Intensive inspections conducted by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission at Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant are proceeding as planned, according to a TVA spokesman.

Ray Golden said the process is now in Phase 2, which is expected to last through the end of the year. He said TVA is also relying on Synergy, an outside consulting firm, to conduct an audit of employee safety.

“(Synergy) will be interviewing a number of our employees, from senior management to workers to get a sense of nuclear safety culture at the plant,” Golden said. “They’ll find out if people feel empowered to raise safety concerns, and when they do if they’re taken seriously and looked into.”

The increased scrutiny at the plant stems from a “red” finding issued earlier this year after it was revealed a valve in the plant’s fire mitigation system failed to operate. TVA and NRC officials contend the valve failure did not place the plant or residents in any danger. However, the failure did place the Unit 1 reactor at Browns Ferry in the “multiple degraded cornerstone” category.

Despite the TVA’s appeal of the red finding and an independent investigation, the NRC would not reduce the finding and decided to proceed with 95003 inspections, regarded as the most stringent implemented by the commission.

Golden said relying on an outside firm like Synergy to conduct such an audit is standard practice when a nuclear plant undergoes strict inspections by the NRC.

“The Synergy interviews are going on right now, and they’ll provide us and the NRC with a report,” he said. “The 95003 is very procedural, and any plant that gets into the (degraded cornerstone) column would go through the exact same process. The issues may be different, but the process is the same.”

Golden said a public meeting addressing the outcomes of Phase 2 of the 95003 inspection would likely be held in January. Once the second phase is completed, management at Browns Ferry can then indicate to the NRC they are ready for Phase 3, which Golden said would be the most detailed and intrusive.

“(The NRC) will use 20 to 25 individual (inspectors) for multiple weeks,” he said. “They’ll give us their assessment on if we’re on the improving trend or the declining trend. I think we’ll stay on the red finding until they can come back periodically and say we’ve demonstrated enough (safety improvements) to get out of that (degraded) cornerstone.”