ML15090A598

Press Release-II-15-014: NRC to Increase Oversight of Vogtle Nuclear Power Plant

ML15090A598
Person / Time
Site:	Vogtle
Issue date:	03/31/2015
From:	Office of Public Affairs Region II
To:
References
Press Release-II-15-014
Download: ML15090A598 (1)

Text

No: II-15-014 March 31, 2015 CONTACT: Roger Hannah 404-997-4417 Joey Ledford 404-997-4416 NRC to Increase Oversight of Vogtle Nuclear Power Plant The Vogtle nuclear power plant will receive additional oversight, including a follow-up inspection, from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission after a violation use the proper shipping container for radioactive waste. The Vogtle plant is located near Waynesboro, Ga., about 26 miles southeast of Augusta, and is operated by Southern Nuclear Operating Co. The violation and increased oversight resulted from the discovery that employees at the Vogtle plant loaded radioactive waste into a container approved and tested for waste with lower radiation levels, but not for the material that was actually loaded. After reviewing that initial report and additional information provided by the company that received the waste shipment from the Vogtle plant, the NRC staff determined that the issue was a violation and should be classified as white, meaning it has low to moderate safety significance. he Vogtle plant continues to be operated safely and there was no additional exposure from the use of the improper containerNRC container regulations are based on the potential hazard to the public and we expect plants to follow those regulations The additional NRC inspection will provide assurance that the causes of the issue are understood and corrective actions are sufficient to prevent recurrence. The additional inspection has not yet been scheduled. The NRC evaluates safety performance at commercial nuclear power plants with a color-coded system which classifies issues as green, white, yellow or red, in increasing order of safety significance. As the significance increases, the NRC heightens the level of oversight for that plant. If a plant takes appropriate corrective actions and improves safety performance, the agency returns to its normal, but still extensive, inspection schedule.