CORDOVA, Illinois – The Quad Cities nuclear power plant needs to make corrections after apparent violations occurred at the Constellation Energy plant.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) recently issued a Confirmatory Order to Constellation Nuclear Generation LLC outlining a set of agreed-upon actions to address apparent violations of NRC requirements at the Quad Cities Generating Station.
According to a news release Friday, Aug. 1, the NRC conducted an inspection following an incident where valves in a system connected to the reactor were left in incorrect positions, resulting in coolant water draining from the reactor and spraying two workers, a news release said.
The Quad Cities Generating Station has about 740 employees.
Constellation did not have any comments on the NRC action.
Additionally, NRC conducted two investigations examining potential misconduct, including whether personnel deliberately provided incomplete or inaccurate information to the NRC and whether a senior manager intentionally entered such information into plant records.
The inspection report and investigation reports provide details of the apparent violations.
According to the NRC release, there were no exposures exceeding NRC limits for the workers or the public.
The drain-down event was evaluated as having very low safety significance because multiple sources of water were available and used to maintain safe water level in the reactor. However, the apparent violations were screened through a different process because of their impact on the NRC’s ability to perform its regulatory oversight function.
The company requested Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), a process involving a neutral mediator to help the NRC and Constellation reach an agreement on the scope of the company’s corrective and preventive actions.
Constellation took corrective actions in advance of the ADR session, including a fleet-wide meeting emphasizing the importance of proper conduct and accurate record-keeping. It also conducted an investigation into root causes of the incident and employee misconduct.
The NRC order documents Constellation’s commitments to implement additional measures to improve performance, such as including a third-party Nuclear Safety Culture Assessment at Quad Cities and a fleetwide survey to determine if site-specific action plans are needed.
The nuclear plant also will take measures including training for employees and leaders on safety culture, willful misconduct, the importance of accurate information and human performance expectations.
The NRC also issued notices of violations against two individuals involved in the incident, both of whom are no longer licensed or employed by the Quad Cities station. One violation involves
A reactor operator will failure to follow procedures. The other pertains to a senior reactor operator’s willful failure to maintain complete and accurate records related to the incident.
Constellation must notify the NRC of its progress in completing the actions outlined in the legally binding agreement between the company and the agency.
Constellation, which owns 75 percent of the Quad Cities facility, is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland.
