The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is tentatively scheduled to conclude its special inspection of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station on March 21 with a public meeting in Massachusetts, NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan said Tuesday.
An NRC report will be due 45 days after that date to detail inspection findings at the 44-year-old facility, which is due to close in 2019. The special inspection stems from the 2015 NRC downgrade of the plant to Column 4 of the agency’s Action Matrix, the lowest safety rating for an operating nuclear plant.
Sheehan also noted that Pilgrim operator Entergy on Monday identified a leakage issue involving the plant’s condenser system. He said there are no immediate safety concerns, and it’s an operational issue that “almost every plant experiences” over time. The nuclear facility, which has experienced several unplanned shutdowns and operational issues dating to 2013, was reduced to 28 percent power on Tuesday, allowing Entergy to isolate the issue.
As Sheehan explained, nuclear fuel heats water inside the reactor vessel, which converts the water to steam, which fuels the turbine and generates electricity. The remaining steam flows into the condenser, which is below the turbine. The condenser cools the steam, condenses it into water, and pumps it back into the reactor vessel, restarting the process. Entergy on Monday identified increased levels of chlorides, or salts, in plant’s condenser tubes.
Sheehan said the most recent operational issue does not impact the agency’s inspection timeline, as NRC officials have already completed their three-week on-site assessment. This is the third and potentially final special inspection related to NRC’s 2015 downgrade at the plant. At the onset in November, the special inspection was expected to wrap up in January.
