Wppss Appeals $100,000 Fine

Federal officials will consider a request by operators of the state’s only commercial nuclear power plant to reduce the size of a fine proposed in November, a spokesman said Monday.

Regional officials of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will discuss the request later this week or next week, said Mark Hammond, a Walnut Creek, Calif.-based spokesman for the commission.

The Washington Public Power Supply System was fined $100,000 for a series of errors in June when operators were trying to start the reactor after a planned refueling shutdown.

Both WPPSS and the NRC say the errors didn’t harm safe operation of the plant, but were reflections of flawed procedures.

The fine the NRC proposed was higher than normal for the infractions because WPPSS had a similar error in procedure a year earlier, Hammond said.

WPPSS officials, however, say the fine is too high.