The plant, operated by Entergy Operations, Inc., is located in St. Francisville, La.
The plant was operating at 85 percent capacity Christmas morning when an unplanned shutdown with complications occurred.
Following the shutdown some problems were experienced with the plant’s feedwater system, which supplies short-term cooling water to the reactor core, as well as several electrical circuit breakers. Operators took compensatory action to ensure the plant would remain in a safe shutdown mode.
"The purpose of this special inspection is to better understand the circumstances surrounding the event, determine if there are any generic implications, and review the licensee’s corrective actions to ensure that the cause of the event, including associated equipment problems have been effectively addressed," NRC Region IV Administrator Marc Dapas said.
Several NRC inspectors will spend about a week on site evaluating the licensee’s root cause analysis, maintenance of some plant systems and adequacy of corrective actions. An inspection report documenting the team’s findings will be publicly available within 45 days of the end of the inspection.
