IR 05000397/2025013
| ML25252A208 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Columbia  |
| Issue date: | 09/15/2025 |
| From: | Patricia Vossmar NRC/RGN-IV/DORS/PBA |
| To: | Schuetz R Energy Northwest |
| Bywater R | |
| References | |
| IR 2025013 | |
| Download: ML25252A208 (1) | |
Text
September 15, 2025
SUBJECT:
COLUMBIA GENERATING STATION - SAFETY CONSCIOUS WORK ENVIRONMENT ISSUE OF CONCERN FOLLOWUP INSPECTION REPORT 05000397/2025013
Dear Robert Schuetz:
On August 6, 2025, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) completed an inspection at Columbia Generating Station and discussed the results of this inspection with you and other members of your staff. The results of this inspection are documented in the enclosed report.
In our July 10, 2024, letter forwarding NRC Inspection Report 05000397/2024012 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System [ADAMS] Accession No. ML24173A224), we informed you the NRC would continue to monitor safety conscious work environment (SCWE)
conditions in the operations department and perform an additional inspection using Inspection Procedure 93100, Safety Conscious Work Environment Issue of Concern Follow-up. Based on this inspection, the NRC determined that personnel in the operations department felt free to raise nuclear safety concerns, and that a chilled work environment no longer existed. This inspection report documents our conclusion that the NRC can resume monitoring SCWE conditions in the operations department through normal implementation of the Reactor Oversight Process.
No findings or violations of more than minor significance were identified during this inspection. This letter, its enclosure, and your response (if any) will be made available for public inspection and copying at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html and at the NRC Public Document Room in accordance with Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations 2.390, Public Inspections, Exemptions, Requests for Withholding.
Sincerely, Patricia J. Vossmar, Chief Reactor Projects Branch A Division of Operating Reactor Safety Docket No. 05000397 License No. NPF-21
Enclosure:
As stated
Inspection Report
Docket Number:
05000397
License Number:
Report Number:
Enterprise Identifier:
I-2025-013-0002
Licensee:
Energy Northwest
Facility:
Columbia Generating Station
Location:
Richland, WA
Inspection Dates:
August 4, 2025, to August 6, 2025
Inspectors:
C. Highley, Senior Resident Inspector
M. Keefe-Forsyth, Safety Culture Program Manager
D. Willis, Team Leader
Approved By:
Patricia J. Vossmar, Chief
Reactor Projects Branch A
Division of Operating Reactor Safety
SUMMARY
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) continued monitoring the licensees performance by conducting a SCWE Issue of Concern Follow-up Inspection at Columbia Generating Station, in accordance with the Reactor Oversight Process. The Reactor Oversight Process is the NRCs program for overseeing the safe operation of commercial nuclear power reactors. Refer to https://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/oversight.html for more information.
List of Findings and Violations
No findings or violations of more than minor significance were identified.
Additional Tracking Items
None.
INSPECTION SCOPES
Inspections were conducted using the appropriate portions of the inspection procedures (IPs) in effect at the beginning of the inspection unless otherwise noted. Currently approved IPs with their attached revision histories are located on the public website at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/insp-manual/inspection-procedure/index.html. Samples were declared complete when the IP requirements most appropriate to the inspection activity were met consistent with Inspection Manual Chapter (IMC) 2515, Light-Water Reactor Inspection Program - Operations Phase. The inspectors reviewed selected procedures and records, observed activities, and interviewed personnel to assess licensee performance and compliance with Commission rules and regulations, license conditions, site procedures, and standards.
OTHER ACTIVITIES
- TEMPORARY INSTRUCTIONS, INFREQUENT AND ABNORMAL
93100 - Safety Conscious Work Environment Issue of Concern Follow up Safety Conscious Work Environment Issue of Concern Follow up
- (1) This inspection was a follow-up to the IP 93100 inspection (ML24173A224) that was performed from May 6 to June 4, 2024, which monitored the licensees progress to address the chilled work environment in the operations department that was observed in the September 2023 biannual problem identification and resolution team inspection (ML23310A103).
The NRC Final Safety Culture Policy Statement applies to all NRC licensees, applicants, and vendors. The NRCs expectation is that all licensees maintain a healthy safety culture. The policy statement discusses nine traits of a healthy safety culture to include environment for raising concerns, leadership safety values and actions, and effective safety communications.
In addition, the Commission's policy statement, "Freedom of Employees in the Nuclear Industry to Raise Safety Concerns Without Fear of Retaliation,"
(61 FR 24336; May 14, 1996) describes a SCWE as a work environment in which employees feel free to raise safety concerns, both to their management and to the NRC, without fear of retaliation.
During the inspection, the team conducted focus groups and interviewed over 40 personnel in the organizations of radiation protection, chemistry, engineering, and operations; and interviewed managers including the Employee Concerns Program (ECP) manager.
