Forging a New Nuclear Safety Construct - Supporting the Continuation and Growth of Nuclear Power Worldwide As a Key Contributor to Carbon Management

The Fukushima Dai-ichi accident has caused a global re-examination of the resilience of nuclear power plants to the challenges presented by severe external events.  The global response to the accident will have lasting effects on the operation of existing plants and the deployment of new ones. An ASME Presidential Task Force on Response to Japan Nuclear Power Plant Events was formed shortly after the March 11, 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami to (1) review the events that occurred, (2) develop and disseminate its perspective on the impact of these events on the future direction of the global nuclear power industry, and (3) develop recommendations to address issues and lessons learned from these events.  The Task Force, led by former U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Dr. Nils Diaz, published its results in an ASME Presidential Task Force report titled, Forging a New Nuclear Safety Construct, in June 2012. After the Task Force reviewed the Fukushima Dai-ichi event, along with 50 years of reactor history, a key lesson learned is that an accident resulting in a large uncontrolled release of radioactivity, disrupting the socio-economic fabric of society, including permanent displacement of large numbers of people and enormous costs, is not an acceptable outcome for an accident at a nuclear power plant, even when there are no discernible radiological public health effects.  In response, the Task Force has proposed a New Nuclear Safety Construct that is a set of planned, coordinated, and implemented systems ensuring that nuclear plants are designed, constructed, operated, and managed to prevent extensive societal disruption caused by radioactive releases from accidents, using an all-risk approach that addresses rare, yet credible events, whether natural or man-made.  Rare, yet credible extreme climate events are also requiring a need to adapt perspectives to accommodate such events going forward.  More than 120 top industry, government, and regulatory leaders from 20 countries attended an ASME workshop in December 2012 to provide an opportunity to discuss the recommendations contained in the report and develop a framework of actions and concrete plans for a roadmap inclusive of those key actions to be incorporated into a comprehensive nuclear safety construct with worldwide applicability.  The presentation will summarize the above developments and progress on global efforts to further improve socio-political and economic factors important to continuation and growth of nuclear power so that it remains a major contributor to carbon management worldwide.