US nuclear plants not reporting all defects

US nuclear power plant operators have not been consistent in flagging defects they find in parts used in some of their most critical safety components because of confusing regulatory guidance, a watchdog for the US nuclear safety regulator said on Thursday.
The report by the office of Inspector General of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission comes as global scrutiny is riveted on atomic energy safety, but the audit was completed in January, well before the nuclear plant crisis in Japan.
By law, operators have to report any incidents caused by failure of components. But the review by the NRC inspector general's staff focused on the reporting of defects found in components, even if they don't cause a problem - a requirement under a separate NRC rule. These parts would include components needed to keep reactors cool, to shut down reactors, or prevent accidents.
Without consistent reporting, the NRC and other plant operators might be unaware of manufacturing defects in components, the report said. "Other licensees that use the same component, as well as component manufacturers, may be unaware of the problem," the report said.
The NRC had no immediate comment on the report, which was published on its website. The agency must tell the inspector general how it plans to address the issue within 30 days.
Interviews and analysis done by the inspector general's staff found that some 28 percent of the operating nuclear plants do not, as standard practice, report defects unless they are associated with an actual problem or event.
Some plant operators believed they only needed to report defects associated with events, the report said. "These reporting issues exist because NRC regulations and guidance are contradictory and unclear," the report said.
The NRC's inspectors also do not routinely monitor whether plant operators are reporting defects that could potentially cause problems, the report said.
The agency needs to provide better guidance to industry and its inspectors, update the regulation, and make it part of its inspection program, the report said. The NRC's guidance on the reporting rule was published in July 1977, and new staff inspectors found it hard to interpret, the report said.