The Nuclear Regulatory Commission took issue Tuesday with a report from its inspector general suggesting that the agency had been lax in its inspection of a soon-to-close nuclear power plant, according to new documents.
Although NRC’s inspector general alleged in a March report that an improper inspection of Diablo Canyon Power Plant back in 2020 resulted in a feedwater pipe leak, the agency argued in a response Tuesday that there was no way evidence of such an issue “should have reasonably been identified by NRC inspectors before the leak occurred.”
Based on a review of the inspector general’s report, NRC staff “determined that inspection procedures and COVID-19 guidance were appropriately followed,” the response said.
NRC also pushed back on what it called “inaccuracies” in the March report about the depth of the agency’s inspection at Diablo Canyon. Among other corrections, the agency suggested that comments from senior officials about the inspection had been taken out of context and clarified that the procedure “met management’s expectations.”
All this comes as the San Luis Obispo, Calif., Diablo Canyon plant is preparing to go offline in the coming years. Plant operator Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) has said that it plans to shut down the facility’s two reactors in 2024 and 2025, respectively. The utility has already selected nuclear services company Orano USA to handle the plant’s spent fuel inventory once it goes dark.
