1 Nov (NucNet): The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has launched a special inspection at the Arkansas One nuclear power plant in response to a fire there that led to the declaration of an Alert on 23 October 2007.
The plant, operated by Entergy Operations, has two pressurised water reactor (PWR) units.
A two-person team of NRC specialists will review the circumstances related to electrical breaker problems that affected a piece of safety equipment, prompting the Alert, as well as a similar electrical fire in October 2006 that also led to an Alert, the second lowest level of nuclear emergency.
Both incidents occurred at Arkansas One-2, a 998-MW PWR that entered commercial operation in 1980.
The NRC said its team will evaluate Entergy’s response to both events, the cause of the problems and corrective actions. Although the October 2006 fire was reviewed by NRC, the team will determine whether common causes exist with the 23 October fire.
The team’s final report will be available on the agency’s online document library (www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams/web-based.html).
>>Related reports in the NucNet database (available to subscribers)
NRC Renews Licence For Arkansas Nuclear One, Unit 2 (News in Brief No. 65, 6 July 2005)
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