NRC NEWS

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Office of Public Affairs Region III

2443 Warrenville Road

Lisle IL 60532

Site: www.nrc.gov

Blog: http://public-blog.nrc-gateway.gov

No. III-12-009

Contact: Viktoria Mitlyng (630) 829-9662

 Prema Chandrathil (630) 829-9663

March 15, 2012

E-Mail: OPA3.RegionIII@nrc.gov 

NRC SCHEDULES OPEN HOUSE AND PUBLIC MEETING FOR MARCH 21 TO 

DISCUSS PALISADES NUCLEAR POWER PLANT PERFORMANCE IN 2011

Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials have scheduled a public meeting for 

Wednesday, March 21, to discuss with local residents the agency’s assessment of safety 

performance at the Palisades nuclear power plant and the NRC oversight activities. 

The plant is located in Covert, Mich., approximately 50 miles west of Kalamazoo, and is 

operated by Entergy Nuclear Operations.

The open house is informal and will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. EDT. The public 

meeting will be held 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and consist of a formal exchange between the NRC and 

Entergy representatives about the plant’s 2011 performance followed by the opportunity for 

members of the public to ask questions and make comments to the NRC staff. The meeting will 

be held at the Beach Haven Event Center, 10420 M-140, in South Haven.

“The NRC continually reviews the performance of the Palisades plant and the nation’s 

other commercial nuclear power facilities,” said NRC Acting Region III Administrator Cynthia 

Pederson. “This meeting allows us to discuss our annual assessment of safety performance with 

members of the local community. The goal of this open house is to explain how the NRC works 

to protect people and the environment and answer questions from residents about nuclear 

regulation.”

A letter sent from the NRC Region III office to plant officials addressed the performance 

of the plant during 2011 and will serve as the basis for the discussion. It is available on the NRC 

Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/pali_2011q4.pdf .

While overall, the NRC believes the plant operated safely last year, the NRC identified 

several issues which have prompted the NRC to significantly increase its oversight of the plant. 

The NRC uses color-coded inspection findings and performance indicators to assess 

nuclear plant performance. The colors start with “green” and then increase to “white,” “yellow” 

or “red,” commensurate with the safety significance of the issues involved. 
The NRC letter states that two “white” findings of low to moderate safety significance 

and one ”yellow” finding of substantial significance to safety were identified during 2011. As a 

result, the NRC moved the plant into the Degraded Cornerstone Column of the Action Matrix, or 

the third performance column, during the last quarter of last year from the Licensee Response 

Column, or the first performance column.

The “yellow” finding is related to an electrical fault caused by personnel at the site which 

resulted in a reactor trip, the loss of half of the control room indicators, and actuation of safety 

systems that were not warranted by actual plant conditions. One “white” finding is related a the

coupling failure in a service water pump which was a repeat of a previous equipment failure that 

occurred in 2009 because plant failed to prevent recurrence of the cracking condition and failed 

to completely consider the properties of the steel used in a past modification of the couplings. 

The other “white” issue is associated with an auxiliary feedwater pump trip caused in part by 

incorrect greasing of a piece of the pump mechanism.

The NRC will perform supplemental inspections to make sure the plant understands the 

causes of the findings and has taken effective short- and long-term corrective actions to prevent 

their recurrence. 

The letter also notes that the NRC identified three cross-cutting issues in the area of 

human performance associated with conservative assumptions; documentation and procedures; 

and oversight. Human performance concerns constitute a “Cross-cutting issue” and affect 

multiple areas of plant operation. These issues tend to involve behaviors, such as the plant 

staff’s ability to effectively develop and follow procedures. These behaviors do not constitute 

violations of NRC requirements. However, they can be major contributing factors to safetysignificant findings. The cross-cutting issue will remain open until the number of findings with 

cross-cutting aspects decreases and the plant demonstrates effective corrective actions that result 

in sustained improvement in human performance. The NRC expects Entergy to discuss the 

company’s plans to address human performance issues during this public meeting.

In additional to supplemental inspections to address the findings, Palisades will continue 

to receive inspections performed by two NRC Resident Inspectors assigned to the plant and by 

inspection specialists from the Region III Office in Lisle, Ill., and the agency’s headquarters in 

Rockville, Md. Among the areas of plant operations being inspected are license renewal, dry 

cask spent fuel storage, emergency preparedness and radiation protection.

The most current performance information for Palisades is available on the NRC website 

at: http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/PALI/pali_chart.html

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