A Critical Moment For The Nuclear Safety Policeman

"The Institute of Nuclear Power Operations is struggling to bring a new wave of nuclear startups into their system."

"Several nuclear power startups are balking at joining the industry’s voluntary regulatory body in what could become a major shakeup to plant safety oversight.

The Institute of Nuclear Power Operations, or INPO, was created by utilities in the wake of the Three Mile Island accident in 1979 to police safety at their nuclear power plants, supplementing the work of government regulators. Today, every U.S. utility with a nuclear plant is a member and adheres to INPO’s best practices, and the country hasn’t had a nuclear accident since.

“The high levels of safety and performance and reliability that exist today are possible because of what INPO does,” Ho Nieh, chair of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, told POLITICO’s E&E News. “They have a very intrusive process to assess all aspects of a utility’s performance in operating a nuclear reactor in terms of safety and reliability, way more intrusive than anything the NRC does.”

But now dozens of entities, many started by Silicon Valley tech entrepreneurs, are looking to bring novel reactor technologies online. Some of those startups have a different safety culture from the existing nuclear fleet. Of nine companies participating in the Department of Energy’s pilot program for new advanced reactors, only one — Natura Resources — is in INPO’s program for reactor suppliers."