The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has scheduled a regulatory conference for Thursday, July 13, to discuss a preliminary “Greater than Green” safety finding at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts.
Plant operator Entergy requested the meeting to provide its perspective on the finding, which involves its apparent failure to monitor or maintain a valve installed in 2000 on a fan for an emergency diesel generator. The valve failed last year, taking the generator out of service for longer than the 14 days allowed by the NRC.
The incident was the only safety issue to rate a preliminary Greater than Green — more than very low safety significance — determination following a special NRC inspection that ended earlier this year at Pilgrim. The inspection resulted from a series of unplanned shutdowns and other incidents at the 45-year-old Cape Cod facility that landed it on Column 4 of the regulator’s Action Matrix — the lowest possible safety rating for an operational nuclear facility.
Participants at the meeting will discuss whether the apparent breach of NRC rules should result in an enforcement action, according to the conference notice.
The meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the NRC’s Region I office, 2100 Renaissance Blvd., Suite 100, in King of Prussia, Pa. It is open to the public. Participants will include Region I Administrator Daniel Dorman, the director of several NRC offices, and a number of Entergy executives and managers.
The Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station is scheduled to close in 2019.
