NRC criticizes area nuclear plant

STEVE MOCARSKY

smocarsky@timesleader.com

SALEM TWP. – The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has found that internal flooding, a manual reactor shutdown and the loss of the plant’s normal heat sink at the PPL Susquehanna nuclear power plant in July was the result of inadequate maintenance and operating procedures.

The NRC this week released a 51-page inspection report containing a preliminary “white” finding as a result of the incident. The NRC uses a color-coded system to classify inspection findings, with the colors starting at “green,” or very low safety significance, and then increasing to “white,” “yellow” or “red,” commensurate with their significance.

NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan said one of the maintenance procedures at the plant contained inadequate installation instructions for a condenser waterbox gasket, which led to the event.

The NRC also found that the response of operators to the event was complicated and delayed by two inadequate “off-normal” procedures.

One off-normal procedure contained an incorrect diagram that operators used to identify and isolate the leak; the other lacked specific instructions to isolate a leak associated with the condenser waterboxes, Sheehan said.

If the NRC’s finding is finalized as a “white,” Susquehanna will receive additional NRC oversight.

The purpose of the scrutiny, Sheehan said, will be to ensure that PPL has put in place corrective actions and that those actions are thorough and sufficient.

PPL has been given 30 days to request a regulatory conference with the NRC on the finding.

A conference would give the company an opportunity to present its perspective on the facts and assumptions the NRC used to arrive at the finding and assess its significance. If the company does not choose to take part in a Regulatory Conference, it can provide a reply in writing, Sheehan said.