Press Release-I-15-031, NRC to Hold Regulatory Conference with Entergy on July 8th Regarding Apparent Violation at Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant

Press Release-I-15-031: NRC to Hold Regulatory Conference with Entergy on July 8th Regarding Apparent Violation at Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant

ML15177A287
Person / Time
Site:	Pilgrim
Issue date:	06/26/2015
From:	Office of Public Affairs Region I
To:
Category:Press Release
References
Press Release-I-15-031
Download: ML15177A287 (1)

Text

No: I-15-031 June 26, 2015 CONTACT: Diane Screnci, 610-337-5330 E-mail: opa1.resource@nrc.gov Neil Sheehan, 610-337-5331 NRC to Hold Regulatory Conference with Entergy on July 8th Regarding Apparent Violation at Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will conduct a Regulatory Conference with Entergy on July 8th to discuss an apparent violation at the Pilgrim nuclear power plant. The issue involves safety relief valves at the Plymouth, Mass., facility and has been preliminarily classified as white, or of low to moderate safety significance.

The meeting is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. at the NRCs Region I Office, at 2100 Renaissance Blvd. in King of Prussia, Pa. Directions to the office are available on the NRCs website. It will be open to the public, with an opportunity for those in attendance to ask questions of the NRC staff following the completion of the discussion with the company.

Those who cannot attend the meeting in person will be able to listen to the session via teleconference and view the slides online. Registration for those services is available via this link. More information about the meeting is available in the notice pertaining to it.

The apparent violation to be discussed stems from a Special Inspection performed by the NRC at Pilgrim following a winter storm-induced shutdown in January. One of the complications during the shutdown involved the use of safety relief valves. Attempts to open one of the plants safety relief valves were unsuccessful. NRC inspectors determined that Entergy, the plants owner and operator, could have prevented the issue by identifying, evaluating and correcting a condition involving the safety relief valves after a plant shutdown on Feb. 9, 2013.

If requested by a plants owner, a Regulatory Conference is held to discuss an inspection finding and its safety significance, as well as to allow the company an opportunity to clarify any issues raised in the inspection report. No decision will be made at the conference regarding the apparent violation or any enforcement action. Those decisions will be made by NRC officials at a later time.