During Palisades refueling shutdown, flaws discovered in control rod drive housings

Palisades nuclear power plant in Covert, Michigan. Operated by Entergy Corp., the plant has be downgraded by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in the past year because of problems related to the safety culture and workers following proper proceeders.

Mark Bugnaski | MLive.com / Kalamazoo Gazette

By Yvonne Zipp | yzipp@mlive.com

on January 30, 2014 at 5:20 PM, updated January 30, 2014 at 6:54 PM

Palisades Nuclear Plant

COVERT TOWNSHIP, MI – During Palisades Nuclear Power Plant's shutdown for refueling and maintenance, flaws were found in more than a dozen of the control rod drive mechanism housings, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission reported Jan. 30.
The Covert Township nuclear power plant was removed from service Jan. 19. The inspections took place over the past several days and Entergy Corp., which owns Palisades, reported the flaws to the NRC Jan. 29.
Flaws were found in 17 of the 45 CRDM housings, the NRC said. However, there is no evidence that a leak occurred before the Jan. 19 shutdown, spokeswomen for both the NRC and Entergy Corp. said. The NRC said that the issue had no adverse affect on the public's safety or of the power plant's employees.