"U.S. Nuclear Reactors Fall Short on Steps to Cope With Disasters"

"More than five years after a tsunami struck Japan triggering one of the worst nuclear disasters in history, U.S. reactors and industry regulators haven’t done enough to prevent a similar catastrophe, a government-sponsored study found.

Reactor operators are falling short on measures to prevent spent nuclear fuel stored at the plant from overheating and releasing radiation into the atmosphere following an accident or natural disaster, according to a report Friday from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. Operators should also upgrade plant security “to cope with extreme external events and severe accidents.”

A March 2011 earthquake caused a tsunami that slammed into Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant, causing a triple meltdown that sent a radioactive plume over surrounding communities. The loss of power that followed the tsunami exposed weaknesses in systems meant to secure the plant and its stock of spent fuel."

Jonathan Crawford reports for Bloomberg May 20, 2016.