CRANBERRY TWP — The nuclear power industry is continuing to fight an uphill battle to regain the world’s confidence more than three years after the catastrophic failure of three reactors at a power plant in Fukushima, Japan.

However, Peter Sena, president and chief nuclear officer of FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co., is adamant operators in the United States have been — and will continue to be — the clear world leaders in nuclear power plant safety and operations.

Sena spoke Tuesday morning to about 50 regional economic, education and business officials during a program put together by the Energy Alliance of Greater Pittsburgh and the TechBelt Initiative at the Regional Learning Alliance.

Sena provided insights garnered from a fact-finding trip to Fukushima in late August with the other 25 or so chief nuclear officers responsible for the 100 reactors in the U.S.

The North Hills resident is responsible for four nuclear reactors in the region, including the two at the Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Station about 20 miles west of Butler County. The four reactors provide about 22 percent of FirstEnergy’s electric generation capacity for 6 million customers throughout the region.

Sena said other than containment efforts, the meltdown site on the east coast of central Japan remains deserted in a 12-mile radius after a March 2011 earthquake caused a tsunami that flooded the reactors, leading them to melt down.

While the trip provided a harrowing example of the worst side of nuclear energy, he said it provided a learning experience that will improve global nuclear power policy, technology and operations.

Ultimately, Sena said the contingent of nuclear officers found Japan was lacking in many design, safety and regulatory measures.

In the U.S., he said, all chief nuclear officers know each other well and share information regularly.

“Our role is to hold each other accountable,” he said.

“If there’s a ... plant with issues in the United States, what do we do as an industry? We gather all of our experts, we go there and we help,” he said.

That is not the case in Japan, he said.

In Fukushima, there were two plants impacted from the natural disaster: Daiichi and Daini.

Sena said Daiichi fell short in many areas on the way to melting down. At Daini, which faced many of the same issues, better prepared leaders made decisions that averted further crisis.

Sena said problems for the Daiichi plant started with its location and design.

The plant was built on the coast in an area carved out from a bluff. While the design saved on construction costs, it made it susceptible to flooding because it was closer to sea level. Compounding that problem was the design of sea walls that were not built high enough to handle extreme flooding.

“This was a blatant design error waiting for this event to happen,” Sena said.

He said regulations in the U.S. require plant designs and action plans that can handle worst-case disaster scenarios.

He provided multiple examples of U.S. nuclear power plants that have been in the middle of natural disasters and experienced no problems. Those included Hurricanes Katrina and Andrew, tornados throughout the Midwest and earthquakes along the West Coast.

U.S. operators also plan, train and simulate regularly to ensure they are prepared for all situations, he said.

Japan does not have those rules and procedures in place. Nuclear operators there also do not have nearly as many fully licensed personnel.

As a result, Sena said the root error in Japan was a “technical arrogance” that can be attributed to a culture that is reluctant to question authority.

“They didn’t think an accident could happen there,” he said.

Sena said the shortcomings in Japan have led to a complete re-evaluation process here. Domestic nuclear operators are currently doing extensive flooding and seismic analysis to ensure plant designs can withstand extreme disasters.