Press Release-II-10-008, NRC Schedules Public Meeting to Discuss Nfs Inspection Results

Press Release-II-10-008: NRC Schedules Public Meeting to Discuss Nfs Inspection Results

ML100539656
Person / Time
Site:	Farley
Issue date:	02/22/2010
From:	Office of Public Affairs Region II
To:
Category:Press Release
References
Press Release-II-10-008
Download: ML100539656 (1)

Text

NRC NEWS U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs, Region II 61 Forsyth Street SW, Atlanta GA 30303 Web Site: www.nrc.gov No. II-10-008 February 22, 2010 CONTACT: Roger Hannah (404) 562-4417 E-mail: OPA2@nrc.gov Joey Ledford (404) 562-4416 NRC SENDS SPECIAL INSPECTION TEAM TO FARLEY NUCLEAR POWER PLANT The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has dispatched a Special Inspection Team to the Farley nuclear power plant to review the circumstances surrounding the failure of a pump which provides cooling water to several safety systems on Unit 2. The Farley plant is operated by Southern Nuclear Operating Company about 18 miles south of Dothan, Ala.

On Aug. 15, 2009, plant employees were testing the service water pump, one of five on each unit, when they noticed a noise and stopped the test. After the pump was stopped, the workers discovered the pumps shaft had seized. The pump was subsequently dismantled and sent off site for an extensive analysis over the past several months. Based on that analysis, Southern Nuclear determined the failure was associated with a coating on the pump shaft applied during the manufacturing process. Five of the plants 10 pumps, including the one that failed, were part of an upgrade and there is the potential for the same condition on the other four pumps.

After reviewing the plants analysis and determining that there are possible generic implications, the NRC staff decided a special inspection was the appropriate course of action.

The inspection will begin Tuesday, Feb. 23, and the two NRC inspectors will identify the circumstances surrounding the pump failure, review the companys actions in response and evaluate the operability of the other service water pumps.

The NRC inspectors will issue a publicly available report within 45 days of the inspections completion.

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.