Additional Scrutiny at Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant Set to Continue
http://public-blog.nrc-gateway.gov/2015/01/28/additional-scrutiny-at-pilgrim-nuclear-power-plant-set-to-continue/?source=govdelivery&utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery
Neil Sheehan
Public Affairs Officer Region I
Last fall, a team of NRC inspectors was tasked with evaluating whether issues at the Pilgrim nuclear power plant
that triggered increased agency oversight had been satisfactorily
addressed. That team has now returned its findings in the form of a
newly issued inspection report.
 And
the answer – at least at this point in time – is that Entergy, the
Plymouth, Mass., plant’s owner, still has some more work to do.
Specifically,
although the eight-member team has determined that, in general, the
company’s problem identification, root cause evaluation and corrective
action plans were adequate, it has identified deficiencies in the
implementation of corrective action plans, as well as in understanding
of the issues’ causes.
In its report, the team cites several examples where fixes were not completed as intended or were closed prematurely.
As
a result, per agency protocols, the NRC is assigning two “parallel”
“white” (low to moderate safety significance) inspection findings to
Pilgrim. The findings will administratively replace two “white”
performance indicators that initially led to the plant receiving
additional scrutiny.
The
net effect will be the plant will continue to receive heightened
attention until the NRC can perform a follow-up team inspection and is
satisfied the concerns have been resolved. The NRC will conduct that
additional inspection once Entergy notifies the agency of its readiness
for it.
To
back up for a moment, the Pilgrim plant’s performance indicator for
Unplanned Scrams (shutdowns) with Complications crossed the threshold
from “green” to “white” following the third quarter of 2013. Then, in
the fourth quarter of last year, the performance indicator for Unplanned
Scrams per 7,000 Hours of Operation also changed to “white,” something
that occurs if a plant has more than three such shutdowns during the
designated period.
This placed Pilgrim in the Degraded Cornerstone Column of the Action Matrix used by the NRC to assess plant performance.
Pilgrim
has not had any unplanned scrams since October 2013, and the
performance indicators discussed above are currently “green.” But the
assignment of the white findings will keep the plant in the Degraded
Cornerstone Column pending successful completion of the supplemental
inspection.
The
NRC intends to discuss the inspection results during the Annual
Assessment meeting for the plant. That meeting will likely take place in
March near the plant, but a date, time and location have not yet been
firmed up.
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