NRC Finds Safety Violation At Point Beach Nuclear Plant

Federal regulators say there has apparently been a substantial violation of a regulation at the Point Beach Nuclear Power Plant.

All sides say there’s no immediate safety concern at the plant along Lake Michigan.

After the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has been taking a closer look at emergency plans for U.S. nuclear facilities. NRC spokeswoman Viktoria Mytlang says at Point Beach, a preliminary inspection has found that owner Next Era Energy failed to have an appropriate procedure to respond to flooding.

“The flooding response plan would not adequately protect equipment that is important to safety, the turbine building, or the pumphouse,” says Mytlang.

The NRC says it has assigned the apparent violation a “yellow code,” signifying substantial safety significance. Next Era says the problem has already been corrected, and notes the NRC says there are no immediate safety concerns.

A meeting to discuss the preliminary finding will be held next week at the NRC regional office in suburban Chicago.