ML24047A112

News Release-III-23-010: NRC to Hold Public Meeting to Discuss Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant Performance

ML24047A112
Person / Time
Site:	Prairie Island
Issue date:	05/18/2023
From:	Office of Public Affairs Region II
To:
References
News Release-III-23-010
Download: ML24047A112 (1)

Text

No: III-23-010 May 18, 2023

Contact:

Viktoria Mitlyng, 630-829-9662 Prema Chandrathil, 630-829-9663 NRC to Hold Public Meeting to Discuss Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant Performance

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will hold a hybrid public meeting May 24 to discuss the 2022 safety performance of the Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant. The two-unit facility, located in Welch, Minnesota, is operated by Northern States Power Company -Minnesota.

The meeting will be held from 5-6 p.m. Central time at the Red Wing Public Library, 225 East Avenue, in Red Wing. The public can also access the meeting via Microsoft Teams or by phone.

The telephone conference number is 301-576-2978, password 977 896 947#. NRC staff responsible for plant inspection and oversight, including the resident inspectors based full -time at the site, will make a presentation and answer questions from the public at the meeting.

The NRC determined Prairie Island operated safely during 2022. All inspection findings and performance indicators were of very low safety significance. As a result, the plant remains under the NRCs normal level of oversight, which entails thousands of hours of inspection each year.

The NRC Reactor Oversight Process uses color -coded inspection findings and indicators to assess plant performance. The colors start at green and increase to white, yellow or red, commensurate with the safety significance of the issues involved. If an inspection finding or performance indicator has more than very low safety significance, the NRC increases its oversight.

Inspections are performed by two NRC resident inspectors assigned to each plant and specialist inspectors from the Region III Office in Lisle, Illinois.

The annual assessment letter for Prairie Island is available on the NRC website. Current p erformance information for the site is also available on the NRC website and updated quarterly.