Special inspection begins at Turkey Point

Specifics: According to the NRC, operators on August 17 manually tripped the reactor from 92 percent power in response to rising steam generator water levels. Then, on August 19, Turkey Point’s reactor protection system automatically tripped Unit 3 during startup when an instrument sensed higher-than-expected neutron activity in the reactor core. Finally, on August 20, operators manually tripped the unit from about 35 percent power in response to the loss of the single operating steam generator feedwater pump.

The five-person NRC inspection team is led by the agency’s senior resident inspector at the Harris nuclear plant in North Carolina and includes a senior reactor analyst and staff with resident inspector and operations experience.

Next: The inspectors will review the circumstances of each trip, assess the company’s response, operator performance, and corrective actions, and evaluate the application of industry operating experience, the NRC said.

The agency also noted that the on-site portion of the inspection is expected to last about one week, and that a report documenting the results is anticipated within 45 days of the inspection’s completion.

What FPL is saying: “We welcome this opportunity to share the details of equipment performance and the actions operators took to keep Turkey Point in a safe condition during the recent unplanned shutdowns,” said FPL spokesman Peter Robbins in response to the NRC investigation. “Turkey Point and FPL are always ready to fully cooperate with the independent experts at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in the spirit of complete transparency.”

Robbins added that “in all three cases, the reactor was shut down in a matter of seconds, and all safety systems responded as designed.”

Background: Turkey Point, located just east of Homestead, Fla., approximately 25 miles south of Miami, houses two Westinghouse pressurized water reactors—Units 3 and 4, 873-MWe and 840-MWe PWRs, respectively. Turkey Point-3 entered commercial operation in December 1972, with Unit 4 starting up the following September.

In December 2019, the NRC approved FPL’s subsequent license renewal application for the units, making them the first U.S. reactors licensed for 80 years of operation. Turkey Point-3 and -4 are licensed to operate until July 2052 and April 2053, respectively (NN, Jan. 2020, p. 15).