The inspection team reviewed the Operations Recovery Plan and its associated corrective actions, minutes from Nuclear Safety Culture Monitoring Panel meetings, the Columbia Generating Station 2024 Nuclear Safety Culture Assessment, and the Corporate Nuclear Safety Review Board (CNSRB) Meeting Report 24-02 dated July 22,
INSPECTION RESULTS
Assessment 93100 Overall Assessment of SCWE Overall, the team did not identify any significant issues with the work environment in the departments of operations, radiation protection, engineering, and chemistry. All employees stated that they would raise nuclear safety issues without fear of retaliation. In addition, all staff interviewed stated that they would use the ECP as an avenue for raising concerns.
Regarding the operations department, the NRC concluded that a chilled work environment no longer existed. However, the team provided several observations during their assessment to the licensee and these observations are described below. The team noted that the ECP program manager has made a concerted effort in the past several years to enhance the effectiveness of the program. This included adding programmatic elements into the ECP procedure and developing a playbook and guidance for how to run the ECP program.
Personnel at the station shared very positive feedback with the team regarding the manager and the program overall.
The team did hear consistent concerns throughout the site about staff proficiency, because many of the employees and contractors lacked previous experience at a nuclear plant or had been on shift for a short time. However, the team also heard that newer staff were allowed the time to plan and execute activities without significant time pressure. The team observed that Columbia leadership should continue to ensure that future work evolutions are allowed sufficient planning and training time as activities may not be able to be completed as quickly as they were in the past with more experienced staff.
Willingness to Raise Safety or Regulatory Issues The NRC determined that personnel in the operations department felt free to raise nuclear safety concerns and that a chilled work environment no longer existed. However, while the NRC determined that the operations personnel were willing to raise concerns, some of the underlying root cases of the previous issues still existed within the department. Specifically, the NRC heard that some personnel issues were still impacting morale and the efforts to communicate the reasons and resolution of issues have not always been effective. The team observed that sustained improvement of the work environment will rely on senior management continuing to communicate with staff the reasons that decisions are made, including personnel decisions.
The team heard perceptions from operations that they believed that the management team closed all actions related to the chilled environment and were not continuing any corrective actions even though the underlying root causes of the issues still existed within the department. The team heard that personnel were concerned about the sustainability of the action items and the changes theyve seen.
While operations personnel perceived that there were no continuing corrective actions, the team determined that the licensees corrective actions to address the underlying causes remained in progress. The team noted that the station had developed and was implementing many positive actions that were not always being recognized at the worker level because they were not being communicated in a manner that connected these activities with the identified challenges and corrective actions. The team observed that this was a missed opportunity for the station to highlight achievements and work completion that would demonstrate to staff that they were being heard, and their issues were being prioritized. As a result, the NRC determined that there still seemed to be a gap in communications between the staff and senior managers in multiple departments. The team observed that continued improvement in communication and advertising these wins may result in higher trust and sustained culture. In addition, staff stated to the team that there was a lack of management visibility in the field. The team observed that this represented another missed opportunity for managers to communicate and build trust with their staff.
The team also found that while several actions to address underlying causes continued, the actions formally tracked in the SCWE Recovery Plan had all been closed shortly after the NRC completed the July 2024 IP 93100 inspection. The team noted that the station did not appear to add any additional actions to address NRC observations from that 2024 inspection, or conclusions from the corporate nuclear safety review board (CNSRB) report. In addition, the team could not identify where the ongoing sustainable corrective actions were documented and tracked. The team provided this observation and discovered that the licensee had identified the same concerns during a self-assessment in the weeks leading up to this NRC inspection. As a result, the licensee had opened Corrective Action AR 00473523 to reevaluate the actions in the Recovery Plan designated as supporting sustainability to ensure they would not be inadvertently eliminated from station programs and processes in the future.
Based on the inspection, the NRC determined that personnel in the operations department felt free to raise nuclear safety concerns, and that a chilled work environment no longer existed. As a result, the team concluded that an additional IP 93100 inspection is not required at this time. The NRC will continue to monitor the SCWE within operations at Columbia through the normal ROP processes.
EXIT MEETINGS AND DEBRIEFS
The inspectors verified no proprietary information was retained or documented in this report.
- On August 6, 2025, the inspectors presented the Safety Conscious Work Environment Issue of Concern Follow up Inspection results to Robert Schuetz, Chief Executive Officer, and other members of the licensee staff.
DOCUMENTS REVIEWED
Inspection
Procedure
Type
Designation
Description or Title
Revision or
Date
AR 00450673-09
Columbia Generating Station
93100
Corrective Action
Documents
Operations Recovery Plan
05/30/2025