From the U.S. Government Accountability Office, www.gao.gov

Transcript for: Nuclear Power Plants and Climate Change

Description: Climate change is expected to exacerbate natural
hazards--including heat, drought, wildfires, flooding, hurricanes, and
sea level rise. Risks to nuclear power plants from these hazards include
loss of offsite power, damage to systems and equipment, and diminished
cooling capacity, potentially resulting in reduced operations or plant
shutdowns. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) addresses risks to
the safety of nuclear power plants, including risks from natural
hazards, in its licensing and oversight processes. However, NRC's
actions to address risks from natural hazards do not fully consider
potential climate change effects. GAO is making three recommendations,
including that NRC assess whether its existing processes adequately
address climate risks to nuclear power plants and develop a plan to
address any gaps identified.

Related GAO Works: GAO-24-106326. Nuclear Power Plants: NRC Should Take
Actions to Fully Consider the Potential Effects of Climate Change

Released: April 2024


[ Text On-Screen ]

Climate change is expected to make natural hazards like flooding and
drought more severe. Extreme weather may put U.S. nuclear power plants
at risk of damage or cause them to shut down.

80% of nuclear power plants in the U.S. are located in high flood hazard
areas. About 23% are in areas with exposure to storm surge from Category
4 or 5 hurricanes. About 20% are in areas with a high or very high
potential for wildfire.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's oversight processes works to address
safety risks at these plants--but NRC doesn't fully consider potential
climate change effects in these processes.

For example, NRC mostly uses historical data to identify and assess
safety risks, rather than projections data that incorporate climate
change impacts.

We recommended that NRC fully address climate risks to nuclear power
plants.

Find Out More at GAO.gov.

Footage: NRC, Pond5 (RickRay, pederpad), stock.adode.com (ververidis,
beeboys, Big Spin Production, VIA Films, Kanagu, Rick, hotelfoxtrot69)

[ End ]


For more info, check out our report GAO-24-106326 at: GAO.gov