Nuclear violation downgraded

One of the nuclear plant's two chillers failed to start during a routine test in June. The chillers are part of the plant's air conditioning system, which is necessary to prevent damage to the plant's emergency water pumps. In September, the NRC ranked the malfunction as "low to moderate safety significance."

But after a conference with the company last month, the NRC downgraded the severity level to "very low safety significance." Progress Energy has acknowledged that it violated its maintenance procedures and has undertaken a corrective action plan.