The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is considering civil penalties against utility Southern California Edison after determining there were several apparent and cited violations of safety requirements in an August mishap involving placement of a spent nuclear fuel canister into storage at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS).
The agency on Wednesday submitted the formal report on its special inspection to Southern California Edison, licensee and majority owner of the San Diego County nuclear power plant that was permanently retired in 2013.
Contractor Holtec International has been moving the remainder of SONGS’ spent reactor fuel from wet storage to a dry-storage pad. On Aug. 3, one canister went off-target and became hung up while being lowered into its slot; the problem was not identified and fixed for nearly an hour. The situation also created the possibility that the canister could have dropped nearly 20 feet and was not reported to the NRC for three days.
Inspectors specifically identified two “apparent violations”: Southern California’s failure to ensure there was backup equipment to prevent the canister from dropping and not reporting the mishap within the mandatory 24-hour period. Those apparent violations are being considered for escalated enforcement, Troy Pruett, director of the NRC’s Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, wrote in a Nov. 28 letter to Doug Bauder, SCE vice president and chief nuclear officer at SONGS.
An NRC spokesman said Wednesday he does not believe the agency has made any determinations on possible fines or corrective actions.
Prior to receiving the enforcement ruling on the apparent violations, SCE can request either a predecisional enforcement conference or alternative dispute resolution, Pruett said.
The NRC notice also cites Severity Level IV violations of NRC requirements. Such breaches are of least concern within the agency’s four Severity Levels and do not result in escalated enforcement. “The violations involved failures to: (1) identify conditions potentially adverse to quality for placement into your corrective actions program; (2) establish an adequate program for training, proficiency testing, and certification for individuals involved in downloading operations; and (3) provide adequate procedures for dry cask storage operations involving downloading operations,” Pruett wrote.
