NRC increasing oversight of Palisades nuclear power plant
Posted: Feb 27, 2015 8:32 PM EST
After a recent review, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a finding of low-to-moderate safety significance at the Palisades nuclear power plant. According to the agency, they failed to accurately calculate the radiation doses to workers during work last year.
The white finding will result in increased oversight by the NRC.
The radiation doses the workers received were below the NRC's annual radiation limit and the workers are not expected to have any health issues related to the incident.
The NRC found the plant's methodology for calculating doses to workers replacing control rod drive housings during the 2014 refueling outage didn't meet NRC requirements.
The plant failed to ensure dosimeters were placed in the highest exposed location on the workers' body. The plant also failed to establish procedures to ensure the dosimeters are placed in the correct location.
The NRC says that resulted in inaccurate dose calculations for workers.
“Even though this incident did not result in harm to workers, our action underscores the importance of adhering to NRC requirements to ensure an accurate understanding and adequate monitoring of doses to workers at nuclear plants,” said NRC Region III Administrator Cynthia D. Pederson.
The utility has taken immediate steps to resolve the problem and is developing long-term corrective actions. The NRC will conduct another inspection to ensure the changes are adequate.
The plant will move from Column 1 to Column 2 of the NRC's Action Matrix.
The plant has 30 days to contest the finding.
The white finding will result in increased oversight by the NRC.
The radiation doses the workers received were below the NRC's annual radiation limit and the workers are not expected to have any health issues related to the incident.
The NRC found the plant's methodology for calculating doses to workers replacing control rod drive housings during the 2014 refueling outage didn't meet NRC requirements.
The plant failed to ensure dosimeters were placed in the highest exposed location on the workers' body. The plant also failed to establish procedures to ensure the dosimeters are placed in the correct location.
The NRC says that resulted in inaccurate dose calculations for workers.
“Even though this incident did not result in harm to workers, our action underscores the importance of adhering to NRC requirements to ensure an accurate understanding and adequate monitoring of doses to workers at nuclear plants,” said NRC Region III Administrator Cynthia D. Pederson.
The utility has taken immediate steps to resolve the problem and is developing long-term corrective actions. The NRC will conduct another inspection to ensure the changes are adequate.
The plant will move from Column 1 to Column 2 of the NRC's Action Matrix.
The plant has 30 days to contest the finding.
