Press Release-IV-03-008, NRC to Meet with Union Electric Co. to Discuss Performance of Callaway Nuclear Power Plant

Press Release-IV-03-008: NRC to Meet with Union Electric Co. to Discuss Performance of Callaway Nuclear Power Plant

ML030790246
Person / Time
Site:	Callaway
Issue date:	03/20/2003
From:	Victor Dricks Office of Public Affairs Region IV
To:
Category:Press Release
References
Press Release-IV-03-008
Download: ML030790246 (2)

Text

NRC NEWS U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs, Region IV 611 Ryan Plaza Drive - Suite 400 Arlington TX 76011-4005 No. IV-03-008 March 20, 2003 CONTACT: Victor Dricks E-mail: opa4@nrc.gov Phone: 817-860-8128 NRC TO MEET WITH UNION ELECTRIC CO. TO DISCUSS PERFORMANCE OF CALLAWAY NUCLEAR POWER PLANT Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with representatives of the Union Electric Company on Tuesday, April 1, to discuss the results of the agencys annual assessment of safety performance at the Callaway Nuclear Plant. The facility is located near Fulton, Missouri.

The meeting, which will be open to the public for observation, is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. at the Capitol Plaza Hotel & Convention Center, 415 West McCarty Street, Jefferson City, Mo.

Before the session is adjourned, NRC staff will be available to answer questions from the public on the safety performance of the plant, as well as the role of the NRC in ensuring safe plant operation.

The performance period to be discussed is January 1 to December 31, 2002. In addition, NRC staff will provide an overview of how the agencys Reactor Oversight Process works.

A letter sent from the NRC Region IV Office to representatives of the Union Electric Co.

addresses the performance of the plant during the period and will serve as the basis for the meeting discussion. It is available on the NRC web site at:

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/call_2002q4.pdf Overall, Callaway Plant operated in a manner that preserved public health and safety and met all cornerstone objectives with moderate degradation in safety performance, the letter states.

However, during the first quarter of 2002, the licensee failed to promptly identify and correct a problem - the presence of foreign material in a large water storage tank. This rendered inoperable the plants auxiliary feedwater system, which provides water to the plants steam generators under some conditions.

Additionally, Callaway has had difficulties with problem identification and resolution. The NRC plans to conduct an additional inspection of these areas in June, to determine whether improvements have been made.

In addition, the letter notes: As you are aware, since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the NRC has issued several Orders and threat advisories to enhance security capabilities and improve guard force readiness. We have conducted inspections to review your implementation of

these requirements and have monitored your actions in response to changing threat advisories. For calendar year 2003, we plan to continue these inspections and conduct portions of the security baseline inspection program, as well as perform additional inspections to evaluate your compliance with new requirements that may be ordered.

Current performance information for Callaway is available on the NRC web site at:

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/CALL/call_chart.html