U.S. Nuclear Power Safety One Year After Fukushima

One year after the Fukushima disaster, the Union of Concerned Scientists argues that while the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) initially responded well, it has since deprioritized the most critical recommendation for managing 'beyond-design-basis' accidents. Furthermore, the report warns that the nuclear industry's preference for the 'FLEX' strategy—which relies on portable emergency equipment rather than hardening infrastructure—is driven by cost and may undermine the NRC's ability to enforce higher safety standards.

• U.S. nuclear reactors share design similarities with the Fukushima reactors, making them vulnerable to severe natural disasters or terrorist attacks that could cause similar safety failures.
• The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has deprioritized the most critical recommendation from its July 2011 task force report, which called for clarifying regulatory requirements for 'beyond-design-basis' accidents.
• The nuclear industry is promoting the 'Diverse and Flexible Coping Capability' (FLEX) program, which focuses on purchasing additional portable emergency equipment rather than hardening existing infrastructure because it is more cost-effective.
• The early adoption of the FLEX strategy by some nuclear plants may hinder the NRC's capacity to mandate more stringent safety standards.

APA

Union of Concerned Scientists (2012). U.S. Nuclear Power Safety One Year After Fukushima. https://www.ucs.org/resources/us-nuclear-power-safety-one-year-after-fukushima

Chicago

Union of Concerned Scientists. U.S. Nuclear Power Safety One Year After Fukushima. 2012. https://www.ucs.org/resources/us-nuclear-power-safety-one-year-after-fukushima.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Union of Concerned Scientists |title=U.S. Nuclear Power Safety One Year After Fukushima |date=3 September 2012 |url=https://www.ucs.org/resources/us-nuclear-power-safety-one-year-after-fukushima |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{unionofconcernedscientists2012nuclear, author = {{Union of Concerned Scientists}}, title = {{U.S. Nuclear Power Safety One Year After Fukushima}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2012}, month = sep, url = {https://www.ucs.org/resources/us-nuclear-power-safety-one-year-after-fukushima}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }