Message from US Regulatory Commission

March 10, 2015

Burns: Fukushima accident has key lessons for US

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20150311_05.html

Mar. 10, 2015 - Updated 23:43 UTC+1

The head of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission says the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident has key lessons for American nuclear policy.

Stephen Burns made the comment in a speech on Tuesday near Washington.

He said the NRC is trying to complete safety measures for the spent nuclear fuel stored in pools at all power plants in the US by the end of 2016.

Burns later told reporters that the challenges after the accident have been taken very seriously by the Japanese government and the country has made a lot of progress.

Burns said he will visit Fukushima in early April to observe the decommissioning of the crippled plant.

He also said he is planning to meet his Japanese counterparts to discuss the safety measures for other plants. All of the nation's nuclear reactors remain offline.

Japanese regulators are screening the safety steps for those plants using the stricter requirements that were adopted after the 2011 Fukushima accident.