NRC may require updated earthquake-risk assessments at nuke plants

An earthquake that shook the East Coast last week knocked two Virginia nuclear reactors offline. Preliminary analysis by the NRC indicates the earthquake was more severe than the reactors were built to withstand.

At the same time, the United States is still dealing with the fallout from the March earthquake and tsunami that led to the nuclear disaster at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

A federal task force formed in the aftermath of the disaster recommended a series of sweeping regulatory changes at the NRC to ensure the United States isn’t vulnerable to similar incidents.

The NRC is in the process of reviewing the recommendations, but nuclear critics have warned that the commission is not moving quickly enough. Both the NRC and the nuclear industry have insisted that the country’s reactor fleet is safe.

The commission said Thursday in a news release that staff have been working on the proposal to require updated earthquake-risk assessments for years. It is not a direct response to the Japanese disaster or last week’s earthquake, the NRC said.