NRC TO ISSUE ORDERS, INFORMATION REQUEST AS PART OF

IMPLEMENTING FUKUSHIMA-RELATED RECOMMENDATIONS

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has authorized its staff to issue immediately 

effective Orders to U.S. commercial nuclear reactors. This action begins implementation of

several recommendations for enhancing safety at U.S. reactors based on lessons learned from the 

accident at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

“The Commission has taken a significant step forward on our post-Fukushima efforts,” 

said NRC Chairman Gregory B. Jaczko. “These Orders reflect a tremendous effort on the part of 

the NRC staff to produce this comprehensive package in an expedited manner. As always, I 

continue to be thoroughly impressed by the staff’s dedication. Of course, there’s still a great deal 

of work ahead of us.”

Two of the Orders apply to every U.S. commercial nuclear power plant, including those 

under construction and the recently licensed new Vogtle reactors. The first Order requires the 

plants to better protect safety equipment installed after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and to obtain 

sufficient equipment to support all reactors at a given site simultaneously. The second Order 

requires the plants to install enhanced equipment for monitoring water levels in each plant’s 

spent fuel pool.

The third Order applies only to U.S. boiling-water reactors that have “Mark I” or “Mark 

II” containment structures. These reactors must improve venting systems (or for the Mark II 

plants, install new systems) that help prevent or mitigate core damage in the event of a serious

accident. Plants have until Dec. 31, 2016, to complete modifications and requirements of all 

three Orders.

The NRC will also issue a detailed information request to every operating U.S. 

commercial nuclear power plant, and certain parts will apply to reactors currently under 

construction or recently licensed. The request covers several topics, including:

• Re-analyzing earthquake and flooding risks using the latest available information;

• Conducting earthquake and flooding hazard “walkdowns,” where skilled 

engineers closely examine a plant’s ability to meet current requirements;

NRC NEWS

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200

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No. 12-023 March 9, 2012
• Assessing the ability of a plant’s current communications systems and equipment 

to perform under conditions of onsite and offsite damage and prolonged loss of 

all alternating current (ac) electrical power; and

• Assessing plant staffing levels needed to fill emergency positions in response to 

events simultaneously affecting all reactors at a given site.

Each section of the request includes schedules for plants to provide the relevant information to 

the NRC.

The Orders and the information request will be available on the NRC’s website. These 

actions address what the NRC determined to be the highest-priority recommendations from the 

agency’s Japan Near-Term Task Force. The Task Force issued its report in July 2011. The NRC 

staff continues to examine how to best address the remaining Task Force recommendations, as 

well as additional topics raised during the early implementation effort.

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