A good year for Peach Bottom

Last fall, two Nuclear Regulatory Commission inspectors conducted a two-day supplemental investigation to evaluate the corrective actions Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station's Unit 2 officials took to address three unscheduled shutdowns.

 

 

The shutdowns, or scrams, earned the plant's second reactor a "white" performance indicator in 2005, which led to added federal oversight in the form of the supplemental inspection. 

The extra inspection was a major point of discussion Tuesday at the plant's annual assessment meeting.

Officials from both the NRC and Exelon Nuclear met at the Peach Bottom Inn to discuss the power station's Unit 2 and 3 annual assessment report.

The meeting focused on the commission's annual assessment of safety performance of both reactors between, 2005, and, 2005.

Overall, both units in 2005 operated in a manner that preserved public health and safety, said James M. Trapp, the NRC's branch chief of Division of Reactor Projects.

"It was a good year for Peach Bottom," he said.

Last year, Peach Bottom Unit 2 racked up six "green" violations. Unit 3 recorded seven infractions of very low safety significance.

For example, on Sept. 30, 2005, NRC inspectors discovered that Unit 2 plant emergency workers required to use respiratory equipment had not maintained their qualifications. That infraction led to a "green" violation.

In 2005, reactors nationwide recorded an average of eight "green" violations, Trapp said.

For the year, the NRC recorded four "white" performance indicators nationwide.

Peach Bottom's Unit 2 had one "white" performance indicator. That involved three unscheduled shutdowns.

Those three scrams occurred, 2002; July 22, 2003; and, 2004. Each shutdown involved a loss of ability to remove heat through normal systems. The scrams in 2002 and 2004 can trace their origins to circuit-card failure. The 2003 shutdown has been blamed on a ground fault caused by a piece of broken fan belt.

While the shutdowns did not occur in 2005, the three scrams did occur within a three-year period that included last year.

Any reactor that has three scrams with loss of normal heat removal in three years will earn a "white" performance indicator, said Fred Bower, an NRC senior resident inspector.

Chuck Behrend, director of engineering at Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station, said the plant has instituted several corrective actions as a result of the scrams.

Those actions included equipment upgrades and changes in procedure and testing, he said.

At the time of the supplemental inspection, the NRC concluded that the plant's corrective actions were appropriate.

"Our focus was on equipment performance," Behrend said. "We had some equipment failures that contributed to some of the scrams."