The U.S. nuclear industry more than a decade ago pinned its hopes for a "renaissance" on getting the friendly Bush Nuclear Regulatory Commission to approve a single reactor design. But engineers say the Fukushima disaster revealed this "safe" reactor could fail in seven different ways. Now public interest groups are asking the NRC to delay licensing it until safety issues are resolved.
"DURHAM, N.C. -- The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is being asked to withhold certification for the new Westinghouse-Toshiba AP1000 nuclear reactor until flaws in its design exposed by Japan's nuclear disaster are resolved. Two utilities plan to install the untried reactor in Georgia and South Carolina.
Public interest groups Thursday filed a legal motion petitioning the NRC to require the resolution of design issues with the Westinghouse-Toshiba AP1000 nuclear reactor before the certification of the reactor's design and operating procedures.
The AP1000 pressurized water reactor has been selected by Southern Company for installation at the Plant Vogtle site near Waynesboro in eastern Georgia near the South Carolina border.
South Carolina Electric and Gas also has chosen the AP1000 for its Virgil C. Summer site near Jenkinsville, 20 miles northwest of Columbia, South Carolina."
Environment News Service had the story November 11, 2011.
