Dive Brief:
- Federal regulators have signed off on corrective actions Entergy will take to address violations uncovered at a nuclear power plant in Mississippi.
- Entergy opted for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) process, after regulators said they were considering "escalated enforcement action" following a review of the violations.
- Entergy has agreed to address the "willful misconduct" in a range of ways, including an organizational health survey, a "casual" site evaluation, and discussions with staff.
Dive Insight:
An investigation into violations at the Grand Gulf nuclear power plant in Port Gibson, Miss., has turned up three categories, and the corrective actions are aimed at finding out why they occurred.
According to the NRC's confirmatory order, Entergy's investigation revealed: an examination proctor provided "inappropriate assistance to trainees" during employee training examinations; workers did not perform required rounds to check equipment and plant conditions; and those workers subsequently reported they had performed the checks.
Entergy used the commission's Alternative Dispute Resolution process after the NRC reviewed the investigation's results with the company and informed it "that escalated enforcement action was being considered for the apparent violations."
A neutral mediator is involved in the ADR process, to help plant operators and the NRC come to an agreement.
Within six months, Entergy must perform a "causal evaluation, informed by site evaluations," to determine why previous corrective actions had not addressed the issues. Management must also inform employees "that willful violations will not be tolerated, and, as a result, Entergy will be undertaking efforts to confirm whether others are engaging in such conduct at any of its sites."
The violations at Grand Gulf are similar to those behind a civil penalty the NRC levied against Southern Nuclear last month.
The commission proposed a $145,000 fine for violations that occurred at the Vogtle nuclear facility in Georgia in 2016. According to the NRC, employees at the plant failed to complete required checks of the facility and equipment on multiple occasions, but then indicated in logs that the inspections had been completed.
