A group of 16 nuclear safety experts has issued proposals for preventing a recurrence of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant accident, saying that "relatively inexpensive improvements, detectable by more extensive analysis beforehand" may have prevented it altogether.
The joint statement by experts representing 11 countries, including the United States, Russia, India and Sweden, was presented to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
In the statement titled "Never Again: An Essential Goal for Nuclear Safety," experts also recommended that future nuclear power plants be located away from "areas of extreme natural and manmade hazards." The translation of the statement was posted on April 19 by the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum on its website with its original English version.
Among its recommendations, the group says that plants built to earlier safety standards should be given renewed attention.
"In light of the common mode failure of redundant safety systems (electric power) caused by the tsunami at Fukushima, authorities should ask to what extent this failure and other common mode failure vulnerabilities in operating plants might be revealed by current technology."
This would include refining safety requirements for future nuclear power plants to ensure that their "backup cooling systems are able to operate for a long enough time following complete loss of on-site and off-site power."
Another area the experts highlight is the need for special attention to go into training of plant personnel.
They recommend that countries with nuclear power plants "should establish centers to train specialists for nuclear technology."
"Top professionals involved in nuclear power generation should not only 'know what' and 'know how' but also 'know why' in order to deliver difficult and critical decisions in time to deal with unforeseen circumstances."
The statement also proposes that new international frameworks could be created, such as an "international regulatory agency entrusted with issuing international safety standards and performing compulsory inspections."
The nuclear safety experts include Harold Denton, a former director of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation and former President Jimmy Carter's adviser at Three Mile Island during the 1979 accident; Pierre Tanguy, former inspector general of nuclear safety, Electricite de France; and Nikolai Steinberg of Ukraine, former chief engineer at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
The joint statement by experts representing 11 countries, including the United States, Russia, India and Sweden, was presented to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
In the statement titled "Never Again: An Essential Goal for Nuclear Safety," experts also recommended that future nuclear power plants be located away from "areas of extreme natural and manmade hazards." The translation of the statement was posted on April 19 by the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum on its website with its original English version.
Among its recommendations, the group says that plants built to earlier safety standards should be given renewed attention.
"In light of the common mode failure of redundant safety systems (electric power) caused by the tsunami at Fukushima, authorities should ask to what extent this failure and other common mode failure vulnerabilities in operating plants might be revealed by current technology."
This would include refining safety requirements for future nuclear power plants to ensure that their "backup cooling systems are able to operate for a long enough time following complete loss of on-site and off-site power."
Another area the experts highlight is the need for special attention to go into training of plant personnel.
They recommend that countries with nuclear power plants "should establish centers to train specialists for nuclear technology."
"Top professionals involved in nuclear power generation should not only 'know what' and 'know how' but also 'know why' in order to deliver difficult and critical decisions in time to deal with unforeseen circumstances."
The statement also proposes that new international frameworks could be created, such as an "international regulatory agency entrusted with issuing international safety standards and performing compulsory inspections."
The nuclear safety experts include Harold Denton, a former director of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation and former President Jimmy Carter's adviser at Three Mile Island during the 1979 accident; Pierre Tanguy, former inspector general of nuclear safety, Electricite de France; and Nikolai Steinberg of Ukraine, former chief engineer at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
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