Press Release-I-09-045, NRC to Increase Oversight at Ginna Nuclear Power Plant

Press Release-I-09-045: NRC to Increase Oversight at Ginna Nuclear Power Plant

ML093160765
Person / Time
Site:	Ginna
Issue date:	11/12/2009
From:	Office of Public Affairs Region I
To:
Category:Press Release
References
Press Release-I-09-045
Download: ML093160765 (1)

Text

NRC NEWS U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs, Region I 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pa. 19406 Site: http://www.nrc.gov No. I-09-045 November 12, 2009

Contact:

Diane Screnci, 610/337-5330 E-mail: opa1@nrc.gov Neil Sheehan, 610/337-5331 NRC TO INCREASE OVERSIGHT AT GINNA NUCLEAR POWER PLANT The R.E. Ginna nuclear power plant will receive additional oversight from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission based on NRC inspection findings involving the performance of the turbine-driven auxiliary feedwater pump. Ginna is operated by Constellation Energy, LLC, and located in Ontario, N.Y.

The auxiliary feedwater system is a back-up system that, in the event of an accident, is one of multiple methods designed to remove heat from the reactor when it is shut down.

In an inspection report issued today, an NRC Special Inspection Team sent to the plant to look into multiple failures of the turbine driven auxiliary feedwater pump found that Ginna had identified corrosion of a pump component in 2005, but did not take adequate corrective action to prevent the recurrence of corrosion. This finding was assessed as white, or of low to moderate safety significance. Taken together with a white finding for a Dec. 2008 pump problem, the plant moved into the degraded cornerstone column of the NRCs Action Matrix which calls for the plant to have a supplemental NRC inspection.

Overall, Ginna continues to operate safely. However, these findings represent performance issues and a trend that needs to be understood and addressed, said NRC Region I Administrator Samuel J. Collins. The additional oversight inspection by NRC is warranted based on the repeated failures of this important plant component.

The additional NRC inspection will provide assurance that the root causes and causes of the performance issues are understood, the extent of condition is identified and the corrective actions are sufficient to prevent recurrence. The timing of that inspection has not been determined.

The inspection report will be available shortly on the NRC Web site at:

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/listofrpts_body.html.

News releases are available through a free listserv subscription at the following Web address:

http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/listserver.html. The NRC homepage at www.nrc.gov also offers a SUBSCRIBE link. E-mail notifications are sent to subscribers when news releases are posted to NRC's Web site.