WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Workers at the Palisades nuclear power plant in the US state of Michigan were not exposed to dangerous levels of radiation, but the plant’s operator Entergy Nuclear Operations failed to follow standard guidelines in measuring radiation exposure, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in a statement on Friday.
“The licensee failed to ensure that radiation dosimeters were placed in the highest exposed location of the body for this activity, which resulted in inaccurate dose calculations. In addition, the licensee failed to establish a procedure to ensure proper placement of dosimeters. This resulted in inaccurate calculation and assignment of dose for numerous workers,” the NRC said, adding the regulatory body would increase oversight over the nuclear facility.
The NRC reviewed the operator’s methodology of measuring radiation exposure to workers after replacement of control rods during a 2014 refueling outage. The NRC said workers were not exposed to radiation above the annual limit and exposure would not impact their health.
“Even though this incident did not result in harm to workers, our action underscores the importance of adhering to NRC requirements to ensure an accurate understanding and adequate monitoring of doses to workers at nuclear plants,” NRC Region III Administrator Cynthia Pederson said in the statement.
The regulatory body said it will conduct further inspections to ensure Entergy Nuclear Operations is following requirements to prevent miscalculation of radiation exposure in the future.
