[July 28, 2011] TVA says applying lessons from Fukushima Tweet Jul 28, 2011 (The Knoxville News-Sentinel - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- TVA already complies with much of what is called for in a Nuclear Regulatory Commission report on lessons learned from the Fukushima nuclear crisis in Japan, but it is taking steps to implement the report's other recommendations, TVA said Tuesday. "We've already begun taking action to add additional communications equipment, extra diesel water pumps and electric generators at the plants," TVA Chief Operating Officer Bill McCollum said in a telephone news conference. Extra piping will also be added to improve the cooling systems, he said. On July 12, the NRC released its Near-Term Task Force Review of Insights from the Fukushima Dai-ichi Accident, which looked at whether changes were needed to NRC policies and regulations in light of the Japanese accident, which involved reactor core damage and release of radioactive material. The report concludes that US nuclear plants are operating safely but it calls for streamliningNRC's regulatory approach, which it described as a patchwork of requirements and safety initiatives. Other recommendations were aimed at nuclear plants themselves, such as making sure plants can operate for up to eight hours on backup power during a power outage, and upgrading earthquake and flood protection measures and improving systems for cooling spent fuel. McCollum said that before the crisis in Japan, TVA had efforts going to improve its nuclear safety. When the March 11 earthquake and tsunami hit Japan, TVA assembled a team of 100 employees to monitor the Fukushima crisis, analyze it and draw lessons to be applied to TVA's nuclear program. TVA will build on these efforts, he said. "We are looking to add more redundancy and back up equipment," McCollum said. TVA doesn't know what it will cost to comply with the NRC recommendations, McCollum said. "We are concerned about costs, but we are committed to doing the right thing, so we will take the sorts of actions that are necessary," he said. To see more of The Knoxville News-Sentinel or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.knoxnews.com. Copyright (c) 2011, The Knoxville News-Sentinel, Tenn. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]