NRC ISSUES CONFIRMATORY ORDERS TO PALISADES PLANT OWNER ENTERGY AND PLANT OPERATOR

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued a Confirmatory Order to Entergy Nuclear Operations, owner of Palisades, and a separate Confirmatory Order to Edward Johnson, a licensed operator, for a violation in which Johnson left the control room without following appropriate requirements. The plant is located in Covert, Mich., approximately 50 miles west of Kalamazoo.

The Confirmatory Orders stem from an incident that occurred on October 23, 2010 at the Palisades nuclear power plant. The NRC conducted an investigation and concluded that Johnson, who was one of the reactor operators in the control room, left his post without providing a turnover to a qualified individual to take over his position and did not obtain permission from the control room supervisor.

The incident had no immediate impact on plant or public safety since the control room supervisor took prompt action and immediately assigned another licensed operator to the position.

As a result of separate NRC Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) meetings with Entergy and Johnson, they agreed to abide by the commitments documented in the Confirmatory Orders reached through the ADR process. ADR is a process that uses a mediator to resolve issues. The Confirmatory Orders are legally binding commitments that outline a number of actions Entergy and Johnson have agreed to take to ensure the NRC’s concerns will be addressed.

Some of the commitments for Entergy include: issuing a letter to every licensed reactor operator in the Entergy fleet re-emphasizing the responsibilities of their position and safety obligations to the public; preparing a case study of the events and incorporate it into the operator training; reviewing the procedures associated with the event to determine if they are adequate; retaining outside expertise to conduct a safety culture assessment for the operations department; ensuring potentially stressful work activities in the control room are properly planned for; and informing the NRC on how they plan to monitor and manage Johnson’s performance if Entergy decides to restore him to licensed activities.

Some of the commitments for Johnson include: completing 200 hours of successful work under supervision; participating in interviews with Entergy management to assess his eligibility and readiness to resume licensed work; and writing an article for an industry publication discussing the events, his personal lessons learned, the safety and legal responsibility of a licensed reactor operator, his responsibilities for public safety, his corrective actions and his interactions with the NRC resulting from the violation.