ROCKVILLE, Md. — With their troubled Fort Calhoun nuclear plant facing the toughest federal scrutiny of any U.S. reactor in a decade, top Omaha Public Power District officials sought Wednesday to show federal regulators that they realize the gravity of the situation.
“We're clearly not satisfied with our performance. … We lost our edge,” Gary Gates, president and chief executive officer of OPPD, told the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
“I want to assure you that we understand the seriousness and the scope of these issues,” Gates said. “We have a sense of urgency to return Fort Calhoun to sustained high levels of performance.”
Gates and other managers at the publicly owned utility flew to the Washington area for the public meeting at NRC headquarters to brief the commission on issues related to Fort Calhoun. The plant is trying to regain its footing after last summer's Missouri River flooding,
an electrical fire in June and other problems flagged by regulators.
The plant already had shut down in April for maintenance before the flooding and the subsequent problems, which have resulted in some of the strictest federal oversight possible.
A special panel now is overseeing the plant's recovery efforts.
Gates stressed that OPPD is not rushing the recovery process and that there is no set timetable for bringing the reactor back into operation.
“We're challenging ourselves, questioning everything, we're doing deep dives,” he said, noting that such a process is likely to reveal further concerns that will have to be addressed.
While the plant operated well in the past, there had been a gradual decline, Gates acknowledged. OPPD's goal, he said, is to return the plant to a sustained level of high performance.
“We understand we have let the industry down, and we have let ourselves down with our performance,” Gates said. “We have the drive, commitment and heart to return the station to high performance.”
Dave Bannister, OPPD vice president and chief nuclear officer at Fort Calhoun, echoed the no-excuses theme, saying, “We hold ourselves responsible for our unacceptable performance.”
The plant ran into trouble over its flood preparation procedures, electrical system problems, the handling of historical information and the basic culture of how it responds to problems.
As the troubles mounted, the reactor was moved into the special category of oversight reserved for “facilities that are shut down due to significant performance and/or operational concerns.”
OPPD and federal regulators have emphasized that the public is not in danger: The plant is safe in its current state and won't be allowed to restart unless both OPPD and the NRC are convinced that all the problems have been resolved.
But that might take some time. Gates and Bannister indicated that while OPPD has already made improvements based on initial analyses, the utility continues to look for other things that need to be done to improve the facility's overall performance and reduce risk.
The ongoing “discovery” phase will eventually result in a checklist of items that must be resolved before the plant can resume operation.
The electrical fire drew the most attention during Wednesday's meeting.
Elmo Collins, regional administrator for the NRC, indicated that the reactor would be in the same situation — shut down and under intense review — even without last summer's flooding.
Collins noted that the June fire was the result of a modification intended to improve the reliability of the systems in place.
“What's going on in that organization when you set out to accomplish something to make it better and you actually … get the opposite result?” Elmo asked.
Commissioner William Ostendorff noted that the electrical modification that led to the fire “doesn't sound like it should be rocket science.”
NRC staff members said that they are still completing inspection reports related to the fire and that those reports should be released soon.
OPPD officials did earn some praise from the commissioners, particularly for their candor.
Commissioners asked about lessons learned and urged OPPD to share its experiences with the rest of the nuclear power industry.
Gates told The World-Herald after the meeting that he was encouraged by the commissioners' response. He said they seemed to understand that OPPD is working hard to get everything back on track.
He noted that OPPD has addressed most of the problems resulting from the flooding, although it still is examining the results of a study on the soil compaction that the flooding caused.
As the meeting came to a close, Commissioner Ostendorff said he wasn't going to offer “good luck” wishes to the OPPD officials.
“You don't get out of bad situations by luck, just by hard work and persistence, so I wish you well in your endeavors,” Ostendorff said.
Contact the writer:
202-630-4823, joe.morton@owh.com
Contact the writer:
202-630-4823, joe.morton@owh.com
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