Safety and performance of the Vogtle Plant were the topic of discussion at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission open house this week at Plant Vogtle.
“The purpose of this event is to let the public know the status of the plant, what happened the previous year and kind of give an overview of how things are going,” said William Truss, resident inspector of Vogtle Units 1 and 2 at Plant Vogtle. “If the public has any questions, we get the chance to answer them. And show that we’re out here, observing and making sure that everything is running as the public would expect.”
A number of NRC staff responsible for plant inspections, including the resident inspectors based full-time at the site, were available to answer questions about plant safety and the NRC’s oversight role.
The four-unit plant is located near Waynesboro and is operated by Southern Nuclear. Resident inspectors are on-site and issue quarterly inspection reports. Regional inspections include:
- Radiation protection
- Security
- Cyber Security
- Design Basis Assurance
- Emergency Planning
“I’ve spent some time over at unit’s three and four,” said Truss. “We did have a few questions as to why they were down powered, had an outage, or showed shut down. They experienced a few issues over the last year. Unit four had a trip in June of 2024. Unit three had a trip in July of 2024. And unit three had another trip in September of 2024. Some shutdowns are automatic. They did have some down powers for fuel management.”
Truss added, “A trip is an equipment issue that led to the reactor shutting down.”
Resident inspector program for Vogtle Units 1 through 4 requirements:
- Live in the community, work at the nuclear sites and respond to plant events.
- Provide daily coverage and oversight of plan activities for both construction and operating sites.
- Prioritize inspections based on important plant activities.
- Routinely discuss safety concerns with plant management.
- Observe emergency exercises and provide support for any real emergencies or urgent issues.
- Support NRC allegation process for plant employees and the public.
“We oversee their evaluations of what happened,” he said. “They will put in some corrective actions to go out and fix the problem. We look at what those corrective actions are and make sure they align with what we expect them to do.”
Truss said being a resident inspector is a hands-on job.
“We put on our safety shoes, hard hats, glasses, and we get out there and observe,” he said. “We talk with the operators every day. My favorite part of the job is hands-on experience. Actually being out there and seeing what’s going on.”
Jason Parent, resident inspector of Vogtle Units 3 and 4 at Plant Vogtle, said unplanned shutdowns are common.
“The operators are always evaluating the plant,” said Parent. “They’re operating from the control room 24-7. If they see, let’s say, a pump that needs some maintenance, they’ll plan for that maintenance. If it’s a pump that needs to be running at 100% it’s one of three. Well, we’ve got two others. But we can only be at 60% power. They’ll back it down to 60%. Then they can secure that pump that needs to be worked on.”
Parent added, “Once the maintenance is done, they can bring the power back up to 100% in a controlled fashion.”
Parent said the plant is currently at the expected level of performance and the cornerstone objectives are being met.
“They’re in the green column right now, and that’s where they normally are,” said Parent. “This is the largest nuclear power station. It’s performing quite well compared to other plants.”
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Erica Van Buren is the climate change reporter for The Augusta Chronicle, part of the USA TODAY Network. Connect with her at EVanBuren@gannett.com or on X: @EricaVanBuren32.