U.S. Nuclear Power Industry Plans for Bird Flu Pandemic

WASHINGTON, DC, May 2, 2006 (ENS) - The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is working on a plan to keep the nation's 103 nuclear power plants operating safely in the event that up to 40 percent of the staff is absent from work for weeks with bird flu. The Commission is considering using teleworking, bringing recent retirees back on the job, and deferring activities such as security exercises to maintain critical functions.

Other federal government agencies are conducting similar assessments, and the White House is set to issue its nationwide flu pandemic planning document on Wednesday.

The report builds on the strategy that President George W. Bush outlined last November - new flu vaccine technology and greater stockpiles of vaccines and anti-virals.

The government projects a worst case scenario of up to two million deaths in the United States if the deadly H5N1 viral strain mutates into a virus that is easily transmitted from person to person.

Health experts worry that the H5N1 virus that makes chickens sick could mutate into virus that is easily spread among humans. (Photo courtesy CDFA)

Quarantine of exposed workers, restrictions on movement around the country, and a limit on the number of international flights, are among the possible government responses to a pandemic.

The nuclear power industry is creating its own business continuity planning and site-specific options, and is discussing its efforts and potential needs with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

In a closed-door workshop Thursday, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission focused on the critical functions that must be maintained in the event of high absenteeism caused by a flu pandemic and considered what regulatory relief might be necessary if nuclear power plants faced similar staff shortages.

The commission is contemplating granting regulatory relief from minimum staffing or work hour requirements to nuclear power plant licensees if staff members are sick.

“We need to think creatively and strategically and work together to address this potentially serious issue,” said NRC Commissioner Jeffrey Merrifield, who was asked by Chairman Nils Diaz to take a lead role in the review of the flu pandemic planning effort.

“Such a pandemic, should it occur, will be a serious issue for this country, and maintaining the electrical grid while continuing to provide for the safety and security of our communities will be one of the most important tasks this country faces,” Merrifield said.

Based on federal government planning assumptions, the NRC is determining how to maintain mission-critical functions with absenteeism as high as 40 percent for periods of weeks in the course of a 12 to 18 month period.

The workshop, closed to the public due to the sensitive nature of the discussions, included several panels and drew attendees from other federal agencies, state government and power companies.

If nuclear power plant control room operators contract bird flu, how would the plants continue to operate safely? (Photo credit unknown)

Workshop participants discussed the status of resident inspectors who might fall ill, and the possibility of deferring certain activities, such as force-on-force security exercises.

The NRC anticipates continuing discussions with the industry and the possibility of issuing generic guidance to power plant operators in coming months.

The agency formed an internal working group in March that is preparing a report, to be finalized in the next few months, outlining what key mission critical activities the NRC must maintain. After the report is approved by the commission, some, but not all, portions of it will be made public.

The last pandemic was 1968-69 when 34,000 Americans died of the Hong Kong flu (H3N2), a disease that scientists say is still circulating.

In 1957-58 Asian flu (H2N2) killed 70,000 people in the United States.

The worst flu pandemic was in 1918-19 when Spanish flu (H1N1) was fatal to 500,000 in the United States and as many as 50 million worldwide.