Beyond Nuclear, a national anti-nuclear advocacy group, along with co-petitioners from around the United States, have requested that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) take emergency enforcement action at U.S nuclear power plants that AREVA notified may be operating with potentially defective large components. The parts were manufactured and imported from France’s Le Creusot Forge and are at the center of an international nuclear safety controversy.
The 17 affected units at U.S. nuclear power plant sites were confirmed by AREVA to the NRC in an attachment to a December 15, 2016 letter.
The at-risk reactors and components are: Reactor Pressure Vessels: Prairie Island 1 & 2 (MN) (pictured); Replacement Reactor Pressure Vessel Heads: Arkansas Nuclear One 2 (AR), Beaver Valley 1 (PA), North Anna 1 & 2 (VA), and Surry 1 (VA); Steam Generators: Beaver Valley 1 (PA), Comanche Peak 1 (TX), V.C. Summer (SC), Farley 1 & 2 (AL), South Texas 1 & 2 (TX), Sequoyah 1 (TN) and Watts Bar 1 (TN), and; Reactor Steam Pressurizers: Millstone 2 (CT) and Saint Lucie 1 (FL).
The groups’ petition to the agency requests that power operations at the 17 affected U.S. reactors be suspended pending thorough inspection and material testing of the at-risk components. The request follows on the public release of a December 7, 2016 Areva communication to the NRC and its listed U.S. customers notifying them of potential defective components and non-compliance from the Le Creusot Forge.