The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) said it determined that Florida Power and Light Co.’s (FPL) failure to properly maintain the Turkey Point nuclear plant’s onsite emergency response facility is a violation of low to moderate safety significance that may require additional NRC inspection and oversight.

The utility’s failure to report that the plant’s Technical Support Center was not fully functional during a seven-month period in 2010-2011 represents a second violation resulting in a $140,000 civil penalty.
The NRC said on two different occasions, FPL failed to maintain a fully functional TSC because plant personnel disabled portions of the ventilation system and failed to implement appropriate compensatory measures. In this condition, response personnel may not have been protected from radiological hazards in the manner for which the facility was designed.

NRC regulations require licensees to report a major loss of emergency assessment capability within eight hours. The utility’s failure to report the inoperability of the emergency response facility represents a violation of NRC requirements, resulting in the civil penalty, regulators said.

FPL has 30 days to appeal the NRC’s determination for the white finding, the civil penalty or both.

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