Not what we wanted to hear

From the Infragard daily news bulletin:

Nuclear Reactors, Materials and Waste Sector 9. March 31, Homeland Security News Wire – (National) U.S. reactors have weaker back-up batteries than Fukushima Daiichi had. Almost all American nuclear power plants have backup batteries that would last only half as long as those at Japan's troubled Fukushima Daiichi plant did after a tsunami knocked out power there, an expert testified March 29 at a U.S. Senate committee briefing on nuclear safety. An industry official, addressing the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, conceded battery life was "one of the obvious places" nuclear operators would examine for potential improvements. The New York Times reported a nuclear expert at the Union of Concerned Scientists, which generally takes a critical tone toward reactors, said that just 11 of the nation's 104 plants had 8-hour batteries, and 93 had 4-hour batteries. The batteries are not powerful enough to run pumps that direct cooling water, but they can operate valves and power instruments that give readings of water levels, flow, and temperatures. After the March 11 tsunami disabled the local electricity grid at the Fukushima plant and the plant's emergency diesel generators, the failure of batteries deprived operators of the crucial measurements. The senior vice president and chief nuclear officer of the Nuclear Energy Institute, the industry trade group, also addressed the committee. "To get to 48 hours, or 72 hours, pick a number," he said of the backup batteries. "We're going to have to take a hard look and see what resources would be required." The New York Times said after the hearing, he said an alternative to adding long-lasting batteries could be having portable diesel generators available for quick dispatch to a reactor. Some equipment intended to cope with a severe accident or terrorist attack is already centrally stockpiled, he said. Source: http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/us-reactors-have-weaker-back-batteries-fukushima-daiichi-had