Commission: Japan nuke crisis does not warrant U.S. changes

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- The nuclear crisis is Japan, while severe, appears to be stabilizing and does not warrant any immediate changes in U.S. nuclear plants, a top U.S. nuclear official said Monday.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's executive director for operations, Bill Borchardt, said officials have "a high degree of confidence" that operations at the 104 nuclear reactors in 31 states are safe. He said inspectors at each of the plants have redoubled efforts to guard against any safety breaches.

The five-member commission was reviewing the Japanese crisis -- it is the worst nuclear disaster in a quarter-century -- and was set to approve a 90-day safety review of operations at U.S. nuclear plants to comply with a call last week by President Barack Obama.

NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko said his agency has a responsibility to the American people to undertake "a systematic and methodical review of the safety of our own domestic nuclear facilities," in light of the Japanese disaster.