목차
Title page
Contents
Highlights 2
Letter 6
Background 10
The Nuclear Power Industry and U.S. Plant Operations 10
NRC's Role 14
NRC's Regulatory Approach 15
Climate Change Is Expected to Exacerbate Natural Hazards That Pose Risks to Nuclear Power Plants 18
Heat, Drought, and Wildfires Pose Risks to Nuclear Power Plants, and Climate Change Is Expected to Exacerbate These Hazards, Particularly in the South and Southwest 19
Flooding, Hurricanes, and Sea Level Rise Pose Risks to Nuclear Plants, and Climate Change Is Expected to Exacerbate These Hazards, Particularly in Coastal Regions 23
Extreme Cold Weather Events Pose Risks to Nuclear Power Plants, and Climate Change May Affect These Events in Certain Regions 30
NRC's Actions to Address Risks to Nuclear Power Plants from Natural Hazards Do Not Fully Consider the Potential Effects of Climate Change 32
NRC's Oversight of Nuclear Power Plants Includes Actions to Address Risks from Natural Hazards 32
NRC's Actions Do Not Fully Consider the Potential Effects of Climate Change 39
Conclusions 44
Recommendations for Executive Action 45
Agency Comments and Our Evaluation 45
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology 47
Appendix II: Available Federal Data on Heat, Cold, Wildfires, Flooding, Storm Surge, and Sea Level Rise 54
Appendix III: Nuclear Power Plant Exposure to Selected Natural Hazards 59
Appendix IV: Comments from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission 70
Appendix V: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments 72
Table 1. Potential Exposure to Current and Future Hazards at Operating Nuclear Power Plants 60
Table 2. Potential Exposure to Current and Future Hazards at Shutdown Nuclear Power Plants 67
Figure 1. Map of Operating and Shutdown Nuclear Power Plants by U.S. Census Region 11
Figure 2. Nuclear Power Plant Components and Operations for a Pressurized Water Reactor 13
Figure 3. Measures Consistent with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) Defense-in-Depth Approach 17
Figure 4. Examples of Natural Hazards that May Pose Risks to Nuclear Power Plants 18
Figure 5. Nuclear Power Plants Located in Areas with Exposure to No/Low, Moderate, and High/Very High Wildfire Hazard Potential 22
Figure 6. Nuclear Power Plants Located in Areas with High and Moderate Flood Hazard 25
Figure 7. Nuclear Power Plants Located in Areas with Exposure to Storm Surges from Category 4 and Category 5 Hurricanes 27
Figure 8. Nuclear Power Plants in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Coastal Regions and Projected Sea Level Rise in 2050 29
Figure 9. Timeline of Selected Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and Industry Actions after the Fukushima Dai-ichi Accident in 2011 35
Figure 10. Examples of the Diverse and Flexible Coping Strategies (FLEX) and Strategic Alliance for FLEX Emergency Response (SAFER) Center Equipment 39
