NRC Reviewing Delay Request For Indian Point Flood Assessment

CORTLANDT, NY — Entergy wants to defer a post-Fukushima requirement related to flooding for the Indian Point nuclear power plant, according to Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials. The request is to defer the assessment to 2021. The plants will be closed by then.

Here’s a description of what an Integrated Assessment would entail, according to NRC officials:

The integrated assessment for external flooding evaluates the total plant response of operating nuclear power plant sites to a reevaluated flood hazard (developed based on the current state-of-the practice in hydrology), considering both the protection and mitigation capabilities of the plant. The intent of the integrated assessment is to identify site-specific vulnerabilities and to provide other important insights, including insights related to available physical margin, the balance between protection and mitigation, defense-in-depth, and cliff-edge effects. To achieve this intent, the integrated assessment: (1) evaluates the effectiveness of the current licensing basis (i.e., flood-protection capability) under the reevaluated flood hazard, (2) identifies plant-specific vulnerabilities due to external flood hazards, and (3) assesses the effectiveness of existing or planned plant systems and procedures in protecting against flood conditions and mitigating consequences for the entire duration of a flooding event.

Company officials pointed out in a letter to the NRC July 24 that they have already provided Indian Point with extensive flood protections and done evaluations and assessments under previous NRC orders. For example, the letter said, Entergy had provided Indian Point 'with the ability 'to restore-core cooling, containment and spent fuel pool cooling under loss of large areas of the plant.'

The NRC recently received the request and will have to carefully evaluate it, said spokesman Neil Sheehan.