The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is conducting a special inspection at the Callaway nuclear plant after oil samples taken last month indicated a potential problem with one of its pumps.
In a release, the NRC said its inspectors started their work Monday at the central Missouri plant. Owned by Ameren Missouri,
Callaway uses a single 1,236-megawatt Westinghouse pressurized water reactor
licensed in 1984, according to the agency. In 2008 the utility applied to build
a second reactor using Areva’s U.S. Evolutionary Power Reactor design.
The inspection resulted from an oil sample taken Feb. 8 that
was discolored and contained particulates, which the NRC said may indicate
inadequate lubrication of a pump. The pump in question belongs to a system used
to supply water to steam generators during some accident conditions that also
experienced lubrication issues in 2009.
According to the NRC release regarding the current
inspection, “the pump may not have been able to run for a sufficient length of
time to meet its safety function during an accident scenario.”