Karl Herchenroeder
RW Monitor
1/15/2016
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission was scheduled Friday to wrap up the first of three inspections at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts, as plant oversight ramps up due to safety relief valve concerns.
The first inspection, termed Phase A, was initiated Monday. Three inspectors worked throughout the week to determine whether continued operation at the Plymouth, Mass., power plant is acceptable or whether additional regulatory action is required. The exit meeting for the inspection between NRC staff and the representatives for the owner, Entergy, was scheduled for Friday. Results from the inspection will be released no more than 45 days after the conclusion of the review.
NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan said Thursday the inspection had gone smoothly to that point, noting that Entergy had cooperated with staff requests. The focus of Phase A, which will be followed by Phase B in April and Phase C at an underdetermined date, was the corrective measures Entergy has taken since problems were identified in August.
“As the process moves forward, it will be expanding, particularly in Phase C, at which point the company will have submitted its performance improvement plan,” Sheehan said. “We’ll have a much better sense of it, as far as the areas we need to target.”
According to Massachusetts-based environmental group Cape Downwinders, there are several areas of concern at Pilgrim. On Sunday the group sent a letter to regulators, asking that the plant be shut down immediately, rather than the 2019 finish line Entergy has set. A failed electric switchyard, safety relief valves, corrective action plan process, fire vulnerability, cyber security, and security violations are among the issues raised in the letter.
“Entergy experienced multiple shutdowns due to mechanical failures during restarts, one even after the 2015 six week refueling and maintenance work,” the letter states. “The stress and strain on the aging reactor is putting people and our environment at risk. Our belief is there is no safe ‘shelf life’ remaining and continued operation constitutes a clear and present danger to five million people in harm’s way.”
Following an August inspection, the NRC classified the plant as “white,” which means “low to moderate safety significance,” stemming from the safety relief valve concerns. The valves are intended to reduce pressure levels inside reactor vessels after shutdown in order to help the plant cool down. The NRC found equipment failures occurred during a series of unplanned shutdowns. This designation resulted in Pilgrim moving to Column 4 of the NRC Action Matrix, which classifies the level of oversight at plants.
Sheehan said the NRC has been in regular communication with Cape Downwinders and other stakeholders. He said the issues raised in the letter are nothing new to regulators, and the inspectors went in this week fully aware of the group’s concerns. The Downwinders particularly drew attention to switchyard failures in the event of severe winter weather. A switchyard is an enclosed portion of the power system containing electrical switch gear.
“Had the situation deteriorated at Pilgrim during the (2015 Winter Storm) Juno blizzard, evacuation would have been impossible for days,” the group writes. “This is a significant deficiency in the generic Nuclear Preparedness Planning as applied to Pilgrim.”
“That’s been a problem there in recent years,” Sheehan said. “It’s led to some of these unplanned shutdowns that put the plant in this increased oversight zone, if you will. So that’s one of the areas we’ll be focusing on.”
He added that Entergy has said it will have a plan in place, where if severe weather approaches, the plant will shut down.
“That’s something they have not done in the past,” Sheehan said, adding that heaters are expected to be installed in the switchyard that would prevent severe icing that has contributed to unplanned shutdowns.
Results from Phases A and B will determine the scope of Phase C, which has yet to be scheduled.
