I 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1242 
To ensure that nuclear power plants can withstand and adequately respond 
to earthquakes, tsunamis, strong storms, or other events that threaten 
a major impact. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 29, 2011 
Mr. MARKEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To ensure that nuclear power plants can withstand and ade-
quately respond to earthquakes, tsunamis, strong storms, 
or other events that threaten a major impact. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Nuclear Power Plant 
Safety Act of 2011’’. 
SEC. 2. NUCLEAR POWER PLANT SAFETY. 
(a) AMENDMENT.—Chapter 14 of the Atomic Energy 
Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2201 et seq.) is amended by add-
ing at the end the following new section: 
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‘‘SEC. 170J. REVISION OF NUCLEAR POWER PLANT 
SAFETY REGULATIONS.— 
‘‘a. Not later than 90 days after the date of enact-
ment of the Nuclear Power Plant Safety Act of 2011, the 
Commission shall initiate a rulemaking proceeding, includ-
ing notice and opportunity for public comment, to be com-
pleted not later than 18 months after such date of enact-
ment, to revise its regulations to ensure that each utiliza-
tion facility licensed under this Act can withstand and ade-
quately respond to— 
‘‘(1) an earthquake, tsunami (for a facility lo-
cated in a coastal area), strong storm, or other event 
that threatens a major impact to the facility; 
‘‘(2) a loss of the primary operating power 
source for at least 14 days; and 
‘‘(3) a loss of the primary backup operating 
power source for at least 72 hours. 
‘‘b. The revision of regulations under this section 
shall provide for— 
‘‘(1) a requirement that each licensed utiliza-
tion facility, including any onsite spent nuclear fuel 
facilities, be equipped with resilient containment, 
safety, and diagnostic systems sufficient to with-
stand the circumstances described in subsection a., 
including requirements to ensure that the reactor 
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core remains cooled, that the containment remains 
intact, and that the spent fuel cooling and spent fuel 
pool integrity are maintained; 
‘‘(2) a requirement that licensees have at least 
14 days worth of emergency power system fuel on-
site with which to power the licensed facility in the 
event of a loss of the primary operating power 
source; 
‘‘(3) a requirement that licensees have suffi-
cient secondary emergency power to power the li-
censed facility in the event of a loss of both the pri-
mary operating power source and the emergency 
power system described in paragraph (2) for at least 
72 hours; 
‘‘(4) a requirement that licensees develop, and 
obtain approval from the Commission for, a plan to 
obtain sufficient additional fuel or batteries in the 
event of a long duration loss of operating power or 
total station blackout; 
‘‘(5) a requirement that licensees amend, and 
obtain approval from the Commission for, any guid-
ance and strategies developed by the licensees that 
are intended to maintain or restore core cooling, 
containment, and spent fuel pool cooling capabilities 
under the circumstances associated with loss of large 
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areas of the plant due to explosions or fire, in order 
to incorporate lessons learned from the Fukushima 
nuclear power plant meltdown into such guidance 
and strategies; 
‘‘(6) a requirement that spent nuclear fuel rods 
be moved from storage pools to certified dry cask 
storage within one year of the nuclear fuel rods 
being qualified to be placed in the certified dry 
casks; 
‘‘(7) a requirement to configure spent nuclear 
fuel rods in spent nuclear fuel pools in a manner 
that would minimize the chance of a fire in the event 
of the loss of the water in the spent nuclear fuel 
pool; 
‘‘(8) a requirement that emergency response ex-
ercises include scenarios that are based on the near- 
simultaneous occurrence of circumstances described 
in subsection a. such as the near-simultaneous 
earthquake, tsunami, and total station blackout that 
occurred at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in 
2011; and 
‘‘(9) appropriate requirements for periodic 
verification of compliance with the regulations issued 
under this section. 
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‘‘c. The Commission shall not issue an approval for 
any construction permit, operating license, license exten-
sion, design certification, combined license, design ap-
proval, or manufacturing license until the revisions of reg-
ulations under this section take effect.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con-
tents of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 is amended by 
inserting after the item relating to section 170I the fol-
lowing new item: 
‘‘Sec. 170J. Revision of nuclear power plant safety regulations.’’. 
SEC. 3. LOAN GUARANTEES. 
Section 1702(b) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 
(42 U.S.C. 16512(b)) is amended by inserting after para-
graph (2) the following: 
‘‘In the case of a guarantee for advanced nuclear energy 
facilities, the Secretary shall ensure that the cost of the 
obligation is calculated using a consideration of the 
Tohoku earthquake of 2011 to estimate the risk character-
istics of the project.’’. 
Æ 
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