Nuclear powerIndustry: Multiple redundant and back-up systems make nuclear plants safer than ever

Published 19 December 2014

Nuclear plants receive what supporters of nuclear power regard as an unfair amount of scrutiny and concern for their safety, but industry experts say that plant equipment and plant operations are highly regulated to minimize risks.All U.S. nuclear plants are now storing emergency pumps, generators, battery banks, chargers, compressors, and hoses at off-site locations near the plants to protect against floods, industry insiders say.Working in a nuclear plant is much safer than working in a paper mill or a chemical plant, according to Jim Krafty, a Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) resident senior inspector at the Beaver Valley nuclear power plant in Shippingport, Pennsylvania.

Working in a nuclear plant is much safer than working in a paper mill or a chemical plant, according to Jim Krafty, a Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) resident senior inspector at the Beaver Valley nuclear power plant in Shippingport, Pennsylvania. “At nuclear power plants there are backups to backups to backups. There are so many redundant systems for a single purpose it would take multiple failures and kind of a completely unlikely scenario in order for a consequence to actually occur,” said Brandon Reyes, Krafty’s partner at the plant. Nuclear plants receive an unfair amount of scrutiny and concern for their safety, but industry experts say that plant equipment and plant operations are highly regulated to minimize risks. “What we hear a lot is that plants are unsafe,” Krafty said. “What I can tell you is if I thought the plant was unsafe, I wouldn’t be here.”

Both men are assigned by the NRC to check the plant’s multiple backup systems daily. They are on call 24/7 and arrive as early as 5 a.m. to inspect and monitor the systems and parts that enable a nuclear reaction to generate power. Krafty and Reyes also monitor the staff of FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co., the company who operates and maintains the plant. Plant inspectors from the NRC are required to live in communities close to the plants they monitor, but they are required to play the role of an outsider, to remain objective when performing plant safety reviews. “We’re here for our specific purpose of maintaining health and public safety, we want to maintain our professional working relationship with the people we’re inspecting and don’t want to compromise our integrity or even the perception of our integrity,” Reyes said.

The Pittsburgh Tribune reports thatextensive emergency plans and safety equipment are reviewed on a daily basis to prepare for a worst case scenario, whether it be a terrorist attack or a natural disaster. The 2011 Fukushima incident in Japan in which an earthquake, then a tsunami caused nuclear reactors to flood, raised the alarm for all U.S. nuclear plant operators. “The assumption is that in any accident, the plant will be able to cope with it based on any equipment they have,” he said. “Fukushima brought another idea, well what if all your equipment gets flooded? How are you going to cope? How are you going to get off site power? You’re going to bring some equipment from off site? Well, how are you going to hook it up?”

All U.S. nuclear plants are now storing emergency pumps, generators, battery banks, chargers, compressors, and hoses at off site locations near the plants to protect against floods. After the 9/11 attacks, perimeter security around all U.S. plants have been improved, Reyes said. In addition to better detection systems and more guards, more razor wire fences have been added to nearly all facilities.