Press Release-III-12-035, NRC Begins Special Inspection at Palisades Nuclear Plant

Press Release-III-12-035: NRC Begins Special Inspection at Palisades Nuclear Plant

ML12228A480
Person / Time
Site:	Palisades
Issue date:	08/15/2012
From:	Office of Public Affairs Region II
To:
Category:Press Release
References
Press Release-III-12-035
Download: ML12228A480 (1)

Text

NRC NEWS U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Region III 2443 Warrenville Road Lisle IL 60532 Site: www.nrc.gov Blog: http://public-blog.nrc-gateway.gov No. III-12-035 August 15, 2012

Contact:

Viktoria Mitlyng (630) 829-9662 E-Mail: OPA3.RegionIII@nrc.gov Prema Chandrathil (630) 829-9663 NRC BEGINS SPECIAL INSPECTION AT PALISADES NUCLEAR PLANT The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has started a Special Inspection to review a leak from a control rod drive mechanism inside the containment building. The leak has not resulted in a release of radiation to the environment and is not a threat to public health and safety. The plant is in a shutdown condition and will remain so until the leak has been fixed.

The plant is operated by Entergy Nuclear Operations and is located in Covert, Mich., about 40 miles west of Kalamazoo.

The three member inspection team will begin work Wednesday and look into the circumstances surrounding the leak. They will review the utilitys monitoring of the leak and subsequent plant shutdown, verify the adequacy of radiological controls, evaluate any potential degradation, and review the plants repair actions. The team will also review the plants reporting requirements and their plan for addressing the cause of the event.

Since July, the NRC has been monitoring a gradual increase of unidentified leakage. The plant is required to be shut down when the unidentified leak rate exceeds 1 gallon per minute (gpm). At the point of shutdown, the unidentified leakage was about 0.3 gpm. On Aug. 12, the utility shutdown, entered containment and determined the leak was from an area located on one of the control rod drive mechanisms. The limit for this area is 0 gpm. The plant will need to fix the leak before returning to operation.

NRC inspectors have been and continue to closely follow the plants repair activities and corrective actions. On Monday, an additional NRC inspector, well versed in engineering repair codes, was dispatched to further observe and inspect the plants actions.

The NRCs special inspection report will be available within 45 days of the inspections completion of through the NRC RIII Office of Public Affairs or through the Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) at the NRC website.

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 website.