The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s inspector general pushed back this week on claims by agency staff that the internal watchdog bent the facts in its review of the commission’s response to a 2020 safety issue at a California nuclear power plant, new documents show.
NRC staff’s May 3 claim — that the inspector general took statements from senior agency officials out of context while it was investigating inspection procedures at Diablo Canyon Power Plant — is “simply false,” the IG’s office wrote in a letter to chairman Christopher Hanson dated Wednesday.
“We can assure you we did not take these statements out of context, because the statements were recorded, professionally transcribed, and given under oath,” the letter said. IG staff also “thoroughly review” statements given under oath to ensure that they are characterized appropriately.
The IG’s office also took issue Wednesday with other claims made by NRC staff that the investigator was playing fast and loose with the facts, including an allegation that the IG review didn’t accurately represent a timeline of events.
Commission staff’s May 3 letter took aim at a March report from the inspector general alleging that a 2020 feedwater pipe leak at Diablo Canyon went undetected due to improper inspection procedures.
NRC said that there was no way evidence of such an issue “should have been reasonably identified by NRC inspectors before the leak occurred.” A staff review concluded that inspection procedures at the plant “met management’s expectations” and that COVID-19 guidance had been followed appropriately.
“Like all OIGs, we do not have a stake in whether the results of our investigations reflect well or poorly upon the agency,” the IG said Wednesday. “Our responsibility is simply to report what we find without fear or favor, without bias, and with objectivity, and we do so with a highly trained and conscientious staff.”
Meanwhile, the San Luis Obispo, Calif., Diablo Canyon is preparing to shut down in the coming years. Operator PG&E is making initial preparations to take the plant’s two reactors offline in 2024 and 2025, respectively. The utility in April selected Orano USA to handle the site’s spent fuel inventory after it shuts down.
