The Nuclear Regulatory Commission proposed three orders yesterday aimed at boosting the safety at U.S. reactors in light of last year's nuclear disaster in Japan.

The first proposal would require nuclear plant operators to develop plans for protecting reactors from earthquakes, floods, tornadoes and other natural disasters considered to be "beyond design basis."

The second would require reactor operators to account for accidents at multiple units and install instruments to monitor water and temperature levels in pools holding spent nuclear fuel.

And the third pertains to nuclear plants with designs similar to that of Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, which was crippled last March by an earthquake and tsunami. Operators of boiling water reactors, the proposal says, would be required to ensure that vents that ease pressure and release steam from reactors are reliable.

"Each of the orders is focused on enhancing defense in depth at nuclear power plants through increased capabilities to minimize the potential for core damage following a beyond design basis external event," NRC staff wrote.

The proposals will be debated by the agency's five commissioners, and the orders are scheduled for implementation by 2016.

The Nuclear Energy Institute announced this week that the nuclear industry unanimously approved a "flexible mitigation capability" plan, which requires operators to install portable batteries, hoses and pumps in staging areas, bolster safety to address rare but severe accidents and develop regional centers to assist operators during emergencies (Greenwire, Jan. 17).

NRC staff said they are "generally encouraged" by the industry initiative and some provisions may satisfy new commission orders. Anti-nuclear groups, on the other hand, say any changes under the industry plan must be inspected and approved by NRC.

The staff also said new plants must address any commission-approved Fukushima actions before they are licensed or certified.

In recent weeks, NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko has repeatedly argued that the commission should have some assurance that industry will make changes stemming from the Fukushima review and rulemakings.

Earlier this month, Jaczko was the lone opponent of Southern Co.'s bid for a license to construct the nation's first new nuclear plant in more than three decades. The chairman said he would have approved the license for the reactors to be built in Georgia if it had included language requiring Southern to make safety upgrades stemming from the Fukushima review (E&ENews PM, Feb. 9).

The chairman addressed the issue again yesterday during a vote related to Entergy Corp.'s Pilgrim nuclear power station in Plymouth, Mass.

The majority of the five-member commission denied advocacy group Pilgrim Watch's most recent appeal to reopen a relicensing hearing to raise concerns related to the Japanese disaster.

Entergy's current license is scheduled to expire on June 8, but the company has asked NRC for a 20-year renewal to operate the plant through 2032.

Jaczko disagreed and said the hearing should have been granted, given the significance of the Fukushima disaster.

Mary Lampert, the director of Pilgrim Watch, said Fukushima lessons must be addressed within the relicensing process under the National Environmental Policy Act and that the Massachusetts plant is similar in design to the Fukushima reactors.

"The license is open; the process is proceeding," Lampert said. "Therefore, we have a duty to consider this when it is a reactor that's the exact same design as Fukushima."

Carol Wightman, a spokeswoman for Entergy, said the company was pleased with NRC's ruling yesterday and that the company has gone through "an exhaustive, six-year safety and technical review as part of the NRC's license renewal process and we look forward to the commissioners' decision with regard to license renewal for Pilgrim Station."

Click here to read NRC's proposed rules.