Entergy's Pilgrim suffered "a major loss of emergency assessment capability" during severe winter storm "Juno"

Pilgrim's bad week is turning into a bad month. As revealed by a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) "Event Notification Report" on Feb. 6th, Entergy Nuclear's Pilgrim atomic reactor on Cape Cod Bay south of Boston, MA suffered "a major loss of emergency assessment capability," during the severe winter storm nicknamed "Juno" on Jan. 27th. The report did not explain why it took ten days to report the incident.

The report, titled "LOSS OF SEA WATER INTAKE BAY LEVEL INSTRUMENTATION DUE TO LOSS OF INSTRUMENT AIR," states:

"On January 27, 2015, during winter storm JUNO, there was a loss of instrument air at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station (PNPS). Follow-up evaluations of the plant events that occurred on that day revealed that the loss of instrument air resulted in a loss of water level indicators in the seawater intake bays. The affected instruments, LI-3831 A/B, are utilized in assessing conditions for entry into the Emergency Action Levels. PNPS Emergency Plan Implementing Procedure (EPIP) EP-IP-100.1 specified a compensatory action of 'visual inspection required' should these instruments be unavailable. However, there was not a clear linkage between the EPIP compensatory actions and the operations procedure for loss of instrument air. Neither the EPIP nor operations procedure identified the specific actions necessary to perform the local monitoring action. Based on the above, we have concluded that this event was reportable pursuant to 10CFR50.72(b)(3)(xiii), Any event that results in a major loss of emergency assessment capability." (emphasis added)

Watchdogs called for Pilgrim's shutdown as a safety precaution before "Juno" hit, but Entergy and NRC ignored the request. But "Juno's" ferocity forced Pilgrim's shutdown. Pilgrim Watch and the Town of Duxbury nuclear committee then fired off a letter to NRC, demanding answers to a long list of hard-hitting questions about the risks at Pilgrim before, during and after the storm. For its part, NRC has kept Pilgrim on its short list of reactors nationwide with "degraded performance," and dispatched a "Special Inspection Team" in the aftermath of the "Juno" "unplanned shutdown."