PLYMOUTH – The Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station is one step closer to returning to a normal level of Nuclear Regulatory Commission oversight before its May 31 shutdown.
The NRC completed its fifth and final Confirmatory Action Letter quarterly inspection in December and found no safety findings or violations that were classified as more than minor.
The inspection report also indicated that the plant has taken the proper actions to address the final 40 safety deficiencies of the 156 outlined in the 2017 Confirmatory Action Letter.
The plant was placed under Column 4 – the highest level of NRC oversight – in 2015 after several safety violations and unplanned shutdowns.
“We are now convinced that they have addressed those areas and we did this based on some fairly intensive work including interviews that involved more than 130 staffers at the plant,” said Neil Sheehan, an NRC spokesman.
For the fifth quarterly inspection, a five-member team reviewed the adequacy of the actions completed by Entergy, the plants owner, as part of the station’s Nuclear Safety Culture Area Action Plan.
“In other words, if a problem arises at the plant, will it get the attention it deserves in a timely manner?” Sheehan said.
The team evaluated additional actions taken by Entergy to address problems identified during a previous inspection involving the company’s actions that were intended to improve the use and adherence to procedures. The team also assessed whether the completed actions for the area action plans achieved the performance improvement objectives detailed in the Pilgrim Recovery Plan.
Pilgrim Spokesman Patrick O’Brien said the plant is pleased with the outcome of the final inspection.
“Our goal has always been to finish strong with our planned shutdown in May,” O’Brien said.
“This is a goal that the station has been working to. It’s a lot of hard work that has gone into this by the men and women at Pilgrim.”
O’Brien said it was a full focus and a commitment to change the culture at the plant.
“Our little tagline is that we want to leave a legacy of excellence and that is our goal,” O’Brien said.
“We really try to live that every day with that focus on safety.”
Sheehan said the next steps for the NRC will be to continue to look at the way Entergy is implementing the safety improvements through normal inspections.
The NRC will be conducting annual assessment reviews for all plants around the country.
“In the course of looking at Pilgrim we’ll make a decision on whether or not the plant now qualifies to move out of Column 4 of our action matrix and move back to a more normal level of oversight, which would be Column 1.”
The results of the annual assessment review and a decision on if the plant qualifies to transition to a more normal level of oversight are expected to be released sometime in March.
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