Holtec cited for violations related to spent fuel storage

By Christine Leger
Posted Apr 29, 2019

Potential Pilgrim owner not fined for issues with canisters.

PLYMOUTH — Federal regulators have cited the company looking to buy Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station with two violations related to canisters it manufactured to store radioactive spent fuel.

One violation was classified as “potentially safety significant,” but the Nuclear Regulatory Commission decided to forgo a civil fine against Holtec International because the company was quick to act and had no other federal violations during the last two years, according to a letter the commission sent to the company.

The infractions were related to a design change in the 4-inch stainless steel bolts used to help keep the baskets in the 18-foot storage canisters in position, so helium can circulate and adequately cool the radioactive spent fuel inside.

During a 2018 inspection before loading spent fuel at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in California, plant workers found a loose bolt inside one of the storage canisters. Loading of the canisters was halted, the letter states.

Read more Times coverage of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station: capecodtimes.com/pilgrim

The canisters with the new bolt design were also being used at several other decommissioning plants, including Vermont Yankee, where loading was temporarily stopped while Holtec conducted a technical assessment of the cask design.

Although Holtec has been supplying casks for Pilgrim, none of the casks with the bolts were used, according to NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan.

Holtec conducted an after-the-fact cask evaluation.

“That evaluation showed that the functioning of the cask, i.e., proper heat transfer from the spent fuel, would not be adversely impacted even if the bolts were to come loose,” Sheehan said via email.

Holtec, however, stopped using the bolt design in its casks.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission classified the severity of the violation as a Level III, or “potentially safety significant.”

In the letter sent last week to Holtec, commission staff continued to say the bolt problem had the potential to affect safety.

The casks with the faulty support bolts were not loaded to their full heat capacity, the NRC staff said. If they had been, “it could have potential for significant consequence,” the staff wrote.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission noted it could have levied a fine of $36,000 or more for the Level III violation but decided against it.

“The loaded canisters do not and never have posed any risk to public health and safety,” Joy Russell, Holtec’s senior vice president of business development and communications, said via email, noting that “the NRC has determined that Holtec’s violations resulted in having moderate to low safety significance concern.”

“Holtec remains committed to safety in all we do and will continue to work with the NRC through the Enforcement Policy Process,” Russell wrote.

The second violation cited by the NRC was for failure to first secure federal approval for the design change it had made to the canisters. That violation was classified as carrying low safety significance.

Holtec hopes to buy Pilgrim to decommission it when the reactor permanently shuts down next month. The company also has deals in the works to buy and decommission several other plants.

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