ML071350408

Press Release I-07-028 - NRC to Discuss 2006 Assessment for Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Plant

ML071350408
Person / Time
Site:	Calvert Cliffs
Issue date:	05/15/2007
From:	Diane Screnci, Neil Sheehan Office of Public Affairs
To:
References
Press Release-I-07-028
Download: ML071350408 (2)

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-07-028 May 15, 2007

Contact:

Diane Screnci, 610/337-5330 Email: opa1@nrc.gov Neil Sheehan, 610/337-5331 NRC TO DISCUSS 2006 ASSESSMENT FOR CALVERT CLIFFS NUCLEAR PLANT AT PUBLIC MEETING SCHEDULED FOR MAY 22 The Nuclear Regulatory Commissions annual assessment of safety performance at the Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant, in Lusby (Calvert County), Md., will be the subject of a public meeting on Tuesday, May 22.

NRC staff will meet with representatives of plant owner Constellation Energy Group, LLC, at 6:30 p.m. to discuss the assessment, which covers the period from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2006, and was documented in a March 2nd letter to the company. The session will take place at the Holiday Inn Express at 355 Merrimac Court, Prince Frederick, Md.

Before the meeting is adjourned, NRC staff will be available to answer questions from the public on the performance of the twin-reactor Calvert Cliffs plant, as well as the role of the NRC in providing oversight of plant safety.

Each year we size up plant performance during the previous calendar year, with the overarching goal of ensuring that facilities are achieving the levels of safety that are essential to protecting the public and the environment, said NRC Region I Administrator Samuel J. Collins, who noted the agency also conducts mid-year assessments of performance. At the May 22nd meeting, NRC staff will talk to members of the public about how we go about evaluating Calvert Cliffs and other nuclear power plants across the nation and will also answer questions from the audience.

Overall, the Calvert Cliffs plant operated safely during 2006. The NRC utilizes 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. At the conclusion of last year, all of the performance indicators for Calvert Cliffs were determined to be green. With one exception, there were no inspection findings for the plant that were identified as greater than green at that time.

There was a white inspection finding of low to moderate safety significance for Calvert Cliffs Unit 1 that was finalized on Oct. 27, 2006, and that remains open. That finding involved an incorrect circuit-breaker setting that impacted the operability of one of two emergency diesel generators. In the

event of the loss of off-site power for the plant, emergency diesel generators would be used to provide back-up power. The NRC, in response to the finding, performed a supplemental inspection in January 2007 to determine if the problem had been properly addressed. Based on the positive results of that review, the finding will be closed out after the second quarter of 2007.

Routine inspections are performed by two NRC Resident Inspectors assigned to the plant and by inspection specialists from the Region I Office in King of Prussia, Pa. Among the areas of plant performance to be inspected this year by NRC specialists are activities associated with radiological safety, fire protection, emergency planning, and problem identification and resolution.

The annual assessment letter for Calvert Cliffs is available on the NRC web site at:

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/calv_2006q4.pdf. The slides for the meeting are available in the NRCs Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) under accession number ML071270042. ADAMS is accessible at:

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

Current performance information for Calvert Cliffs 1 is available on the NRC web site at:

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/CALV1/calv1_chart.html.

Current performance information for Calvert Cliffs 2 is available on the NRC web site at:

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/CALV2/calv2_chart.html.

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