'Deliberate misconduct' at Browns Ferry: NRC

 

Apr 13 - McClatchy-Tribune Business News Formerly Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News - The Knoxville News-Sentinel, Tenn.

 

The Nuclear Regulatory staff has issued a "confirmatory order" to a contract foreman at TVA's Browns Ferry nuclear power plant for deliberate misconduct that exposed a worker to radiation contamination.

In a press release today, the NRC said Robbie Balentine, employed by Stone and Webster Engineering Co. at the Athens, Ala., plant engaged in "deliberate misconduct in early 2004 while acting as lead foreman for some paint removal activities inside the torus at Browns Ferry Unit 1."

The torus is a large doughnut-shaped metal structure below the reactor vessel designed to capture excess steam in some accident scenarios.

The NRC said in its statement than an investigation found Balentine "willfully directed and allowed open blasting to be performed in violation of the requirements of a radiation work permit and verbal instructions."

That conduct, the NRC said, resulted in an "internal contamination event involving a painter under his supervision as well as a violation of a portion of the Browns Ferry nuclear plant license related to radiation protection."

The order is the result of mediation under an NRC pilot program using a neutral third party, the release said.

Under the order, Balentine agrees to take corrective actions including following all instructions, procedures and requirements governing NRC-licensed activities, ensuring that all those working for him do likewise and participating in any initiatives established by TVA or Stone and Webster to use this event as training for others.

The NRC will take no further enforcement against Balentine, the release said.

The action comes a day after TVA announced it is ready for final review of the restart of Browns Ferry Unit 1 reactor.

Unit 1, which TVA expects to return to service in May, would be the first new nuclear generation in the United States this century.

TVA shut down the three reactors at Browns Ferry in 1985 because of safety concerns. Unit 2 returned to service in 1991, and Unit 3 was restarted in 1995.

The $1.8 billion effort to restore Unit 1 began in 2002.