Massachusetts state lawmakers on Tuesday joined local protesters in calling on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to immediately shut down Entergy’s troubled Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station.
Despite the appeal Tuesday night during a public meeting in Plymouth, the NRC maintained that the 45-year-old plant, which has undergone a series of operational failures and unplanned shutdowns dating to 2013, is operating safely.
“We said at the meeting and elsewhere that there are no immediate safety concerns that would justify such an action,” NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan said by email Thursday. “Safety margins at the plant are being maintained and we’ve determined the plant’s operators are well trained and capable of dealing with any problems that might emerge.”
The event served as the NRC’s annual assessment of the plant, as well as an exit meeting for a recently completed special inspection at Pilgrim. The special inspection stemmed from the facility’s safety downgrade in 2015 to Column 4 of the NRC’s Action Matrix, which is the lowest rating for an operating nuclear reactor. The plant is scheduled to close in 2019.
During the meeting, NRC staff discussed 13 deficiencies identified by the regulator and Entergy during the special inspection period, issues the agency said were “consistent with a plant in Column 4.” These included failure to conduct preventive maintenance on 18 components, the failure of a feedwater regulating valve last September, and the site’s safety culture, according to its presentation. While the inspectors noted “some improvement,” they indicated the plant should remain under enhanced NRC oversight. Their final report should be issued within 45 days of the meeting, but the findings are considered preliminary until NRC senior managers approve the document.
Agency staff, in their presentation at the meeting, also said they had made 23 inspection findings during the standard annual review.
The Massachusetts state lawmakers in a letter to the NRC, drew attention to issues with Entergy’s safety culture, quoting the NRC presentation materials on the matter: “Pilgrim leaders have not held themselves and their subordinates accountable to high standards of performance.”
“At best, they displayed incompetence, having no idea how to change their corporate culture for the better,” the letter reads. “At worst, they were just extending their ‘middle finger’ to you the NRC, to the surrounding Plymouth community, and to all who are potentially affected by their poor operating standards.”
The NRC on Tuesday said Entergy’s actions to improve performance by mentoring station leadership requires additional focus. It added that there’s also room for improvement in operability determinations, compliance with technical specifications, benchmarking, and group accountability.
Sheehan noted that of the deficiencies identified during the special inspection, only one was classified as potentially “greater than green.” If finalized as greater than green, that deficiency, which involved one of the plant’s emergency diesel generators, will result in additional NRC oversight, according to Sheehan.
Lawmakers signing the letter were Reps. William Crocker (R), Daniel J. Hunt (D), John V. Fernades (D), Sarah K. Peake (D), David T. Vieira (R), Timothy R. Whelan (R), James M. Cantwell (D), and Sen. Julian Cyr (D).
Cape Downwinders — a group of residents from Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket who have long protested operation of the beleaguered plant – on Monday called on state officials to demand that the regulator revoke Entergy’s operating license.
“Governor (Charlie) Baker, as the state chief public safety officer, must acknowledge the NRC will not protect citizens from an accident because Entergy’s bottom line is their priority,” Cape Downwinders President Diane Turco said in a statement ahead of the hearing. “Our elected officials must stand up and speak out for public safety and demand the NRC do their job and close Pilgrim NOW.”
