The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is responsible for the licensing of facilities, commercial use of nuclear materials, inspecting facilities, and creating standards and regulations for nuclear power plant safety. The NRC requires that nuclear power plants and some nuclear fuel facilities have significant safety measures in place. Research and test reactors, holders of radiological material, and other entities licensed by the NRC must also have safety protocols in place. The primary concern when it comes to nuclear energy is limiting the biological absorption of the compromised dose (ingestion or inhalation of radioactive materials) and the external radiation dose due to contamination radioactive.
To ensure robust security, multiple approaches must work simultaneously, just as safety in nuclear power plants is achieved through duplicate backup systems. The time from the start of construction of a commercial nuclear power plant to the safe disposal of its last radioactive waste can be 100 to 150 years. The Convention on Nuclear Safety was drafted after the Three Mile Island and Chernobyl accidents in a series of expert-level meetings from 1992 to 1994. This was the result of considerable work by States, including their national nuclear regulatory and safety authorities, and the International Atomic Energy Agency, which acts as Secretariat of the Convention. The Federation of American Scientists has said that for the use of nuclear energy to expand significantly, nuclear facilities must be extremely safe from attacks that could release massive amounts of radioactivity into the community. Nuclear safety is defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as achieving adequate operating conditions, preventing accidents or mitigating the consequences of accidents, resulting in the protection of workers, the public and the environment from radiation hazards undue. The law also mandated the NRC to increase the scope of the “design-based threat” that is, the threat against which nuclear power plants must be protected.
Timely exchange of accurate information between the NRC, other federal agencies and the nuclear industry is critical to preventing or mitigating the effects of terrorist attacks. Nuclear power plants operate in most of the country's states and produce about 20 percent of the country's energy. Safety measures are especially strict for the vital area, which contains the reactor and associated security systems, the control room, the spent fuel pool and the main security alarm stations. The Hanford site is a mostly dismantled nuclear production complex on the Columbia River in the U. S.To ensure that nuclear power plants are secure and safe from potential threats, it is essential that all stakeholders involved in their operation adhere to stringent safety protocols.
This includes regulators, operators, engineers, researchers, and other personnel who are responsible for ensuring that all safety measures are met. By following these protocols, we can ensure that nuclear power plants remain secure and safe for everyone involved.
