28 percent US nuclear power plants fail to report defective parts: NRC report

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has reported that 28 percent nuclear power plant operators in the country have failed to report to the federal regulators about problems incurred by defective parts used in the nuclear plants, which could lead to major safety hazards in other reactors across the country.

Under NRC rules, nuclear plant operators have to report problems caused by faulty components, including parts involved in keeping nuclear fuel cool, shutting down the reactor and preventing accidents that could lead to leaks of radioactive material, even if backup systems prevent any dangerous condition from occurring at the plant.

The NRC Inspector General's report has found that the under-reporting occurred because its regulations were "contradictory and unclear" and the regulator, nuclear operators and part manufacturers may not have been aware of manufacturing defects.

As a result, industry watchdogs say, some power plant operators may unknowingly be operating nuclear reactors with defective parts.

David Lochbaum, Director of the Nuclear Safety Programme at the Union of Concerned Scientists, a non-profit nuclear safety watchdog, said: " Reactors may be operating today with parts known, by some but not by all, to be defective."

A 1990 Government Accountability Office (GAO) study had found that counterfeit and substandard parts were found abundantly in the nuclear power industry, the military and other government systems.

The GAO study had also found that nuclear power companies had unwittingly installed nonconforming products in, or are suspected of having received them for, about 64 percent of the 113 domestic nuclear power plants.

However, to some long-time critics and observers, the industry failure to report the defects is a result of a weak enforcement of otherwise sturdy rules that makes the nuclear power industry's safety margins weak.

Lochbaum noted that while the reporting problem is serious, it is not particularly dangerous as all nuclear power plant owners have other inspection programs to find defective parts or parts that have worn out adding that the notification process is a supplement to those programs for added assurance against defective parts that could undermine safety. (ANI)