The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Wednesday issued a confirmatory action letter laying out the operational corrections power provider Entergy has pledged to make at its Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts.
The nuclear industry regulator in 2015 placed Pilgrim in Column 4 of its Action Matrix, the lowest safety rating for an operating nuclear reactor, following a series of operational failures and unplanned shutdowns dating to 2013.
That led to a special NRC inspection that wrapped up earlier this year. Entergy updated its recovery plan for Pilgrim based on the agency’s findings, NRC Region I Administrator Daniel Dorman wrote in an Aug. 2 letter to Brian Sullivan, site vice president for Entergy Nuclear Operations.
“The NRC reviewed the revised PNPS Recovery Plan and determined that effective implementation of the plan would satisfactorily address the fundamental problem areas that led to the transition of Pilgrim to Column 4 in a manner that should lead to sustained perfomance improvement,” Dorman wrote.
The NRC will conduct quarterly follow-up inspections to ensure Entergy is carrying through on its commitments, according to an agency press release.
Entergy has pledged to implement action plans in seven recovery areas: nuclear safety culture, corrective action program, human performance, operations standards and site leadership, procedure quality, safety relief valve white finding, and engineering programs and equipment performance.
The Pilgrim facility is scheduled to close in 2019 after more than four decades in operation.
The company is required to notify the regulator in writing when all measures cited in the confirmatory action letter are completed. A written alert is also mandatory if Entergy intends to make changes to the program or go off-schedule. The NRC retains the authority to issue additional orders or enforcement measures for any breaches of agency rules identified in future inspections, the press release says.
