Press Release-I-07-020, NRC to Discuss 2006 Assessment for Susquehanna Nuclear Plant at Public Meeting Scheduled for April 24

Press Release-I-07-020: NRC to Discuss 2006 Assessment for Susquehanna Nuclear Plant at Public Meeting Scheduled for April 24

ML071070494
Person / Time
Site:	Susquehanna
Issue date:	04/17/2007
From:	Office of Public Affairs Region I
To:
Category:Press Release
References
Press Release-I-07-020
Download: ML071070494 (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-07-020 April 17, 2007

Contact:

Diane Screnci, 610/337-5330 E-mail: opa1@nrc.gov Neil Sheehan, 610/337-5331 NRC TO DISCUSS 2006 ASSESSMENT FOR SUSQUEHANNA NUCLEAR PLANT AT PUBLIC MEETING SCHEDULED FOR APRIL 24 The Nuclear Regulatory Commissions annual assessment of safety performance at the Susquehanna nuclear power plant, in Salem Township (Luzerne County), Pa., will be the subject of a public meeting on Tuesday, April 24.

NRC staff will meet with representatives of plant owner PPL Susquehanna, LLC, at 2:30 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 Susquehanna Energy Information Center, 634 Salem Blvd., Salem Township, about 7 miles northeast of Berwick, Pa.

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

Each year we take a step back to 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 meeting on April 24th, members of the public will receive information about how we go about that review process for Susquehanna and other nuclear power plants across the nation. The NRC staff will also be prepared to answer questions from attendees.

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

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/susq_2006q4.pdf . The notice for the meeting, with agenda attached, is available in the NRCs Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) under accession number ML071000363. 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 .

Overall, the Susquehanna 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. Because all of the performance indicators for the Susquehanna plant were determined to be green and there were no inspection findings greater than green at the end of 2006, the plant will receive the baseline, or routine, level of inspections in 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, control room operator requalification testing and component design bases. In addition, there will be inspections conducted in conjunction with the agencys review of license renewal and power uprate applications for the plant.

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

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/SUSQ1/susq1_chart.html .

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

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/SUSQ2/susq2_chart.html .