At more than 2,000 hours per year per nuclear power plant, regulatory inspections are almost an everyday thing. No shift can be complacent. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says its resident inspectors don’t inspect at predictable times. The NRC’s Ken Riemer says power plant personnel sometimes get a clue about an upcoming inspection when they're asked to provide certain records. But they usually don’t know exactly when the next inspection will be or what it’ll cover.

Riemer says during the pandemic, record keeping was checked remotely when possible and a few inspections were rescheduled, but inspections weren’t cut back. The NRC made public presentations this week about the good safety ratings at the Dresden, Quad Cities, and LaSalle power plants for 2020. It says there was one less than optimal performance finding at the Clinton power station which led to a corrective action plan and more inspections.