The Dominion-owned nuclear Millstone Power Station in Waterford will get additional federal scrutiny following a February safety violation, authorities say.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday finalized its decision to install more regulatory oversight at Millstone. NRC had been investigating the Dominion-owned power plant since Feburary and previously held public hearings on its initial findings.
The NRC final inspection released on Monday showed personnel at one of Millstone’s two nuclear reactors failed to properly monitor the power output, resulting in a power spike on Feb. 12. The power spike did not result in any impacts on safety.
“We remain extremely disappointed with our performance during this event. Nuclear safety is our top priority,” said Ken Holt, spokesman for Dominion. “We have learned from this event and have taken actions to ensure we don’t repeat it. We conducted a thorough root cause investigation to understand all of the contributing factors in the event. We also brought in experts from the fleet and outside industry peers to assist with our investigation. The lessons learned from our investigation have been incorporated into our operator training program, corrective action system, and station processes.”
NRC will conduct a follow-up investigation on a future date to evaluate Dominion’s corrective actions.
