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Federal Inspections Set To Ramp Up At Seabrook Nuclear Plant As Economy Reopens

Roger Stephenson (courtesy)

Federal regulators expect to return to more frequent inspections at Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant as New Hampshire reopens its economy.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission held the plant’s annual safety meeting by phone Wednesday.

Brice Bickett, the NRC’s regional branch chief for reactor projects, says inspectors should be on-site more often in the coming weeks than they have been since March.

“We’ll have more increased presence likely as early as next week,” he says. “But a lot of that remains subject to, as long as conditions don’t change.”

Seabrook owner NextEra was given some waivers from federal inspections and other requirements due to COVID-19.

NRC officials say they’re also investigating an apparent malfunction that shut down Seabrook unexpectedly last weekend. The plant is now back to full power.

Annie has covered the environment, energy, climate change and the Seacoast region for NHPR since 2017. She leads the newsroom's climate reporting project, By Degrees.
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