On March 31, Westinghouse’s Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility (CFFF) and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) held their public meeting via webinar due to the COVID-19 pandemic and discussed the results of CFFF’s Licensee Performance Review (LPR) conducted by NRC. The local community was invited to observe the meeting and had an opportunity to speak after the results were presented.
The NRC discussed CFFF’s 2019 performance through six core inspections at the site, covering 11 modules. In total, they spent 546 hours inspecting onsite operations - not including preparation, documentation, and travel time.
The review closed the plant’s 2017 confirmatory order related to the S-1030 Scrubber. The confirmatory order was the result of the discovery in 2016 of excessive accumulation of uranium in a ventilation scrubber, which converts UF6 into UO2 and fabricates fuel for both pressurized water and boiling water reactors.
Westinghouse notified the NRC on March 3 that it had completed all actions required by the confirmatory order. In addition, NRC noted there were no areas needing improvement. As a result, CFFF is returning to routine NRC oversight, marking a significant milestone in CFFF’s journey towards improving safety practices. The LPR frequency will now be biennial, with the next review happening in 2022, covering 2020-2021. NRC offered recommendations for the inspection program moving forward. Both parties also provided a summary of actions underway in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
CFFF and NRC answered questions related to Appendix B in NRC’s public inspection report concerning CFFF’s vendor inspection from January 2020. Our Mike Annacone mentioned the Notice of Nonconformance (NON) issued by NRC was evaluated and corrected by CFFF. CFFF submitted a written response to NRC documenting the cause of the NON and the actions taken to prevent a recurrence.
Stay up-to-date on the NRC's regulatory activities with CFFF through a variety of meetings open to the public. Find future dates and times here.
