"FLEX" your NRC

by: BP

Thu Jan 12, 2012 at 10:13:00 AM EST

To regulate:
To lay down the law. Begin controlling shit. Often By physical force/restraint.
"If he pulls that shit again, I'm gunna have to REGULATE that muh-fucka."
Urban Dictionary

NRC Revising Approach to Japan Lessons-Learned Recommendations.
The NRC blog says they have the opportunity to improve implementation of the goals of the Japan Near-Term Task Force recommendations.Congress added specific requirements for the NRC to act “as expeditiously as possible” on these recommendations dealing with earthquakes and flooding. What offers the NRC this opportunity for improved implementation?

Last month the Nuclear Energy Institute laid out the nuclear power industry’s “FLEX” approach to addressing several recommendations. “FLEX” would create a diverse, flexible set of strategies for counteracting the effects of severe natural events that could exceed a plant’s design limits.

With care and great consideration the NEI has thoughtfully laid out a “flexible” (and probably financially painless) strategy for the nuclear power industries own regulation.

The NRC staff believes this approach is a reasonable starting point, although more work is needed on defining these strategies. We also must ensure the NRC can inspect how plants put the strategies in place and that we can hold plants accountable for keeping those strategies ready and available.

I can’t see it but hopefully, for safety sake there is some aggressive regulatory threat of enforcement here in plain sight. However speedy implementation looks unlikely as the NRC just wagged their bureaucratic tail at the thought of a little industry “FLEX” and endless discussion.

BP :: "FLEX" your NRC

Tags: FLEX, NEI, NRC, State-Local, (All Tags)

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"FLEX" your NRC | 3 comments

robust flexibility (4.00 / 2)

Entergy Nuclear at Vermont Yankee was participating in an industry-sponsored and NRC approved tritium surveillance program when the massive leaks of radioactive water went undetected.

Entergy Nuclear had not put the test wells in place that were key to the voluntary program. Entergy was years behind in implementing the test wells.

As usual, Entergy did the minimum, and the environment was further contaminated.

by: ed @ Thu Jan 12, 2012 at 16:21:26 PM UTC

by: you @ soon

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Is that "Flex" as in... (4.00 / 2)

..."bend over backward"? If so, well, that's right up the NRC's alley.

So to speak.

"Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible." --Frank Zappa

by: jvwalt @ Thu Jan 12, 2012 at 17:45:21 PM UTC

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Seems so (4.00 / 3)

The not-so green blog at the nytimes has this about "FLEX" from a telephone interview with an NEI official.

The institute's approach would be to take some general precautions rather than depend on the commission's regular approach of determining probability before deciding what steps are needed.
[...]The advantage, he said, is that it could all be done relatively soon, although some of the improvements, like changes[that cost money] to piping, must wait until regularly scheduled refueling shutdowns.

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com...
For some reason the Times green blogger "reporter" Mathew Wald forgot to ask the NEI official about the claim that changing pipes has to wait for a scheduled shutdown.

by: BP @ Thu Jan 12, 2012 at 18:07:25 PM UTC

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