Press Release-I-04-016, NRC to Discuss Annual Performance Assessment of R.E. Ginna Nuclear Power Plant

Press Release-I-04-016: NRC to Discuss Annual Performance Assessment of R.E. Ginna Nuclear Power Plant

ML040900286
Person / Time
Site:	Ginna
Issue date:	03/30/2004
From:	Office of Public Affairs Region I
To:
Category:Press Release
References
Press Release-I-04-016
Download: ML040900286 (2)

Text

NRC NEWS U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs, Region I 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pa. 19406 www.nrc.gov No. I-04-016 March 30, 2004 CONTACT: Diane Screnci, 610/337-5330 Email: opa1@nrc.gov Neil Sheehan, 610/337-5331 NRC TO DISCUSS ANNUAL PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT OF R.E. GINNA NUCLEAR POWER PLANT Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with representatives of Rochester Gas and Electric (RG&E) Corp. on Tuesday, April 6, to discuss the results of the agencys annual assessment of safety performance at the R.E. Ginna nuclear power plant. RG&E operates the plant, which is located in Ontario, N.Y.

The meeting, which will be open to the public for observation, is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. at the Ontario Country Club, 2101 Country Club Lane in Ontario. 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 role of the NRC in ensuring safe operation of the facility.

The performance period to be discussed is January 1 to December 31, 2003. In addition, NRC staff will provide a brief overview of how the agencys Reactor Oversight Process works.

A letter sent from the NRC Region I Office to plant officials 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:

www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/ginn_2003q4.pdf .

Overall, the Ginna plant operated safely and met all cornerstone objectives during the period. (Cornerstones are measures of plant performance.) Therefore, at this time the NRC plans to conduct only baseline inspections at the site through September 30, 2005.

The safety significance of one inspection finding by the NRC remains under review.

That finding concerns the fire resistance of the cable tunnel escape hatch. The NRC conducted a site visit during the week of March 15 to gather additional information regarding the significance of the issue. Based on that information, a decision will be made whether further inspections are needed.

During the first quarter of the assessment period, there was an inspection finding concerning the failure of the off-site emergency siren feedback system. However, an NRC supplemental inspection conducted in April 2003 concluded that a sufficiently broad evaluation of the issue had been conducted by RG&E and that corrective actions were adequate to address the underlying causes of the violation.

With regard to security issues, the letter points out that the NRC has issued several orders and threat advisories to enhance security capabilities and improve guard force readiness since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. The agency has also conducted inspections to review the implementation of these requirements and has monitored the action of plant operators in response to changing threat conditions. The NRC will continue security inspections during 2004.

Current performance information for the Ginna plant is available on the NRC web site at: www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/GINN/ginn_chart.html .