Rules Faulted for Poor Data on Failures at Reactors

The New York Times: Rules Faulted for Poor Data on Failures at Reactors
Nuclear power plants in the United States are not reporting some equipment failures to the government because of badly written rules, the inspector general of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has warned.

Those rules, which are often contradictory, leave the commission without the muscle to enforce the federal law requiring the reporting of such problems, the inspector general said in a report issued Wednesday.

From December 2009 to September 2010, the report said, the commission found 24 instances in which equipment problems were not properly reported. If the rules are not improved, it said, they “could reduce the margin of safety for operating nuclear power reactors.”

The commission, which operates independently of the inspector general, countered in a statement that it “has a variety of other regulations that effectively encompass reporting all defects.” It added, “The N.R.C. continues to conclude plants are operating safely.”

The inspector general’s office said it was concerned about equipment involving safety features — for instance, systems that measure pressure in a reactor’s coolant. But the report did not detail any specific lapses in reporting equipment problems.

R. K. Wild, a senior analyst in the inspector general’s office, said Thursday that full reporting of equipment defects was crucial to ensuring that problems were not duplicated at other plants. When a plant operator reports a problem, the government can take the information to the manufacturer and determine where similar parts are in use.

Nuclear power generation in the United States has come under more scrutiny since an earthquake and tsunami struck a nuclear plant in Japan, setting off a crisis that continues to unfold. At the request of President Obama, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission voted Wednesday to set up a task force to review the safety of the 104 nuclear reactors operating across the United States.

In another development, federal authorities announced Thursday that a subcontractor at the Watts Bar nuclear plant under construction in Tennessee had been accused of lying about making crucial measurements on cables that carry power to safety systems there. The contractor, Matthew David Correll, 31, was charged with making false statements, the United States attorney in Knoxville, Tenn., said.

The reactor, the second at the Watts Bar plant, is the only one now being built in the nation.