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Nuclear Regulatory Commission may reduce plant inspections

Staff file photo by Doug Strickland Unit 2 senior manager of operations Tom Wallace walks inside the Unit 2 cooling tower of TVA's Watts Bar nuclear in 2015. TVA met stricter flood and disaster rules for all three of its nuclear plants as part of its effort to get the new Unit 2 of Watts Bar licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Staff file photo by Doug Strickland Unit 2 senior manager of operations Tom Wallace walks inside the Unit 2 cooling tower of TVA's Watts Bar nuclear in 2015. TVA met stricter flood and disaster rules for all three of its nuclear plants as part of its effort to get the new Unit 2 of Watts Bar licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

By Staff and Wire Reports July 16, 2019 4 min read

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will look at cutting back on inspections of the country’s nuclear reactors.

Staff recommendations made public Tuesday would reduce the time and scope of annual inspections at the nation’s 90-plus nuclear power plants. Some other inspections would be cut from every two years to every three years.

The nuclear power industry has pushed regulators to cut inspections, saying the nuclear facilities are operating well and the inspections are a financial burden for power providers.

Some of the staff’s recommendations would require a vote by the commission, which has a majority of Trump-appointed members.

NRC Commissioner Jeff Baran says he opposes the proposed reduction in inspections. Baran says the commission shouldn’t “weaken its safety oversight to save money.”