U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission inspects Callaway Plant for safety - KOMU 8

Inside look at Callaway Nuclear Power Plant | Mid-Missouri News | komu.com

CALLAWAY COUNTY - A team of inspectors from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) visited the Callaway Nuclear Plant for a baseline inspection this month. It's the first step in a routine but critical inspection to ensure regulators and the plant's operators are on the same page.

"We want to make sure we have a match between documents on paper and systems as they actually exist a the plant," NRC spokesman Victor Dricks told KOMU 8.

It's just one part of an elaborate safety net designed to keep the plant, which is 10 miles southeast of Fulton, safely operating. KOMU 8 News got a rare inside look at the plant's operations.

Operated by Ameren Missouri, the Callaway Plant can produce between 1,200 and 1,300 megawatts of power at any given time. This can power an average of 800,000 households across Missouri and Illinois.
The Callaway Plant cooling tower operates Feb. 8, 2023 in Callaway County, Missouri. According to Ameren Missouri, the Callaway Plant was declared fully operational on Dec. 19, 1984. The plant can generate between 1,200 and 1,300 megawatts of power at a time.

A small army of engineers, scientists, and inspectors work around the clock to make sure the plant is safe.

Plant manager Deborah Farnsworth is in charge of its operations. She's worked at the plant for over five years.

"The most challenging part of safety is that it doesn't stop," Farnsworth said. "We think about it from the moment we get out of our car."

The plant has designated paths for people to walk from the parking lot to the entrance. The paths wind through giant concrete barriers installed after 9/11 to prevent vehicles from crashing into the building.

Safety extends into the plant, past armed guards who screen visitors as they enter the plant. The nerve center is the control room, where operators sit in front of a dizzying display of lights, buttons and switches that control plant systems.

KOMU 8 spoke with operations manager Emily Pointer as she worked in the control room.

"It definitely takes a lot of coordination," Pointer said. "At times it can be pretty stressful."
Emily Pointer monitors operations in the Callaway Plant control room Feb. 8, 2023 in Callaway County, Misouri. Pointer trained for 18 months as a control room operator to get certified by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Pointer trained for 18 months to get certified by the NRC. That training continues outside of the control room. Operators are required to get trained every six months at a mock control room that looks exactly like the one at Callaway.

There are rules in place to ensure operators have the safety and space to work. Anyone, even other workers at the plant, need verbal permission from operators to enter the control room. Visitors also need a swipe card to enter.

According to Farnsworth, the control room is inspected 12 to 18 times a year by outside NRC inspectors. Callaway also has two on-site NRC inspectors. The Callaway plant gets inspected at least once a month by the NRC.

These inspectors have the ability to go anywhere in the plant at any time. They can enter the control room on a daily basis, review logbook entries and watch operators as they work.

"They are what we call our eyes and ears at the facility," Dricks said.

Every plant receives at least 3,000 hours of inspection a year, according to Dricks. Inspectors attend meetings with senior management and look for even the slightest changes to plant operations.

"We have what we like to consider a very low threshold for concern," Dricks said.
Safety hats hang on a wall in the Callaway Plant Feb. 8, 2023, in Callaway County, Missouri. According to Nuclear Regulatory spokesman Victor Dricks, the plant receives 3,000 hours of inspection a year.

Created in 1974 to regulate the nation's nuclear power plants, the NRC issues operating licenses to commercial power plants. Dricks said the relationship between the NRC and plants is cordial, but ultimately professional.
Scott Schwind was announced as the new senior resident inspector at the Callaway Plant Feb. 27, 2023. Schwind has worked as a resident inspector at Callaway since April 2022. Before that, he worked as an inspector and senior resident inspector at other nuclear power plants.

Inspectors can bring issues to plant management, and if need be, to NRC regulators in Washington. Every seven years, resident inspectors are rotated from plants so they don't lose sight of their jobs.

In February, the NRC named Scott Schwind as the new senior resident inspector at the Callaway plant. Schwind has worked as a resident inspector at Callaway since April 2022. Before that, he worked as an inspector and senior resident inspector at other nuclear power plants.

The NRC is the nation's nuclear watchdog, but representatives from Ameren and the NRC said they share the same goal of safety.

"[Safety is] in every single job we do in the field," Farnsworth said. "It's in everything we analyze as far as design goes, but safety comes on so many different levels."

According to Dricks an NRC engineering team will also inspect the plant for two weeks starting May 8. Dricks said he expects a publicly available report on the inspection to be released in mid-July.