The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says Friday, it has formed an Augmented Inspection team to further review an automatic reactor trip, two fires in the plant's electrical systems and the plant operators' response to those events.
The fires occurred at the Robinson Nuclear Power Plant on Sunday, March 28. On that date, the plant experienced an automatic shutdown and a fire was reported in a non-safety-related electrical system. The plant was stabilized and plant employees formed an event response team. About three and a half hours later, another fire was reported in a different non-safety-related electrical system. The second fire affected the operation of some safety-related systems and led to the "Alert" declaration at about 11:00 p.m. No one was injured and the plant remained safely shut down. The "Alert" was terminated about two and a half hours after it was declared.
The NRC dispatched a three-person special inspection team to the Robinson plant on March 30. The NRC said in a news release Friday that "further review by the company and the NRC found additional deficiencies in operations which increased the overall risk and pointed to the need for additional inspection." Thus, the Augmented Inspection Team (AIT) has been formed.
The NRC says the AIT will expand the scope of the special inspection team sent to the site earlier. The AIT will include members of the special inspection team as well as five additional inspectors. The AIT will be led by NRC Region II Branch Chief Bob Haag and will officially begin work at the plant on Monday, April 19.
"The increased risk associated with these new issues makes an augmented inspection team the appropriate level of review," said NRC Region II Administrator Luis Reyes said in the news release. "Upgrading the inspection to an AIT underscores our commitment to evaluate these issues thoroughly and ensure they are being properly addressed."
The AIT will hold an exit meeting with the company upon completion of the inspection to discuss its preliminary findings. That meeting will be open to interested members of the public and the news media, and team members will be available to answer questions after the results are presented. The AIT will also issue a written report 30 days after the completion of the inspection.
