The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) recently started its special inspection of the nuclear power plant at River Bend.
The purpose of the inspection is to evaluate the circumstances that caused an equipment test to fail. The equipment is necessary to ventilate and cool the nuclear plant’s various areas: it is an important safety feature of the plant.
The failed test occurred on March 9, 2015. It was part of a regular equipment test run by the River Bend nuclear power plant. On Feb. 23, 2015, the plant experienced a similar failure.
Two different NRC inspectors will visit the plant and spend approximately a week at the site. By the end of the visit, they will have evaluated the root cause of the test failures. They may recommend corrective actions or maintenance that will help the plant systems run more safely and efficiently.
“The March 9 event raises some concern with how electrical equipment has been maintained at the plant,” Marc Dapas, administrator of Region IV, said. “The purpose of this special inspection is to determine if there are any generic implications from equipment failures that occurred during the event.”
The inspection team will create an inspection report, which will be made available to the public within 45 days after the inspection has ended.
