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NRC cites TVA for violations at Browns Ferry,

TVA cited for violations at Browns Ferry, Decatur daily.com By Evan Belanger Staff Writer , 1 Nov 16 

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has cited the Tennessee Valley Authority for two violations over a 2014 incident at its Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant that caused reactor equipment to unexpectedly shut down.

In a letter sent Friday to TVA, the NRC wrote that a former operations shift manager at the Limestone County plant had exercised “poor judgment” when he failed to follow procedure and “deliberately provided information to TVA that was incomplete and inaccurate.”

According to the NRC, the shift manager violated procedure when he manipulated a control board switch normally reserved for an on-duty reactor operator.

 In doing so, he inadvertently cut power to the board, which resulted in the temporary loss of a reactor water cleanup pump, a spent fuel cooling pump and other equipment. The loss of reactor pumps would have caused the reactor to eventually begin overheating, according to David Lochbaum, director of nuclear safety for the Union of Concerned Scientists, but the immediate risk to the facility and the public was minimal……..

The violations come as NRC continues reviewing TVA’s request to increase licensed thermal power levels at the plant by about 14 percent above current limits, which would result in an increase of about 500 megawatts between the plant’s three reactors.

The group Bellefonte Efficiency & Sustainability Team and its affiliated group, Mothers Against Tennessee River Radiation, have filed an intervention calling on the NRC to reject the request and seek a public hearing on the issue.

Mark Leyse, a nuclear safety consultant for BEST, argued TVA’s computer modeling is flawed and that the increase will make the plant more likely to suffer a meltdown during a loss of coolant accident.

NRC spokesman Roger Hannah said TVA already had addressed violations at the plant and that they should have no bearing on NRC’s review of the up-rate request. http://www.decaturdaily.com/news/limestone_county/tva-cited-for-violations-at-browns-ferry/article_56423754-9692-5364-b20f-59457c0d85d1.html

November 4, 2016 - Posted by | general

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