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-12-002

Contact: Viktoria Mitlyng (630) 829-9662

 Prema Chandrathil (630) 829-9663

January, 5 2012

E-Mail: OPA3.RegionIII@nrc.gov 

NRC TO HOLD TWO REGULATORY CONFERENCES ON JANUARY 11 TO 

DISCUSS PRELIMINARY WHITE AND PRELIMINARY YELLOW FINDINGS AT 

PALISADES NUCLEAR PLANT

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hold two regulatory conferences with Entergy 

Nuclear Operations on Wednesday, Jan. 11, to discuss two preliminary inspection findings

issued to the plant. The plant is located in Covert, Mich., approximately 50 miles west of 

Kalamazoo.

The first meeting for the preliminary “white” finding is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. and 

the second for the preliminary “yellow” finding will begin at 1:30 p.m. Both meetings will take 

place at the NRC’s Region III office, 2443 Warrenville Rd. Suite 210, in Lisle, Ill. The public is 

invited to observe and will have an opportunity to talk with NRC officials after the business 

portion of the meetings.

The preliminary white finding of low-to-moderate safety significance is related to the 

service water system. 

The system is comprised of three motor-driven pumps that are used to provide cooling to 

safety-related equipment, such as containment air coolers and diesel generators. Last August, one 

of the service water pumps failed due to cracking in one of the couplings. This was a repeat of a 

previous event in 2009. The NRC conducted a Special Inspection and preliminarily concluded 

the utility failed to prevent a recurrence of the cracking condition and failed to completely 

consider the properties of the steel material used in the coupling.

The preliminary yellow finding of substantial significance to safety is related to an 

electrical fault caused by personnel at the site. The electrical fault resulted in a reactor trip and 

the loss of half of the control room indicators, and activation of safety systems not warranted by 

actual plant conditions. This made the reactor trip more challenging for the operators and 

increased the risk of a serious event occurring. The NRC conducted a Special Inspection and 

preliminarily determined the actions and work preparation for the electrical panel work were not 

done correctly. 
The two regulatory conferences are being held to discuss the preliminary findings and

their safety significance, and to assist the NRC in making a final enforcement decision. No 

decisions will be made at these conferences. After the conferences, the NRC will review the 

information received and make a final determination on the safety significance of both findings.

The NRC’s inspection reports detailing the findings are available online at:

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. The number to access the preliminary white report 

is ML113330819. The number to access the preliminary yellow report is ML113330802.

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