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Pandemic plan for Nuclear Power Plant could make employees isolate at the reactor

Nuclear plant could ‘sequester’ employees to live on-site under pandemic plan By Brad Devereaux | bdeverea@mlive.com-27 Mar 20, COVERT, MI — The company that owns Palisades nuclear plant has a private pandemic plan that includes a contingency to sequester employees live at the site temporarily, though that scenario is unlikely, a company spokeswoman said……

  Entergy owns the nuclear plant situated on the Lake Michigan shoreline about 7 miles south of South Haven…..

Sequester means employees would reside on site, Gent said. The company declined to release its full plans to MLive because they contain business-sensitive information, she said….

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will require plants to shut down if they cannot appropriately staff their facilities, according to the government agency’s response to COVID-19.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which inspects to ensure safety at plants across the country, said resident inspectors are ready to respond immediately should there be developing safety issues amid the coronavirus outbreak. Resident inspectors will make regular visits to operating nuclear power reactor sites and will remotely monitor plant data systems, meetings and other information. Back-up inspectors are available from regional offices or headquarters should they be necessary to maintain oversight, the NRC said…..

The NRC is considering what kind of flexibility it may be able to offer nuclear plants, if the outbreak continues and staff at the plant were to be “highly impacted,” Mitlyng said on March 27. Any changes made would have to allow plants to operate safely, she said. …..

In 2017, Entergy announced that it planned to close Palisades in the spring of 2022.

In Aug. 2018, Entergy announced it had agreed to sell the subsidiaries that own Palisades and the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth, Massachusetts, after their shutdowns and reactor defuelings, to a Holtec International subsidiary for prompt decommissioning.

The sales include the transfer of the licenses, spent fuel, and Nuclear Decommissioning Trusts as well as the site of the decommissioned Big Rock Point Nuclear Power Plant near Charlevoix, Michigan, where only the Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI) remains. The transactions are subject to closing conditions, including approvals from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. https://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/2020/03/nuclear-plant-could-sequester-employees-to-live-on-site-under-pandemic-plan.html

March 28, 2020 - Posted by | safety, USA

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