NRC staff will urge Commission to install radiation filter vents at flawed Fukushima-style reactors in US and industry will oppose

On November 30, 2012, the staff of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will recommend to the five member Commission that all operators of the GE Mark I and Mark II boiling water reactors in the United States must install high capacity radiation filters on containment vents as already deployed throughout Europe.  In the staff’s judgment, if these Fukushima-style reactors are to continue to operate in the US, the NRC should order radiation filter vents be installed on the notoriously weak containment system. A filtered vent system would give operators more confidence to temporarily vent containment during a severe accident rather than hesitate and risk catastrophic explosions and the widespread uncontrolled release of radioactivity.  The nuclear industry is adamantly opposing spending money on the filtered vent system. The Commission will begin its deliberation process and is expected to vote in early 2013 whether to accept the staff recommendation or possibly take no action that would consider the main lessons of Fukushima Dai-Ichi; reactor fuel damage, containment failure and widespread radioactive contamination. The current NRC Order put into place March 12, 2012 for GE Mark I and II  operators does not require compliance unitl December 31, 2016 and more importantly does not require any actions or service to address the catastrophic consequences of a severe accident (fuel damage, hydrogen detonation and massive uncontrolled releases of radioactivity). Ironically,  the current staff recommendation for filtered vents was proposed in 1982, thirty years ago, for these same reactors and rejected by NRC.

The Massachusetts citizen group Pilgrim Watch has formally written to the Commissioners in an appeal that the NRC immediately issue a new order requiring the installation of radiation filtering vents on these unreliable containments. The public is encouraged to alert their elected officials and write the Commissioners (Office of the Secretary,  Annette.Vietti-Cook@nrc.gov  ) in support of the NRC staff recommendation and the Pilgrim Watch appeal for the stepped up action at vulnerable Fukushima-style reactors.

There are 23 Mark Is and 8 Mark IIs still operating in the U.S.