Nuclear Plant in the 'Green'
Posted on: Saturday, 29 April 2006, 00:00 CDT
By Jacob Luecke, Columbia Daily Tribune, Mo.
Apr. 28--The Callaway Nuclear Plant received high marks on its annual report card, but there is still room to improve.
In a letter to AmerenUE, which operates the facility, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission wrote that the plant "operated in a manner that preserved public health and safety and fully met all cornerstone objectives."
The plant scored "green" rankings, meaning there is a very low safety risk, in every category.
The performance report is available online at: www.nrc.gov/ NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/CALL/call_chart.html.
"We don't compare nuclear plants," said Victor Dricks, spokesman for the NRC. "But you can see here all their performance indicators are green, which puts them in the top tier of nuclear plants in the country."
But for the second year in a row, the commission cited minor "human performance" problems at the plant. The problems stem from how procedures at the plant are designed and how well employees follow established procedures.
The human errors resulted in several minor mishaps at the plant, according to the report.
"None of these incidents have involved or posed a significant safety risk," Dricks said.
There were similar comments on last year's report as well as in an August midcycle assessment. AmerenUE spokesman Mike Cleary said that the company has been trying to solve the human performance issues but that not all the new ideas have worked.
"A perfect operation is impossible," he said.
"It's just the fact that when Callaway has had problems, it's identified and reported them and taken action to respond."
Cleary said AmerenUE will continue tweaking its Callaway plant procedures to resolve the problems.
NRC representatives will discuss the report and answer questions at a public meeting at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Capitol Plaza Hotel, 415 W. McCarty St. in Jefferson City.
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Copyright (c) 2006, Columbia Daily Tribune, Mo.
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Source: Columbia Daily Tribune
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