The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued a violation notice to Prairie Island nuclear generating plant Unit 1, located in Minnesota, US.
The authority said that violation resulted in the two-unit plant, which is operated by Northern States Power Company operates, due to an additional oversight.
NRC said that its inspectors identified the violation during a December 2012 inspection, which involved the failure of the plant to maintain an effective emergency plan by not prioritizing the repair of a high range vent gas radiation detector.
NRC Region III administrator Charles Casto said that even though the issue did not have any impact on the public, the NRC requires measures to be in place and maintained to ensure the health and safety of the public is protected during certain emergency events.
"We have inspected the plant’s corrective actions and know there were alternative means to classify these events, but we will conduct additional inspections to ensure emergency equipment is in working condition," Casto added.
The NRC said it will conduct a supplemental inspection to review whether plant staff understood the cause of the problems, to look at the plant staff’s ability to correctly assess and plan for activities involving emergency preparedness, and to assess their ability to identify and resolve problems with appropriate priority.