The domestic nuclear industry is concerned there may not be enough seismic and flood experts to advise them how to economically strengthen reactors if the basis for withstanding natural disasters is raised, business representatives told Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff Sept. 21. In a meeting requested by the industry to address regulators’ Japan Task Force recommendations, nuclear representatives urged that no new requirements be imposed while plant owners are still analyzing domestic facilities in light of the lessons learned from the Fukushima Daiichi meltdowns. “We’ve got to know where we stand now as a starting point for further analysis in order to cope [with natural disasters] before the cavalry arrives,” said Tony Pietrangelo, Nuclear Energy Institute senior vice president. In the case of potential earthquakes—like those that could occur in faults near both operating California nuclear facilities—industry representatives want to wait to hear from the sparse pool of seismic experts to help design protocols before being ordered by the commission to take actions. Commission staff didn’t disagree. “Philosophically we agree to the [same] timeline,” said Marty Virgilio, NRC deputy executive for reactor and preparedness programs. Nuclear power plants were designed to withstand certain natural forces. For instance, the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station is supposed to be engineered to hold up to a 7.0 earthquake. That facility-specific requirement is called building to “design basis.” What regulators have been discussing since the Fukushima meltdowns is hardening nuclear plants to “beyond design basis” because Japan’s industry did not consider the severe earthquakes and tsunami that triggered the meltdowns and radioactive releases. Asking for regulatory “flexibility” instead of prescriptive rules for power plant operators, Pietrangelo said, “We don’t know what happens in beyond design basis” incidents. Regulators also aren’t familiar with all the tools available to assess nuclear facilities, and the industry wants to add new technology into its response kits. In monitoring the water and heat build up in spent fuel pools, for instance, Chip Pardee, Entergy chief operating officer said, “I can look at my iPhone and check my tire pressure. There’s very powerful tools out there. We’re just not used to using them.” One apparent reason for melting radioactive fuel at the Fukushima facility was that operators weren’t able to remotely monitor the spent fuel pools.