NRC, INPO, NEI, ANS.....

This information notice was sent out to all operators of nuclear power plants today. The purpose section is the most concise statement of the document:

Purpose

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing this information notice (IN) to inform addressees of effects of the Tohoku-Taiheiyou-Oki Earthquake on nuclear power plants in Japan. The NRC expects that recipients will review the information for applicability to their facilities and consider actions, as appropriate, to avoid similar problems. Suggestions contained in this IN are not NRC requirements; therefore, no specific action or written response is required.

One might presume that this is meaningless since it specifically mentions that "no specific action or written response is required." That's kind of where INPO comes in. While the NRC verifies that nuclear plants comply with the law, INPO (a utility-sponsored entity) is there to measure and improve plant performance to above the minimum requirements of law. Earlier this week, INPO (the link provided only gives very generic information about INPO) sent out guidelines for actions to be taken by all plant operators to be as certain as possible that nuclear plants can deal with postulated disasters. Speaking only from my immediate realm of experience, TVA had already started (prior to INPO's guidance) to form teams to evaluate and improve safety margins from disasters at their nuclear plants. I'm sure that TVA is not alone...