Trend analysis of findings in the fire protection inspection of U.S. nuclear power plants

In Japan, the inspection system implemented by the regulatory authorities for nuclear power plants is being reviewed currently, and it is intended to improve the safety level through voluntary actions of operators based on national regulations. Specifically, the pre-use inspections and facility periodic inspections that have been carried out by the regulatory authorities have been abolished, and the business operators conduct inspections and make voluntary pass/fail judgments themselves to solve safety problems. In reviewing the inspection system, operators refer to the Reactor Oversight Process (ROP), which started in 2000 at power plants in the United States and integrates the inspection, evaluation, and enforcement measures. In this study, reported results from the fire protection triennial inspection, one of the ROPs, were taken from the inspection reports on the official website of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). By extracting and analyzing the issues pointed out, we investigated possible clues that can be used as references for improving the safety level in fire protection of nuclear power plants in Japan. (author)