The Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts could in March receive an improved safety rating from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, just a couple months before its scheduled permanent closure.
The Entergy boiling-water reactor plant on Cape Cod has since 2015 been in Column 4 of the NRC’s Action Matrix, the lowest rank under which a nuclear power facility can remain operational. That followed a series of safety issues and unplanned shutdowns dating to 2013.
Entergy has since been working through a recovery plan certified in an Aug. 2, 2017, confirmatory action letter (CAL) from the regulator to the New Orleans-based power company. Agency officials last month wrapped up the last of five inspections to confirm Pilgrim had met its commitments as laid out in the CAL – this one covering 40 specific items in the areas of nuclear safety culture and procedure use and adherence. They also studied overall performance at Pilgrim to confirm the action plans had the intended safety results.
The NRC inspectors were satisfied with their findings and closed those 40 items, Anthony Dimitriadis, chief of Reactor Projects Branch 5 in the Division of Reactor Projects, wrote in a Jan. 23 letter to Brian Sullivan, Entergy site vice president at Pilgrim. The regulator has in five inspections determined Pilgrim has addressed the 156 actions in 11 areas laid out in the CAL.
“The NRC staff is currently evaluating the sustainability of the Pilgrim Recovery Plan through baseline inspection samples and performance indicator results to determine whether sustained improvement has been demonstrated that warrants closure of the CAL and the plant transitioning out of Column 4,” spokesman Neil Sheehan said by email Monday. It will submit its final determination to Entergy in March.
Entergy plans to close Pilgrim by June 1. It has applied to the NRC to transfer the plant’s operations and spent fuel storage licenses to energy technology company Holtec International, which would assume all responsibility for decommissioning.
