Undeterred by nuclear catastrophe in Japan, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is racing to approve a new model of reactor, the Westinghouse-Toshiba  AP1000, that is being constructed right now in China, and is on track for licensing to operate at several locations in the southeastern U.S.

Analysis of the Fukushima disaster has yielded 40-pages of concerns that experts conclude should be addressed in new reactor designs, but the NRC is not insisting that the manufacturer incorporate any improvements relative to those concerns in the AP 1000 before licensing.

The NRC has yet to certify the design, but two plants in Georgia and S. Carolina are pushing for swift approval. Despite the fact that there is no immediate need for the energy these plants would provide, and that it will only be available at a higher cost than rate-payers currently enjoy,  the new plants are being sold as “job-creators;” so pressure to “fast-track” licensing is tremendous.

If the NRC’s past behavior is any predictor, approval of the design, without modification, will be swift.

In fact, the NRC dismisses concern that Fukushima-related modifications have not been made to the design by saying, in essence, that we can worry about all that later but must make licensing them to operate the immediate priority.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to detect the folly in this approach, so it is hardly surprisingly that Fairewinds Associates’ Arnie Gundersen doesn’t think it’s a very good idea.

The AP1000 Oversight Group has retained Fairewinds  to take a look at the new design relative to the findings of concern at Fukushima; and Fairewind’s newest video analysis summarizes their conclusions.

In it, Arnie cites six specific areas in which the design has significant short-comings, especially in light of new evidence provided by the real experiences at Fukushima.  

Among those short-comings is the minimal tolerance allowed between what the AP1000 containment has been designed to withstand and the theoretical predictions that were the untested standard before Fukushima.  Those predictions have already been demonstrated in Japan to have been woefully inadequate.  

To put it simply, it is recognized that there is insufficient margin for failure designed into the AP1000 containment, but the NRC does not intend to require Westinghouse to correct this fault before licensing the new reactors to operate.

This deficiency alone should have sent the whole thing back to the drawing board, but there are a number of other equally concerning issues.  

Watch the whole video; then if you really want to get to the nuts and bolts, read the full report, posted on Fairewinds’ website.

Fukushima and Its Impact Upon the Westinghouse-Toshiba Designed AP1000 Atomic Power Plant from Fairewinds Associates on Vimeo.