Nine months after questioning Commonwealth Edison’s ability to run six nuclear power plants safely, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Tuesday said the company was improving, but still has a long way to go.
In a review infused with skepticism, NRC staff told the four commissioners that the company has improved its safety performance over the last six months.
They warned, however, that not enough time has elapsed to determine whether the company has finally broken its history of “cyclic performance”–making improvements at one nuclear plant as another plant slides.
At a commission meeting in Rockville, Md., regulators reminded the company that it took 15 years to build its poor record, and it cannot erase it in six months.
“The process of improvement on the scale and breadth necessary at Commonwealth Edison is a long one,” NRC chairwoman Shirley Jackson said. “Any enthusiasm we may feel as a result of indicators presented today must be tempered by an appreciation that indicated improvement must withstand the test of time and must be shared among all the company’s sites.”
Or, as Jackson said in a more pithy exchange: “Performance is as performance does.”
Outgoing Edison CEO James O’Connor, making what may be the last of what were often difficult appearances before the NRC, was able to report that even the company’s most troubled plants were showing signs of improvement.
“Compared to our track record of a year or two ago, I believe we are beginning to see evidence that we are making progress in addressing the fundamental cyclic performance concerns,” O’Connor told the commission.
The company still has a record four plants on the NRC’s watch list of troubled plants, and its nuclear facilities in Zion and LaSalle County are shut down because of ongoing problems.
Edison officials said Zion, shut down after an operator error in February revealed widespread troubles at the plant, remains on schedule to restart in December.
But A. Bill Beach, the NRC’s regional administrator overseeing Edison, said a number of obstacles remain to be overcome before Zion can be allowed to run again.
“Zion is not ready to restart today,” Beach told the commission.
Along with new plans, Edison has brought forth a parade of management changes, sometimes at a dizzying rate.
Oliver Kingsley, the company’s new chief nuclear officer, was on his second day with the company when he appeared before the commission Tuesday.
Commissioner Greta Dicus warned the company that this management team finally must get it right.
“There have been what you might call false starts,” Dicus said. “I don’t think we can tolerate any more false starts.”
Joe Callan, executive director of operations for the NRC, said keeping an eye on Edison is filling the workload of an additional 13 or 14 inspectors.
“I don’t have to tell you that, in today’s budget climate, we cannot continue to expend these resources, so we are impatient to establish normalcy there,” he said.
