NRC Launches Special Inspection at Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Plant

Nuclear Regulatory Commission - News Release
No: III-21-017 July 27, 2021
Contact: Viktoria Mitlyng, 630-829-9662 Prema Chandrathil, 630-829-9663

NRC Launches Special Inspection at Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Plant

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has launched a special inspection at the Davis-Besse nuclear power plant that will focus on two separate issues: multiple diesel generator failures during testing and maintenance; and a complicated reactor trip on July 8.

The six-person inspection team will review the company’s response to each diesel generator failure, including the company’s cause analysis, extent of condition reviews, maintenance practices and system design. The team will also focus on the circumstances affecting the recent complicated automatic reactor shutdown, which was triggered by a turbine trip, assessing equipment performance and operator response.

In the past 24 months, Davis-Besse experienced four failures of emergency diesel generators to operate in accordance with specifications during NRC-required testing and one failure of a station blackout diesel generator during maintenance. Davis-Besse has two emergency diesel generators, which would provide emergency power during the loss of offsite power, and one station blackout diesel generator, which would provide power in case both emergency diesel generators failed. One diesel generator is sufficient to enable the plant to safely shut down and remain in a stable condition. Normal plant operations were not affected by the diesel failures during testing and maintenance, and public safety was maintained.

While the NRC was planning the special inspection on diesel failures, Davis-Besse experienced an unplanned reactor trip. During the plant’s response to the trip, certain pieces of equipment did not function as designed. Operators took action to address the equipment issues, and the reactor was shut down safely and placed in a stable condition. After making the necessary repairs, the reactor returned to power. Based on the complications of the trip, the agency chose to expand the special inspection to better understand equipment performance issues and operator response.

Upon completion of the special inspection, NRC inspectors will document their findings on both issues in a publicly available inspection report, which will be distributed electronically to listserv subscribers and be available on theNRC website.

The plant, located in Oak Harbor, Ohio, is operated by Energy Harbor Corp.

21-017-iii.pdf