Press Release-I-08-016, NRC to Discuss Annual Assessment for Fitzpatrick Nuclear Plant at Public Meeting Scheduled for April 3 in Fulton, N.Y

Press Release-I-08-016: NRC to Discuss Annual Assessment for Fitzpatrick Nuclear Plant at Public Meeting Scheduled for April 3 in Fulton, N.Y

ML080880267
Person / Time
Site:	FitzPatrick
Issue date:	03/28/2008
From:	Office of Public Affairs Region I
To:
Category:Press Release
References
Press Release-I-08-016
Download: ML080880267 (2)

Text

NRC NEWS U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs, Region I 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pa. 19406 E-mail: opa1@nrc.gov Site: http://www.nrc.gov No. I-08-016 March 28, 2008

Contact:

Diane Screnci, 610/337-5330 Neil Sheehan, 610/337-5331 NRC TO DISCUSS ANNUAL ASSESSMENT FOR FITZPATRICK NUCLEAR PLANT AT PUBLIC MEETING SCHEDULED FOR APRIL 3 IN FULTON, N.Y.

The results of the Nuclear Regulatory Commissions annual safety performance assessment for the James A. FitzPatrick nuclear power plant will be discussed at a public meeting on Thursday, April 3. The session is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. at the plants Joint News Center, located at the Oswego County Airport, on County Route 176 in Fulton, N.Y.

FitzPatrick is a boiling-water reactor located in Scriba (Oswego County) and operated by Entergy Nuclear Northeast.

Prior to the conclusion of the meeting, NRC staff will be available to answer questions from the public on the plants performance, as well as the agencys oversight of the facility.

Through a combination of inspection findings and performance indicators, we are able to develop a comprehensive picture of how nuclear power plants are performing with regard to safety, said NRC Region I Administrator Samuel J. Collins. As part of our commitment to make the findings of our reviews accessible to the public, we hold meetings near each plant once a year to share the details of those assessments. We look forward to the opportunity on April 3rd to present that information for the FitzPatrick nuclear power plant.

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

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/fitz_2007q4.pdf . The notice for the meeting, with agenda attached, is available in the NRCs Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) under accession number ML080780025. ADAMS is accessible at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams/web-based.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 FitzPatrick plant operated safely during 2007. When considering nuclear power plant performance, the NRC uses color-coded performance indicators and inspection

findings. 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, there were no performance indicators for FitzPatrick that were other than green and no inspection findings that were greater than green. Therefore, the plant will receive the baseline, or routine, level of inspections for the remainder of 2008.

Routine inspections are carried out by the two NRC Resident Inspectors assigned to the plant and by inspection specialists from the agencys Region I Office in King of Prussia, Pa.

Among the areas of performance at FitzPatrick to be inspected this year by NRC specialists are activities associated with the dry cask storage of spent fuel, fire protection, emergency preparedness, radiological safety and problem identification and resolution.

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

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/FITZ/fitz_chart.html .

News releases are available through a free listserv subscription at the following Web address:

http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/listserver.html. The NRC homepage at www.nrc.gov also offers a SUBSCRIBE link. E-mail notifications are sent to subscribers when news releases are posted to NRC's Web site.