A group of Nuclear Regulatory Commission engineers is urging its regulatory employer to order nuclear power station operators to fix a design flaw in nearly all U.S. nuclear plants the engineers believe could endanger emergency core cooling systems.
Further, the group wants the problem fixed or the units shut down, Kallanish Energy learns.
Seven engineers in late February petitioned the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to order immediate enforcement actions against licensees of U.S. nuclear power plants, in a little-noticed, but public move, Reuters reported.
The petition urges the agency to respond by March 21.
The engineers are concerned the design flaw leaves reactors vulnerable to so-called open phase events in which an unbalanced voltage, such as an electrical short, could cause motors to burn out and reduce the ability of a reactor’s emergency cooling system to function.
If the motors burn out, backup electricity systems would be of little help, according to the petition.
In early 2012, an unbalanced voltage event forced Exelon’s Byron 2 reactor in Illinois to shut down automatically for roughly a week, according to Reuters.
The petition said 13 open phase events have occurred at U.S. and international nuclear plants over the last 14 years.
Dave Lochbaum, a nuclear expert at nonprofit group the Union of Concerned Scientists, told Reuters it was encouraging the engineers stepped forward without fear of retribution.
Scott Burnell, an NRC spokesman, told Reuters the engineers’ petition “will be considered under our normal process.” Based on responses to the bulletin the agency issued in 2012, the NRC is “confident that plants are safe to continue operating,” Burnell said.
