NRC: News Release - Region I - 2003-011 - NRC Special Inspection Team to Review Millstone Unit 2 Shutdown, Equipment Problems

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U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Office of Public Affairs, Region I
475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pa. 19406
www.nrc.gov

No. I-03-011		March 12, 2003
CONTACT:	Diane Screnci (610) 337-5330 Neil A. Sheehan (610) 337-5331	E-mail: OPA1.Resource@nrc.gov
NRC SPECIAL INSPECTION TEAM TO REVIEW MILLSTONE UNIT 2 SHUTDOWN, EQUIPMENT PROBLEMS Printable Version
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has sent a special inspection team to the Millstone Unit 2 nuclear power plant to review a shutdown and equipment problems that occurred at the facility on March 7. Millstone Unit 2 is located in Waterford, Conn., and operated by Dominion Nuclear. Four NRC inspectors will be at the plant this week and during the week of March 24 with the goal of assessing performance related to the initiating event, mitigative actions, equipment response and post-event evaluations. At 2:39 p.m. on March 7, Millstone Unit 2 experienced an automatic reactor shutdown. The shutdown was complicated principally due to problems involving several charging pumps, which are used to maintain the proper level of coolant in the plant’s reactor coolant system. At 3:16 p.m., plant officials declared an Unusual Event – the lowest of the NRC’s four levels of emergency classification – in response to leakage from relief valves on the charging pumps. A second Unusual Event was declared at 8:49 p.m. because the charging system complications delayed the plant cooldown beyond the time allowed by the plant’s technical specifications. The Unusual Events were terminated at 1:46 a.m. on March 8 after the required plant cooldown was achieved. NRC inspectors monitored the plant throughout the events. The NRC team will document its findings in an inspection report that will be issued within 45 days of the close of the review.
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