Regulatory Warning Downgraded at South Carolina Nuclear Plant

Dominion Energy demonstrates emergency generator can run for six hours, plans to install more resilient piping.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has downgraded its warning about cracks discovered in a backup emergency fuel line at the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station in South Carolina.
The downgrade from a 'yellow' to a 'white' warning came after Dominion Energy, the plant's owner and operator, demonstrated that its generator could still run for six hours in an emergency.
Officials' concerns were calmed by the demonstration, as they had feared that Dominion Energy's failure to maintain cracks and leaks, discovered at least five times over two decades, had compromised the plant's ability to cool its reactors if electricity failed.
The new 'white' rating indicates that the generator is underperforming but still meeting its key targets.
Dominion Energy plans to install 'more resilient piping' early next year, following a November 2022 fuel oil leak that marked the first time in 40 years that such a problem had put an emergency diesel generator out of operation.