The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has ordered its staff to prioritize and collect stakeholder comments on proposed new U.S. safety regulations based on Japan's nuclear crisis.

The decision made by four of five commission members and made public last Friday rejected calls from NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko to fast-track safety recommendations from an NRC task force.

The task force issued a dozen safety recommendations on July 12 after reviewing damage done at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex by a March 11 earthquake and tsunami. The six-member panel urged the NRC to beef up safety measures for operators to deal with loss of electrical power, earthquakes, flooding, spent-fuel pools, venting and preparedness.

Jaczko had wanted the commission to vote on the proposals within three months and require that nuclear plants make safety changes within five years. But his fellow commissioners asked instead for stakeholder input and direction from the agency's top officials before prioritizing and acting on the safety recommendations, calls that eventually won out in the formal NRC voting process (Greenwire, Aug. 11).

The commission ordered its staff to produce by Sept. 9 a paper outlining which of the task force's dozen recommendations should be implemented immediately. Staff must then prioritize the proposals by Oct. 3, laying out all agency actions to be taken in response to the Japanese nuclear disaster and setting a schedule for public involvement.

Among the many recommendations, the task force said nuclear power plant operators should have equipment and procedures in place to assure cool temperatures for at least 72 hours in reactor cores and spent-fuel pools after an emergency and to ensure backup power can run cooling systems for at least eight hours if on-site and off-site power is lost.

Jaczko said in a statement last Friday that he is pleased to see the NRC moving ahead and looks forward to receiving input from technical experts, the industry and the public.

"The plan we've established will require a dedicated effort by our staff and stakeholders, and will require a continued commitment by the Commission to see that these recommendations are promptly addressed," he said.