President Barack Obama has demanded that the 104 nuclear reactors at 65 sites get a second look as scientists warn that current regulatory standards don't protect the US public from the kind of atomic fallout facing quake-hit Japan.

One of the most controversial reactors is Indian Point nuclear power plant in New York state. The complex is under a mile from the Ramapo fault line and is fewer than 65 kilometers (40 miles) north of the heart of New York City.

If a quake were to strike the area, and the United States were following the same recommendations it has issued for Japan -- to evacuate people in a 50-mile (80 kilometer) radius -- the turmoil could entangle as many as 17 million people, experts say.

"It should be closed. This plant in this proximity to the city was never a good risk," said New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Thursday, after an MSNBC analysis of NRC data showed it had the highest risk of failure in an earthquake.

Indian Point's failure risk was rated at 1 in 10,000 yearly, much higher than the average US reactor's odds of 1 in 74,176, said the survey.

The plant, which was first licensed in 1962, also featured prominently in a report issued by the Union of Concerned Scientists that criticized regulatory failures and documented 14 "near-misses" at nuclear plants in 2010.

"Inspectors documented that the liner of the refueling cavity had been leaking since 1993; NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission) management chose to ignore the problem," said the UCS report.

Another nuclear plant drawing scrutiny is the Vermont Yankee plant, a 39-year-old facility whose license was renewed for another 20 years by the NRC just a day before the 9.0 quake struck Japan.

The plant faces steep opposition from local lawmakers and residents of the northeastern state known for its liberal, eco-friendly attitudes.

The Yankee plant uses the same reactor design as five of six reactors at the Fukushima complex -- a 1960s design known as the Mark 1 boiling water reactor developed by General Electric -- and is about the same age.

In fact, the United States has 23 of these Mark-1 reactors.

Reinforcements to the design were ordered in the 1980s over concerns that their concrete containment shields, which surround the reactor vessel, were vulnerable to explosion caused by a buildup of hydrogen gas.

But the Vermont plant and others still fall short in the modern age, as concerns mount over potential terror strikes and buildup of fuel waste.

"Vermont Yankee and many other nuclear power plants in the US do not meet the new safety regulations," said David Lochbaum, a nuclear expert with the Union of Concerned Scientists.

"Whether plants will survive airline impacts, whether there is sufficient storage for spent fuel, the NRC has in the past carved out of their purview so with their narrow focus it is easy for them to come to a decision that things are OK."

Two California plants -- Diablo Canyon and San Onofre -- are located near the infamous San Andreas fault, which is widely expected to produce a major 6.0 or higher earthquake in the next 30 years.

Two of Diablo Canyon's reactors ranked 15th and 16th on the US risk list, and the UCS said faulty valves and "misguided repair" left the reactor operating "for nearly 18 months with vital emergency systems disabled" last year.

After grilling NRC chair Gregory Jaczko in hearings earlier this week, Democratic Senators Barbara Boxer and Tom Carper wrote a letter calling for a fresh review of US nuclear plants.

"We call on the NRC to conduct a comprehensive investigation of all nuclear facilities in the United States to assess their capacity to withstand catastrophic natural or man-made disasters including scenarios that may be considered remote like the recent events in Japan," they wrote.

Their call that was echoed later Thursday by Obama.

"When we see a crisis like the one in Japan, we have a responsibility to learn from this event," Obama said.

"That's why I've asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to do a comprehensive review of the safety of our domestic nuclear plants in light of the natural disaster that unfolded in Japan."

earlier related report
Anti-nuclear demonstrations held across Spain
Madrid (AFP) March 17, 2011 - Hundreds of people took part in protests held across Spain Thursday to demand the closure of the country's six nuclear power stations after Japan's nuclear accident following a massive earthquake.

Demonstrators, many wearing masks or holding signs that read "No nuclear power, neither here nor in Japan", gathered in small groups in more than 30 cities, including Madrid, Barcelona, Seville and Valencia.

The protests were organised by Greenpeace and Spanish environmental umbrella group Ecologists in Action, who want the government to gradually close the country's six nuclear power plants by 2020.

They are especially concerned over two nuclear plants -- one at Garona in the north and another at Cofrentes in the east -- which use the same boiling water reactor design as the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan that is facing a meltdown.

"What is happening in Japan shows that what is improbable ends up happening," Ecologists in Action spokesman Francisco Castejon said at the protest in Madrid, which drew around 200 people.

Castejon said renewable energy sources like wind and solar power could make up for the loss of the electricity that is currently produced at Spain's six nuclear power plants.

"Around 40 percent of the electricity which we consume comes from renewables, double the energy that comes from nuclear. Since 2004 we have exported electricity to all our neighbours," he said.

The Spanish government said Wednesday it will review security measures at all its nuclear power plants following the massive earthquake and tsunami that devastated northeast Japan and crippled the Fukushima nuclear power station, raising the risk of uncontrolled radiation.

Spain's Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero vowed during general elections in 2004 and 2008 to gradually phase out nuclear power when the lifespan of the country's six nuclear plants expired.

But he has since softened his stance, and in July 2009 the government said it would extend the operating licence for the Garona plant for another two years until July 2013.

The government extended the life of the plant at Cofrentes by a decade on March 10, a day before the massive earthquake hit Japan.

Spain has taken a lead in renewable energy in recent years, becoming one of the world's biggest producers of electricity from wind and solar power, as it seeks to cut its oil dependence and reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.

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