Press Release-III-15-008, NRC Schedules Public Meeting Apr. 9 to Discuss Performance of Palisades Nuclear Power Station

Press Release-III-15-008: NRC Schedules Public Meeting Apr. 9 to Discuss Performance of Palisades Nuclear Power Station

ML15093A399
Person / Time
Site:	Palisades
Issue date:	04/03/2015
From:	Office of Public Affairs Region II
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Category:Press Release
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Press Release-III-15-008
Download: ML15093A399 (2)

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No: III-15-008 April 3, 2015 CONTACT: Viktoria Mitlyng 630-829-9662 Prema Chandrathil 630-829-9663 NRC Schedules Public Meeting Apr. 9 to Discuss Performance of Palisades Nuclear Power Station The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hold an open house followed by a public meeting Apr. 9 to discuss the annual safety performance of the Palisades Nuclear Power Station. The plant is operated by Entergy Nuclear Operations Inc. and is located in Covert, Mich., five miles south of South Haven.

The open house is scheduled for 5-6 p.m. EDT and will provide the public with the opportunity to discuss past and current issues of concern with the NRC staff. For the first time this year, NRC inspectors will be available to discuss the regulation of radioactive material at facilities such as local hospitals, engineering firms and other industrial facilities. The open house will be followed by a formal public meeting scheduled for 6-8 p.m. EDT during which the NRC staff will discuss the plants 2014 performance and the NRC inspection activities to date. The meeting will be held at the Beach Haven Event Center, 10420 M-140, in South Haven.

In addition to our discussion on plant performance and the NRCs actions to ensure safety, we have invited NRC experts in specific areas of concern to the Palisades community to be available to talk to people one-on-one during the open house. said NRC Region III Administrator Cynthia D.

Pederson. We are also excited to have our inspectors specializing in nuclear safety at hospitals, clinics, engineering firms, and industrial plants on hand to talk about the important work they do.

The NRC concluded that, overall, the Palisades facility operated safely last year.

For the first three quarters of 2014, the Palisades plant was in Column 1 of the NRC's performance action matrix, which means it received standard NRC oversight. The plant moved to Column 2 in the fourth quarter, leading to increased inspection hours and oversight. This was due to a white finding of low-to-moderate safety significance involving the plants failure to adequately assess the radiation dose to workers conducting a component replacement activity in Feb. and March, 2014.

The incident did not have a negative impact on worker or public health. The plant has taken corrective actions to address the violation. The NRC will conduct a focused inspection to determine if the facilitys efforts to address the issue have been effective.

The NRCs 2014 assessment letter discusses the NRCs independent review of the plants efforts to address the chilled work environment within the security department. A Feb. 2014 NRC inspection found that some Palisades security officers felt that they were not free to raise safety

concerns without fear of retaliation. In December, the NRC conducted an in-depth inspection to independently assess the effectiveness of the plants actions to address this weakness. NRC inspectors concluded that although the Palisades Security Department no longer had a chilled work environment; the cultural improvements remained fragile and vulnerable to events that might be perceived negatively by the security officers. The NRC will perform an additional review to determine if the plants improvements have been sustained and if additional NRC oversight is warranted.

The NRC uses color-coded inspection findings and performance indicators to assess nuclear plant performance. The colors start with green and then increase to white, yellow, or red, commensurate with the safety significance of the issues involved. Performance indicators are statistical measurements of plant and equipment performance.

This year, in addition to the follow-up inspections on the white finding and the Safety Conscious Work Environment, Palisades will continue to receive the detailed inspection regime used by the NRC for all plants. Routine inspections are performed by two NRC Resident Inspectors assigned to the plant and by inspection specialists from the Region III Office in Lisle, Ill., and the agencys headquarters in Rockville, Md.

The most current performance information for Palisades is available on the NRC website .

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