The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has scheduled a public meeting with TVA officials for Oct. 18 to be briefed on the current status and progress of actions to improve the safety conscious work environment at the Watts Bar nuclear plant.
The meeting is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. at the Comfort Inn, 2811 Decatur Pike, in Athens, Tn. The plant is near Spring City, about 60 miles southwest of Knoxville.
On March 23, 2016, the NRC staff issued a letter to TVA expressing concern that some operations employees may not have felt comfortable raising safety concerns at the plant. After a mediation session in June 2017, the NRC issued a Confirmatory Order to TVA, which agreed to an extensive list of corrective actions to address the safety conscious work environment issues. Although the issues were identified at the Watts Bar plant, TVA also agreed to implement actions at its Browns Ferry and Sequoyah nuclear plants, as well as at its corporate offices.
During the meeting, TVA is expected to provide an update on those corrective actions and NRC officials will likely ask questions and discuss the agency’s continuing oversight regarding the issue.
NRC staff will be available after the business portion of the meeting to answer questions from members of the public and the media. Anyone unable to attend who wishes to listen to the meeting via a toll-free teleconference line should contact the NRC’s Son Ninh by Oct. 15. He can be reached by phone at (404-997-4532) or email son.ninh@nrc.gov.