Entergy’s Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts will remain in Column 4 of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Action Matrix, the regulator said last week in its annual assessment of the beleaguered plant.
“While the plant remains in Column 4, the NRC will continuously assess Pilgrim’s performance to evaluate the need for additional regulatory action up to and including moving the plant to the Unacceptable Performance Column (Column 5), and issuing a shutdown order,” NRC Region I Administrator Dan Dorman wrote in a letter to the utility. “To date our inspection and assessment have determined that Pilgrim continues to operate safely, and at this time additional regulatory action beyond Column 4 is not required.”
The 44-year-old Massachusetts facility has experienced a series of operational failures and unplanned shutdowns dating to 2013, and is scheduled for closure in 2019. The NRC in 2015 downgraded the facility to Category 4, which is the lowest safety rating for an operating nuclear reactor. The regulator is preparing results from a third and final special inspection related to the 2015 downgrade.
The agency is scheduled to conclude its special inspection at Pilgrim on March 21 with a public meeting in Massachusetts. As required by NRC rules, the regulator has 45 days after that date to release the findings from its inspection.
According to Dorman’s letter, the special inspection report is due sometime this spring, at which point the NRC will hold a public exit meeting. Public backlash erupted in December during the special inspection, when an NRC employee inadvertently forwarded an email with candid details on the review to the anti-Pilgrim group Cape Downwinders. The email, written by NRC Pilgrim inspection team leader Don Jackson, revealed a long list of observations at the plant, including concerns about Entergy’s safety culture. The NRC, at the request of several local and state officials, held a public meeting in Plymouth on Jan. 31, explaining that the inspection details were preliminary. There, regulators fielded calls from some 300 people that the plant be shut down immediately.
Dorman explained in the most recent letter that the results of the special inspection will dictate the NRC’s confirmatory action letter, which will outline how the agency will deal with the plant and could include additional regulatory action. The letter will also document Entergy’s commitments to improving plant performance. NRC senior management will continue to conduct standard quarterly inspections at Pilgrim to assess improvement activity and to determine whether additional action is required, Dorman wrote.
Pilgrim experienced two unexpected shutdowns this fall and winter. The plant was taken offline for two weeks in September, when Entergy reported complications with a fluctuating feedwater regulating valve. The plant was shut down again in December, when the utility identified steam leaks on three main steam isolation valves.
