Nuclear Plants Need Stronger Disaster Safeguards, Panel Says

Nuclear-power plant owners need to upgrade protections against earthquakes, floods and power losses, according to recommendations from a U.S. panel studying lessons learned from Japan’s reactor crisis.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission should require owners to have at least eight hours of backup power at reactors, provide emergency systems to spray water into pools holding spent fuel and install more reliable venting for reactors similar to those that failed in Japan in March, the advisory group said in its report yesterday.