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Probe shows reactors not prepared to deal with power outages like those in Japan.


WASHINGTON &mdash; As a result of Japan&rsquo;s nuclear crisis, government regulators are reviewing a wide range of issues potentially affecting the 104 U.S. nuclear reactors, including their ability to protect against natural disasters and terrorist attacks, respond to complete power blackouts and cope with accidents involving spent fuel. 
A top official with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission says a 90-day review, ordered by President Barack Obama, will include recommendations for possible changes to inspection procedures, licensing review and emergency communications. 
Bill Borchardt, the NRC&rsquo;s executive director for operations, told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Tuesday that U.S. nuclear plants continue to operate safely. 
Long before Japan&rsquo;s emergency, U.S. regulators knew that a power failure lasting for days at an American nuclear plant, whatever the cause, could lead to a radioactive leak. Even so, they have only required reactors to develop plans for dealing with much shorter blackouts. 
In one nightmare simulation presented by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 2009, it would take less than a day for radiation to escape from a reactor at the Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station outside Lancaster after an earthquake, flood or fire knocked out all electrical power and there was no way to keep the reactors cool after backup battery power ran out. The Pennsylvania reactors are of the same older make and model as those releasing radiation at Japan&rsquo;s Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, which is using other means to try to cool the reactors. 
And like Fukushima Dai-ichi, the Peach Bottom plant has enough battery power on site to power emergency cooling systems for only eight hours. 
The risk of a blackout leading to core damage, while extremely remote, exists at all U.S. nuclear plants, and some are more susceptible than others, according to an Associated Press investigation. While regulators say they have confidence that U.S. measures will prevent or significantly delay a core from melting and threatening a radioactive release, the events in Japan raise questions about whether U.S. plants are as prepared as they could and should be.

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