Waterford — The Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced Friday that it has cited Millstone Power Station with four violations of “very low” safety significance found during an inspection of security-related areas.

The inspection, completed on Aug. 26, also documented a fifth violation of “very low” significance that was identified by plant owner Dominion Resources. “Very low” is the fourth most serious violation category in the NRC’s four-tiered ranking system.

Because the violations involve security-related areas, information about the nature of the violations is not being disclosed. Releasing the information “could present a security vulnerability,” the NRC said.

In response to the NRC announcement, Millstone released a statement from Daniel Stoddard, senior vice president of nuclear operations. Stoddard is the senior Dominion executive responsible for security at all of Dominion’s nuclear stations, the company said. 

“The results of the NRC inspection of security matters at Millstone confirm that the station can effectively identify and correct performance issues," Stoddard said. "Four of the five potential violations in the NRC inspection report had been previously identified by Dominion, entered into the station’s corrective action program, and resolved prior to the inspection. The fifth potential violation was the result of differing interpretations of the regulation. We have subsequently revised our processes to be consistent with the NRC’s interpretation. At no time did any of these issues impact the ability of our security officers to perform their duties to protect the station."

"We are proud of the security force here at Millstone and we remain focused, not only on compliance with regulatory requirements, but excellence in all aspects of our operations,” he said.

 j.benson@theday.com