ML16258A369
| ML16258A369 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Pilgrim |
| Issue date: | 09/14/2016 |
| From: | Jonathan Pfingsten NRC/RGN-I/DRP/PB5 |
| To: | Cumbler J - No Known Affiliation |
| Shared Package | |
| ML16196A375 | List: |
| References | |
| LTR-0376-1, LTR-16-03761 | |
| Download: ML16258A369 (2) | |
Text
UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION REGION I 2100 RENAISSANCE BLVD.
KING OF PRUSSIA, PA 19406-2713 September 14, 2016 Ms. Judith Cumbler 380 Old Chequessett Neck Road Wellfleet, MA 02667
Dear Ms. Cumbler,
This letter responds to your letter that requested the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station be shutdown based on its recent poor operating performance. The NRC shares your concern regarding the safety impact of the degrading performance at Pilgrim. On September 1, 2015, the NRC issued a White finding and Notice of Violation to Pilgrim because Entergy had not adequately addressed a significant equipment problem that caused a failure of one of the plants safety/relief valves in February 2013 and then caused in a similar failure in January 2015. This issue combined with a failure to adequately address the causes of multiple reactor shutdowns at Pilgrim in 2013 were indications of degrading performance that moved them into Column 4 (the Repetitive Degraded Cornerstone Column) of the NRC Action Matrix.
The NRC believes that to this point Pilgrim continues to operate safely because the issues that moved them into Column 4 were of low to moderate safety significance; however, the increased oversight, inspection, and assessment directed by the assessment process for a plant in Column 4 now allows us to closely monitor for indications of unacceptable performance. If at any time it is determined that performance at Pilgrim has declined to an unacceptable level with respect to public safety, the NRC will not hesitate to take additional regulatory action up to and including the issuance of a shutdown order. More information regarding our additional oversight activities at Pilgrim is also available at the following website: http://www.nrc.gov/info-finder/reactors/pilg/special-oversight.html.
We hope that this addresses your concerns regarding the NRCs actions in response to the recent degrading performance at Pilgrim. However, if you have any additional questions or concerns regarding these issues please feel free to contact us at 610-337-5030 or 610-337-5031.
Sincerely,
/RA/
Jonathan B. Pfingsten, Project Engineer Reactor Projects Branch 5 Division of Reactor Projects
ML16258A369 LTR-16-03761-1 SUNSI Review Non-Sensitive Sensitive
Publicly Available
Non-Publicly Available OFFICE RI/DRP NAME JPfingsten DATE 09/14/16