The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is tentatively scheduled to conclude its special inspection of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station on March 21 with a public meeting in Massachusetts, NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan said Tuesday.
An NRC report will be due 45 days after that date to detail findings of the inspection at the 44-year-old facility, which is due to close in 2019. The special inspection stems from the 2015 NRC downgrade of the plant to Column 4 of the agency’s Action Matrix, the lowest safety rating for an operating nuclear plant.
Sheehan also noted that Pilgrim operator Entergy on Monday identified a leakage issue involving the plant’s condenser system. He said there are no immediate safety concerns, and it’s an operational issue that “almost every plant experiences” over time. The nuclear facility, which has experienced several unplanned shutdowns and operational issues dating to 2013, was reduced to 28 percent power on Tuesday, allowing Entergy to isolate the issue.
“Pilgrim has been operating at 30% power since Monday night when a small seawater leak was identified in one condenser tube and subsequently repaired,” spokesman Patrick O’Brien said by email Thursday. “Pilgrim proactively decided to plug additional tubes to prevent this type of issue in the future. This work will continue while the plant is offline. A date and time of when Pilgrim will return to 100% power is considered business sensitive and we do not disclose that information.”
As Sheehan explained, nuclear fuel heats water inside the reactor vessel, which converts the water to steam, which fuels the turbine and generates electricity. The remaining steam flows into the condenser, which is below the turbine. The condenser cools the steam, condenses it into water, and pumps the liquid back into the reactor vessel, restarting the process. Entergy on Monday identified increased levels of chlorides, or salts, in plant’s condenser tubes.
Sheehan said the most recent operational issue does not impact the agency’s inspection timeline, as NRC officials have already completed their three-week on-site assessment. This is the third and potentially final special inspection related to the 2015 downgrade. At the onset in November, the special inspection was expected to wrap up in January.
Entergy on Thursday pre-emptively shut own Pilgrim’s reactor ahead of a winter storm, based on National Weather Service forecasts.
NRC Launches ‘Click With Care’ Campaign After Pilgrim Leak
The NRC has launched a “Click With Care” campaign, after an inadvertent email leak revealed candid details of the special inspection at Pilgrim and caused a public uproar in Massachusetts.
“Many of us are aware of the impact of erroneously sending an email to the wrong person,” NRC Chief Information Officer David Nelson wrote in an internal email Tuesday. “Recently, this has been a topic of concern throughout the NRC as the repercussions can result in the loss of sensitive information or harm to the NRC’s reputation.” Nelson’s email to NRC staff includes tips for preventing future such incidents, including activating warning indicators in Microsoft Outlook that potential email recipients are external to the NRC.
The controversial 2,300-word email, written by NRC Pilgrim inspection team leader Don Jackson, was mistakenly forwarded by a Region I project engineer to Diane Turco, president of the Cape Downwinders, a group of residents from Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket who have long called for Pilgrim’s immediate closure. Jackson’s message detailed a long list of observations at the plant, including concerns about Entergy’s safety culture.
At the request of a host of officials from the state, NRC staff held a public meeting in Plymouth on Jan. 31, fielding calls from some 300 people for the facility to be closed.
“We will be sharing more tips through a variety of channels over the next several months, and we hope to see you and your teams at our upcoming cybersecurity events,” Nelson wrote.
