at US plants
* Plants must certify compliance with rules by June 10
By Roberta Rampton
WASHINGTON, May 11 (Reuters) - Inspections on U.S. nuclear
plants following the disaster at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi
plant have raised questions about how ready they are to deal
with explosions and extreme events, the head of the U.S.
nuclear safety regulator said on Wednesday.
Gregory Jackzo, chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, did not specify what issues were uncovered, but
said he told nuclear plants they will have until June 10 to
confirm they are complying with rules put in place after the
Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
Inspection reports on the plants will be released by next
week, an NRC spokesman said. In the meantime, the NRC has
issued a "bulletin" to plants requesting information on their
strategies and disaster readiness.
"It's just a document that will ask licensees to provide
information about some of the things we found as part of our
inspections of the last several weeks," Jaczko told reporters
after a speech to the Nuclear Energy Assembly.
"As with any program we inspect, we find areas where there
are needs for improvement and the bulletin is our response to
ensure those issues get addressed," Jackzo said.
Plants will need to confirm they have a strategy and
equipment in place to deal with extreme events and have staff
trained to carry out the plan.
By July 11, plants must also certify how they are
maintaining, testing and controlling equipment, how they adjust
their strategies over time, and how they are working with local
organizations on emergency planning.
The head of the U.S. nuclear industry trade group revealed
on Tuesday that a self-regulatory body has found some U.S.
nuclear plants are not in full compliance with the rules.
The Institute of Nuclear Power Operations, or INPO, found
issues with where plants store and place equipment, and said
plants with more than one reactor need to improve their ability
to respond to emergencies affecting all the units.
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But an NRC spokesman said the agency's inspections and
bulletin were not prompted by the INPO findings, which were an
industry-led effort to make sure plants are prepared for
disasters after the Fukushima accident.
Senior staff of the NRC are slated to give their first
report to commissioners on Thursday on possible safety
improvements for U.S. plants in the wake of the Japanese
disaster.
(Editing by Sofina Mirza-Reid)
Source: Reuters.com
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