Nuclear power plants have been designated 'critical infrastructure' by the US Department of Homeland Security.
The US Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) has called on US Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette for “urgent support” to ensure workers supporting nuclear operations and refuelling outages are included in federal designations of essential workers during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Nuclear energy supplies 20 per cent of America’s electricity and will be vital in minimising the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the general public, according to the industry body.
Maria Korsnick head of the NEI said workers should be allowed to travel to plants and provided with priority access to personal protective equipment (PPE) used in the course of regular nuclear power plant operation and during outages.
In a letter to energy secretary Brouillette last month, Korsnick explained the nuclear industry has “multi-stage plans to continue operations during a pandemic.” Plants have implemented the plans to “the degree required by local conditions,” she noted.
However, the NEI pointed out that 32 of the USA’s 98 commercial reactors are planning to undergo essential refuelling outages this spring.
Refuelling outages, which usually take place every 18 months or two years, typically last for two to four weeks, and require several hundred specialist workers to be brought in.
These outages are essential to maintaining reliable and clean power generation, NEI says. However, some local communities have already expressed concern about the influx of workers required by outage work.
US nuclear plants adapt outage plans to deal with Covid-19
Local officials asked US utility Exelon to postpone the planned outage at the Limerick station in Pennsylvania. However, refuelling is going ahead because Exelon says it is critical to ensuring power availability in the region as the weather becomes warmer and electricity demand increases.
Exelon says the Limerick plant is following a “rigorous pandemic preparedness plan” that includes strict governance to prevent and slow the spread of the virus. All workers are undergoing symptom screening and body temperature checks before being allowed to enter the site.
Exelon’s website on the Limerick outage indicates that as of 6 April, there had been three confirmed cases of Covid-19 reported during the outage, and that 38 workers were in quarantine. Exelon notes it is using “very conservative” criteria and recommends quarantine out of an abundance of caution to protect its workforce.
What measures are being taken during nuclear plant refuelling outages?
Matt Wald of the NEI explained the importance of allowing refuelling outages to go ahead in a blog post. This confirms that the US industry has had pandemic guidelines in place since 2006, and that they were updated earlier this year.
Specific actions taken by operators will vary based on plant location and status, Wald says.
However, typical measures taken by nuclear plants include:
Limiting face-to-face meetings
Exercising social distancing
Using PPE and hand sanitizer; screening workers; and disinfecting surfaces more often.
Operators are also directing employees who feel unwell to stay at home and encouraging them to seek medical attention.
Some non-critical maintenance activities that are due to be carried out during refuelling outages are being deferred.
For example, Dominion is planning to streamline outage work to minimise the number of workers needed at Millstone 2, where refuelling is scheduled for early April. Under the company’s pandemic emergency plan, anyone who can work from home must do so. Temperatures of employees are also being monitored on entry to the site.
