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Multiple violations found at Washington State’s nuclear power plant

Multiple violations found at state’s nuclear power plant, Susannah Frame, KING   August 10, 2017 The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) last month suspended indefinitely the shipment of radioactive waste from the state’s sole nuclear power plant.

Internal documents obtained by the KING 5 Investigators reveal that the Columbia Generating Station, operated by the publicly owned Energy Northwest, made repeated errors in its shipping of radioactive waste, in violation of state and federal regulations, dating back to 2014.

“There have been multiple deficiencies with the shipments of radioactive waste which has resulted in noncompliance with Federal, US Ecology, and State of Washington requirements,” wrote Robby Peek, Energy Northwest Quality Services supervisor in a July 26 interoffice memo.

Peek characterized the problems as “significant” and wrote the pattern of errors has led to a “loss of regulatory confidence.”

“Additionally, incorrect details within the shipping manifest can increase risk to the health and safety of the public,” wrote Peek.

The most recent event caused the DOH to revoke the plant’s shipping rights for the third time in the last three years.

A July 26 letter from the DOH to Energy Northwest outlines what led to the temporary ban. Inspectors at the state’s low level radioactive waste dump found a July 20 shipment of waste was far more radioactive than what was listed on the shipping manifest.

“Inspections of your shipment revealed (violations) of the US Ecology Radioactive Materials license…and the Washington Administrative Code,” wrote Kristen Schwab, DOH Office of Radiation Protection waste management supervisor. “Because of the nature of the violations found in this shipment, authorization to use the commercial low-level radioactive waste disposal site by Energy Northwest has been suspended indefinitely.”……. http://www.king5.com/news/local/multiple-violations-found-at-states-nuclear-power-plant/463541510

August 14, 2017 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | incidents, USA