Press Release-I-06-015, NRC to Discuss Indian Point Annual Assessment Results, Preliminary Findings from Special Inspection on March 28

Press Release-I-06-015: NRC to Discuss Indian Point Annual Assessment Results, Preliminary Findings from Special Inspection on March 28

ML060800679
Person / Time
Site:	Indian Point
Issue date:	03/21/2006
From:	Office of Public Affairs Region I
To:
Category:Press Release
References
Press Release-I-06-015
Download: ML060800679 (3)

Text

NRC NEWS U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs, Region I 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pa.

www.nrc.gov No. I-06-015 March 21, 2006

Contact:

Diane Screnci, 610/337-5330 E-mail: opa1@nrc.gov Neil Sheehan, 610/337-5331 NRC TO DISCUSS INDIAN POINT ANNUAL ASSESSMENT RESULTS, PRELIMINARY FINDINGS FROM SPECIAL INSPECTION ON MARCH 28 Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will hold two public meetings on Tuesday, March 28, regarding the Indian Point nuclear power plant. An afternoon meeting will cover the NRCs annual assessment of safety performance for Indian Point Units 2 and 3. An evening session will deal with the results of an NRC Special Inspection conducted to assess Entergys efforts to evaluate Unit 2 spent fuel pool leakage and subsequently discovered contamination of on-site groundwater.

Entergy Nuclear Northeast operates the plant, located in Buchanan, N.Y.

There will be two opportunities on March 28th for the public to learn about NRC activities at Indian Point, NRC Region I Administrator Samuel J. Collins said. Those who are unable to attend the afternoon meeting hopefully will be able to attend the evening session and vice versa. We recognize the high level of interest in these issues and will be prepared to answer questions regarding these topics at the respective sessions.

The afternoon meeting, which will be open to the public for observation, is scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m. at Crystal Bay on the Hudson - Charles Point Marina, at 5 John Walsh Blvd. in Peekskill, N.Y. (Directions are available at http://www.crystal-bay.com/location.html .) Before the session is adjourned, NRC staff will be available to answer questions from the public on the plants safety performance, as well as the agencys role in ensuring safe operation of the facility.

The evening meeting is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m., also at Crystal Bay on the Hudson. It will include details of the NRC Special Inspection. In addition, information will be provided by the company about its investigation and assessment of the leakage and contamination and by the State of New York regarding its independent monitoring of groundwater in and around the site. Following the presentations, representatives of the NRC, Entergy and the states Department of Environmental Conservation will respond to questions.

A report issued on March 16 summarizes the findings of the Special Inspection and can be found in the NRCs Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) under accession number ML060750842. ADAMS is accessible via the agencys web site at:

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html . Help in using ADAMS is available by contacting the NRCs Public Document Room at 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, or by e-mail at PDR@NRC.GOV .

Information and correspondence regarding the Indian Point tritium contamination and tritium contamination in general can be found on the NRC web site at the following locations:

www.nrc.gov/reactors/plant-specific-items/indian-point-issues.html ,

www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/ops-experience/grndwtr-contam-tritium.html .

At the annual assessment meeting in the afternoon, the period of performance to be discussed with representatives of Entergy will be Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2005. Overall, the Indian Point units operated safely during the period. The NRC uses color-coded inspection findings and performance indicators to assess nuclear power plant performance. The colors start with green and then increase to white, yellow or red, commensurate with the safety significance of the issues involved.

During 2005, all of the inspection findings and performance indicators for Indian Point 3 were green, placing it in the Licensee Response Column of the NRCs Action Matrix. As such, the unit will receive baseline, or routine, inspections in 2006. Indian Point 2, meanwhile, received a white finding in the second quarter of last year involving the degradation of a plant emergency cooling system. A supplemental inspection for the white finding was completed in December 2005 with positive results. Indian Point 2 will return to the Licensee Response Column of the NRCs Action Matrix in the second quarter of 2006, in the absence of any new findings having a safety significance of greater than green.

In the agencys 2005 mid-year assessment for Indian Point, the NRC discussed the continuation of a substantive cross-cutting issue in the area of problem identification and resolution (PI&R). A cross-cutting issue is one that affects several different areas of performance. Based on the results of a PI&R team inspection in June 2005, a supplemental inspection in December 2005 and Entergys progress in addressing longstanding issues which challenged the implementation of its PI&R program, the NRC has determined that closure of the cross-cutting issue is now appropriate.

Above and beyond the NRCs Reactor Oversight Process, enhanced oversight remains in effect for Indian Point in response to issues associated with Indian Point 2 spent fuel pool leakage, including groundwater contamination, and work designed to improve the reliability and availability of the plants Alert and Notification System, including changes to meet backup power requirements detailed in an NRC order issued in January 2006. That oversight is made possible by a deviation from the Reactor Oversight Process approved on Oct. 31, 2005, by the NRCs Executive Director for Operations.

A letter sent from the NRC Region I Office to plant officials addresses the performance of the facility during the period and will serve as the basis for the annual assessment meeting discussion. It is available on the NRC web site at:

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/inp3_2005q4.pdf . The meeting notice, with the meeting agenda attached, is available in ADAMS under accession number ML060660412.

The NRC slides will be available at least three days before the meeting and will be provided in a revision to the meeting notice.

Current performance information for Indian Point 2 is available on the NRC web site at:

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/IP2/ip2_chart.html .

Current performance information for Indian Point 3 is available on the NRC web site at:

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/IP3/ip3_chart.html .