Here is the Fukushima wake up call - will it go unheard?

A new report, from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, says, the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident should serve as a wake-up call to nuclear plant operators and regulators on the crucial importance of measuring, maintaining, and restoring cooling in spent fuel pools - in the face of, severe accidents and terrorist attacks.

The committee recommends that the U.S. nuclear industry and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) improve the ability of plant operators to measure real-time conditions in spent fuel pools and maintain adequate cooling of stored spent fuel during severe accidents and terrorist attacks.

These improvements need to go beyond the current, post-Fukushima response to include hardened and redundant physical surveillance systems such as cameras, radiation monitors, pool temperature and water-level monitors, and means to deliver makeup water or sprays to the pools, even when physical access is limited by facility damage or high radiation levels. Let’s learn from Fukushima!