Delay in Restarting of A-Plant Ordered

The federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday ordered the operators of the troubled Rancho Seco nuclear power plant to delay restarting the nuclear reactor pending a federal investigation into concerns that the plant could be unsafe.

New questions about the plant’s safety are raised in a letter from the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations, an Atlanta-based group made up of nuclear plant owners, NRC spokesman Greg Cook said.

The letter was scheduled to be delivered Wednesday to the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, which operates the 913-megawatt plant. Although senior NRC officials were aware of the letter, Cook said, he had not been briefed on its contents and the nature of the institute’s concerns.

“(The institute) has raised an issue with us about Rancho Seco. Our people felt that the issue was potentially safety significant and should be evaluated before Rancho was restarted,” Cook said.

The plant automatically shut down last Tuesday--the third closure since December--because of a malfunctioning water pump. Sacramento district officials have not determined what caused the mishap and have not set a date to restart the plant’s nuclear generator.

When notified by the NRC of new questions about the plant’s safety, utility district officials immediately agreed to delay restarting the plant until federal regulators and company officials could investigate the concerns stated in the institute’s letter, Cook said.

Kerry Shearer, a spokesman for Rancho Seco, characterized the NRC request as “informal.” He said the Sacramento utility district would comply with NRC wishes and keep the plant closed “until issues raised in a forthcoming letter” from the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations can be resolved by the utility district.

Shearer said an institute team last visited the plant in February, but did not notify utility district officials about any safety concerns.

“We are certainly more anxious than anyone to see what the letter says,” Shearer said.

Sacramento area voters gave the 15-year-old plant a reprieve last year, allowing it to continue operating on a trial basis, but are scheduled to vote June 6 on closing it permanently.

The controversial plant, located 25 miles southeast of Sacramento, reopened a year ago after a 27-month shutdown prompted by an overcooling accident. It has been closed more frequently than it has operated during its troubled history.

The Institute of Nuclear Power Operations conducts inspections of nuclear power plants and presents reports to owners of the utilities. These reports are normally not made public, but are considered proprietary information. However, the institute is required to notify the NRC about safety concerns.