No. 07-037 

Contact: Victor Dricks 

Phone: (817) 860-8128 

 October 1, 2007 

 E-Mail: opa4@nrc.gov 

 

NRC BEGINS COMPREHENSIVE INSPECTION 

AT PALO VERDE NUCLEAR GENERATING STATION 

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has begun a comprehensive inspection to assess 

activities at the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station as part of its heightened oversight as a 

result of performance problems there. The plant, operated by Arizona Public Service Co., is 

located 50 miles west of Phoenix. 

 The 20-member team, which includes reactor inspectors, health physicists, specialists in 

emergency planning and other technical disciplines, began the first of two weeks onsite today. 

They will return to the site on Oct. 29 for a third week of in-depth inspection, then write a report 

which the NRC will make publicly available later this year. 

 “Palo Verde continues to operate safely,” said NRC Region IV Administrator Elmo E. 

Collins. “However, the number and significance of previous equipment problems warrants 

increased NRC inspection. This particular inspection is designed to give us a very close look at 

the scope and effectiveness of Palo Verde’s performance improvement initiatives.” 

 The inspection is intended to assess the breadth and depth of performance problems and 

will include a broad review to determine what processes and programs need improvement. Focus 

areas will include the quality of technical assessments, the timeliness and thoroughness of 

corrective actions, communications between technical organizations and engineering quality. 

 This will also be the first time the NRC performs an independent safety culture 

assessment at a nuclear plant as part of an inspection. The effort will include NRC interviews 

with workers and managers onsite, observation of plant activities, and focus groups with 

members of various technical organizations. “This was recently added to our inspection process 

to help us better understand whether there are safety culture issues contributing to the root cause 

of problems, and if so, to ensure they are being properly addressed,” Collins said. 

 Palo Verde has been under increased NRC oversight since the fourth quarter of 2004 

following a finding for a substantial safety issue. Inspectors found that APS had incorrectly left 

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air pockets in portions of the emergency core cooling system at each reactor that could have 

hindered the system’s operation during certain types of accidents. The finding remains open 

because APS has not effectively addressed performance problems. 

 A lack of questioning attitude and technical rigor as well as poor operability 

determinations by workers contributed to a finding issued by the NRC last February for problems 

with an emergency diesel generator at Unit 3, moving Palo Verde into a higher level of NRC 

oversight. 

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