Preparedness,
for Nuclear
Excellence
By Lindsay Rose, Entergy Nuclear.
Lindsay Rose
Lindsay Rose was named
communications specialist for Palisades
Power Plant in 2013.
Lindsay began her
career with Entergy
in 2011 providing
administrative
support to the
external affairs team
at Vermont Yankee.
As a native New
Englander, Lindsay
holds a bachelor’s
degree in journalism
from the University
of New Hampshire.
What beganas an incentive topromote
firefighter fitness has resulted in industry
recognition for innovative methods
to improve fire brigade performance,
response times and physical condition of
fire brigade members at Palisades Power
Plant, located in Southwest Michigan.
The Palisade’s fire brigade decided
to join the Scott National Firefighter
Challenge –a competition consisting of
five events simulating tasks a firefighter
would be faced with when fighting a
real fire. This can include anything from
running up a five-story building with
a 40-pound hose reel slung over their
shoulder, to breaking down barriers to gain
building entry, to rescuing a 175-pound
person. Competitors complete the relay
wearing their full
turnout gear including
coat, pants, boots,
gloves and a self-
contained breathing
apparatus weighing
approximately
40
pounds.
“I first heard
about the Scott Nation-
al Firefighter Combat
Challenge when I was
a volunteer firefighter
with Lincoln (Michi-
gan) Township,” said
Palisades Fire Instruc-
tor Keith Simpson. “I
was really interested
but no one else wanted
to form a team, so we
got the Palisades fire
brigade together and had our own competi-
tion. We called it Fire Brigade Challenge
2008. It got bigger and bigger until we had
enough interest to form a team for the 2012
challenge.”
Today all Palisades fire brigade
members are required to complete the
challenge relay course, which is used
to supplement regulatory-required fire
training. By encouraging firefighter fitness
and promoting the rigors of firefighting,
participating in the competition has
resulted in improved health and fitness of
fire brigade members, quicker response
times, and sparked motivation and
camaraderie amongst members.
“The results of the challenge have
been astonishing, with members losing
weight, working out and some even quit
smoking,” Simpson said. “The challenge
has sparked motivation in a lot of our fire
brigade members.”
Knowing that the nuclear industry
would soon be adopting National Fire
Protection Association standards that
would require a method to track firefighter
fitness, Simpson and Operations/Fire
Instructor Support Dave Campbell,
began incorporating the Scott National
Firefighter Challenge fitness course into
Palisades’ required fire brigade training.
With national standards emphasizing
air management training, incorporating
these activities into Palisades’ training
was really just planning ahead, Simpson
said.
“Air management is really all about
the firefighter learning to conserve air
during stressful situations,” Simpson
said. “This gives them extra time to get
in, do their job and get out of the area
safely.”
“Training on this relay course gives
me reassurance that I can do this job
under stressful conditions,” said Rich
Turner, plant operator of more than seven
years and fire brigade member. “I know
if I come across a victim, I can pick them
up. I know if I have to run up a staircase
with a hose, I can do it with no problem.”
“Accident or emergency conditions
could require a lot of physical work,”
said Turner. “Implementing our FLEX
strategy would require hauling heavy
equipment, hooking up generators,
pulling cabling and hoses up ladders.
With our fire brigade training, I believe
without a doubt that everybody could
perform those actions.”
Diverse and Flexible Diverse
Mitigation Capability, more commonly
known as FLEX, is an industry approach
for applying lessons learned from the
events at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi Nuclear
Power Plant in 2011. FLEX adopts
defense-in-depth strategies to make
additional and varying coping methods
available during disaster response.
With plant fire drills now being
organized by the fire instructor with an
organized command structure, it’s not
uncommon to have fist pumping, cheering
and hollering during a Palisades fire drill.
“There is a greater sense of urgency
and energy level now. It’s like a real
Nuclear Plant Journal, May-June 2015 NuclearPlantJournal.com
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