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Nuclear Regulators Ready For Beacon Hill Questioning

Federal regulators visit the State House Wednesday to reassure Gov. Deval Patrick about nuclear power plant safety.

Neil Sheehan, spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, says federal safety officials will explain why they're confident the plants in this region all can continue to operate safely.

"At the same time, we want to see what comes out of both the near-term and longer-term evaluations we're going to conduct in the wake of the Japanese reactor events."

Sheehan says he's expecting questions about spent fuel storage, protection against earthquakes and the ability to cool reactors if backup power failed in an emergency.

"These are issues that we have looked at many times over the years — and we're prepared to take a fresh look at — in the wake of what's occurred in Japan," he said.

State lawmakers are asking operators of the three nuclear plants in the area to outline emergency preparedness efforts in a hearing next week.

This program aired on March 30, 2011. The audio for this program is not available.

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