The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) said it will increase oversight at the North Anna nuclear power plant in Virginia because of a violation of low to moderate safety significance related to the maintenance of the plant’s emergency diesel generators. North Anna is operated by Dominion (NYSE: D).

The NRC’s staff determined that a violation involving failure of plant personnel to establish and maintain appropriate maintenance procedures for the plant’s diesel generators is a “white” finding, or one of low to moderate safety significance. The violation stems from the failure of one of the four emergency generators after the August 23 earthquake in the area. The earthquake did not cause the failure, an NRC release said, and repairs were completed a short time later. Further inspections determined that the plant’s maintenance procedures did not provide adequate guidance for installing specific gaskets on the generators. Dominion has since revised its maintenance procedures.

The NRC placed North Anna in the Regulatory Response Column on the NRC Action Matrix, meaning the plant will be subject to additional NRC inspections beyond the usual ones that are conducted at all nuclear plants.

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