Press Release-III-03-013, NRC to Meet with Exelon Nuclear Officials to Discuss Safety Performance at Quad Cities Nuclear Power Plant

Press Release-III-03-013: NRC to Meet with Exelon Nuclear Officials to Discuss Safety Performance at Quad Cities Nuclear Power Plant

ML030850447
Person / Time
Site:	Quad Cities
Issue date:	03/26/2003
From:	Office of Public Affairs Region II
To:
Category:Press Release
References
Press Release-III-03-013
Download: ML030850447 (2)

Text

NRC NEWS U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 801 Warrenville Road Lisle IL 60532 Web Site: http://www.nrc.gov No. III-03-013 March 26, 2003 CONTACT: Jan Strasma (630) 829-9663 E-mail: opa3@nrc.gov Viktoria Mitlyng (630) 829-9662 NRC TO MEET WITH EXELON NUCLEAR OFFICIALS TO DISCUSS SAFETY PERFORMANCE AT QUAD CITIES NUCLEAR POWER PLANT The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with Exelon Nuclear officials on Tuesday, April 1, to discuss the results of NRCs annual assessment of safety performance at the Quad Cities nuclear power plant in Cordova, Illinois.

The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at the Best Western Steeplegate Inn, 100 West 76th Street (Intersection of I-80 and Route 61), Davenport, Iowa. The public is invited to observe the meeting, and NRC officials will be available before the conclusion of the meeting for questions and comments from the public.

A letter from the NRC to Exelon Nuclear addresses plant safety performance during the previous year and forms the basis for the meeting discussions. The letter states that, overall, Quad Cities operated in a manner that preserved public health and safety and that plant performance was at a level requiring no additional NRC inspection beyond normal baseline activities. The letter is available from Region III Public Affairs Office and on the NRC web site at:

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/listofasmrpt.html The letter also states that the NRC staff has identified a substantive cross-cutting issue in the area of human performance involving a number of findings. Some of the examples include the damage to a control drive pump due to improper setting of a lubricating device, a failure to recognize that the Unit 2 shut down cooling system was inoperable for several months and instances of valves placed in the wrong position. The NRC will discuss this issue at the meeting and continue to monitor human performance through the baseline inspections program.

In addition, the letter notes: "As you are aware, since the terrorist attacks of 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 Quad Cities is available on the NRC web site at:

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/quad_2002q4.pdf