Nuclear plant promises to improve safety culture

Associated Press

7:50 a.m. CST, January 12, 2012

COVERT TOWNSHIP, Mich.—

Steps are being taken to improve the culture of safety at Palisades nuclear power plant in southwestern Michigan amid concerns from federal regulators about its operations, representatives of the facility said.

Entergy Nuclear Operations Inc. met Wednesday in Illinois with representatives of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Kalamazoo Gazette reported. They discussed two investigations into the plant on the Lake Michigan shoreline, including one looking at a weeklong shutdown in September.

Anthony Vitale, vice president of operations of Entergy Nuclear Operations, said there was a lack of effective leadership, a degradation in safety culture, and a failure to identify, investigate and correct problems in a timely manner.

"We lost the trust of our neighbors and our organization," Vitale said. "We're going to fix this."

Cynthia Pederson, a regional director with the NRC, said regulators expect to see changes in how Palisades is operated.

"Quite frankly, we find your performance very troubling," she told plant officials. "This is not typical of a mature, well-functioning organization or plant."



The NRC has said the Sept. 25 shutdown was caused by workers and supervisors not following proper safety procedures. The plant shut down when officials said two pieces of metal inside a breaker panel touched, causing a short circuit.

"We must really raise our standards and hold people accountable," said David Hamilton, director of nuclear safety at Palisades. "We are changing the way we do business."

Also Wednesday, officials discussed a coupling failure in August. An inspection found that the plant didn't follow industry experience in choosing the part. The plant has said it was an oversight by Palisades.

Earlier this month, federal regulators said they had downgraded the plant in Van Buren County's Covert Township, requiring it to undergo an additional inspection because of a water pump shutdown in May.

Improper maintenance by plant employees led to that shutdown, the NRC said.

Nuclear plants are placed in one of five grade levels. The lower the ranking, the more inspections they get. Palisades was moved from the top category to the No. 2 category because of the water pump incident.

Palisades is owned by New Orleans-based Entergy Corp.

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