Inspectors at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) have found five safety violations at the New Jersey nuclear-power complex. All of the safety violations were classified as very low safety significance that would mean that the officers are giving the power company a time to address the issues without follow-up until the next inspection.
There were four safety violations found at the Salem nuclear generating station Units 1 and 2 while one was noted at the Hope Creek. As per USA Today, Salem nuclear power plant violated four standard procedures including: failure to maintain appropriate preventive maintenance schedule for containment cooling fans, removal of a barrier designed to avert the release of radiation, failure to properly test equipment and lack of preventive maintenance on the facility's ventilation radiation monitor.
"Each of the findings are for gaps previously identified," said spokesman Joe Delmar of Newark-based Public Service Enterprise Group (PEG), the power company that owns the plants. "Once identified, we enter these items into our corrective action program. Upon receiving the NRC's official finding on these gaps, we do an additional review to ensure that we have taken appropriate measures that we outlined in our corrective action program."
The inspectors have found one safety infraction at the Hope Creek. They alleged that workers were not following the right procedures to document and address a concern related to loss of heat and the air conditioning in the main control room during blackout, Delaware Online reports. The safety violation at the Hope Creek was also considered as very low safety significance. The Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) has also ruled out one low safety significance to the inspectors.
PSEG alleged that the NRC failed to have a security plan for eight shipments of radioactive clearance from Salem during the years of 2010 to 2014. Since all the safety violations were considered low significance, the Federal officials are giving enough time for the power company to address the issues. The inspectors will not be following up on the concerns until their next inspection at the areas. However, KARE 11 adds that if the company will not act fast on the issues, they will be forced to give additional enforcement action.
In 2014, safety concerns were noted at the plants when workers found that the bolts for securing water-moving impellers were broken. The safety violations at the nuclear plants are now being addressed even before the final release of the reports. Although the infractions are not labeled as a threat, the violations are a little bit higher than the usual according to the inspectors.
