Pilgrim Nuclear FAILS again!
‘Fundamentals’ continue to challenge Pilgrim performance
By Christine LegerePosted Dec 26, 2017
PLYMOUTH — While federal inspectors say operators at Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station are “generally effective” in identifying, evaluating and resolving problems, they note “longstanding issues” remain when it comes to the staff’s ability to determine whether equipment and systems will function as designed.
And inspectors add that fundamentals of operational procedure continue “to challenge performance at the site.”
The inspection report released late last week provides results of a review of Pilgrim’s ability to identify and resolve problems, conducted in late September by two regional inspectors from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and three NRC resident inspectors at Pilgrim.
The group looked at past violations identified at Pilgrim since the last such inspection, which concluded in August 2015, to determine how operators had addressed the deficiencies.
The team found four violations during the inspection.
The infractions were classified as more than minor because, if left uncorrected, they had the potential to lead to a more serious safety concern.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission categorized them as “green,” or of low safety significance, since they did not lead to a major incident.
“The team recognized Pilgrim has received a large number of non-cited violations since the last problem identification and resolution inspection,” noted federal inspectors. “This volume has created a challenge for Entergy staff to ensure issues are fully evaluated and appropriate corrective actions developed.”
Addressing shortcomings has been made even more difficult by deficiencies in the plant’s daily reports, known as “condition reports,” which have failed to include enough detail to evaluate underlying issues so problems can be adequately addressed, inspectors wrote.
“Every plant has a system to compile daily reports, which managers then use to resolve issues,” said NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan. “In order for that to happen, the reports need to be fleshed out and well-articulated.”
In an email, Entergy spokesman Jerry Nappi pointed out that the NRC had found plant operators had been generally effective in identifying, evaluating and resolving problems.
“The four non-cited violations that were found, though of very low safety significance, have been addressed and added into our corrective action program,” Nappi wrote. “Pilgrim takes all inspection reports very seriously and is committed to our goal of safe and secure operations through our shutdown date of June 1, 2019.”
One of the four violations was related to a failure by Pilgrim operators in March to follow procedure, and a subsequent failure by plant management to address the deficiency.
Workers had incorrectly realigned some valves as they flushed piping of the reactor’s cooling system, causing 55,000 gallons of water to gush from a massive storage tank into the reservoir at the base of the reactor known as the torus.
The torus plays a role in depressurizing and cooling down the reactor in a severe accident. It took about four hours to normalize the water level.
In September, inspectors found Entergy Corp., the plant’s owner and operator, had identified the deficiency in procedure following the event but did not revise instructions to address the problem.
Inspectors also issued a violation for the plant’s lack of sufficient detail in its condition reports. As an example, inspectors cited a report on an electrical fire in a lighting fixture near the outdoor spent fuel storage pad. Details not included in the condition report were how long the fire had burned, that it took more than 40 minutes to locate the breaker and de-energize the lighting fixture, and that the fire was not considered out until the power to the light was shut down, inspectors wrote. Those details would have been needed by management when determining the cause of the incident.
The third violation was for failure to properly identify and correct a problem with parts on the saltwater service pumps, after the pumps had previously failed. Two pumps failed again during 2017.
The pumps draw millions of gallons of seawater from Cape Cod Bay into the plant to cool the reactor’s emergency and safety-related systems.
The final violation was related to failure of a 125-volt current control power to one of two emergency diesel generators, which automatically start when offsite power is lost. The issue with the control power to the generator first arose in 2012. Sheehan said there had been numerous opportunities for plant operators to determine the cause of the problem and fix it, but “the associated work order directing the troubleshooting was cancelled, and the troubleshooting was not completed.”
A local Pilgrim opponent expressed frustration at ongoing plant problems and the lack of disciplinary action from federal regulators.
“Continued weakness in operator fundamentals? Fires? Repetitive safety violations? I am just about out of words to express my outrage at the level of danger the NRC allows in order to keep Pilgrim running,” wrote Diane Turco, Harwich resident and president of the Cape Downwinders. “Apparently documenting problems are the end game while we live with the unacceptable risk.”
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