Press Release-I-08-027, NRC to Discuss Annual Assessment for Nine Mile Point Plant at Two Public Meetings Set for April 23 in Fulton, N.Y

Press Release-I-08-027: NRC to Discuss Annual Assessment for Nine Mile Point Plant at Two Public Meetings Set for April 23 in Fulton, N.Y

ML081080564
Person / Time
Site:	Nine Mile Point
Issue date:	04/17/2008
From:	Office of Public Affairs
To:
Category:Press Release
References
Press Release-I-08-027
Download: ML081080564 (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-08-027 April 17, 2008

Contact:

Diane Screnci, 610/337-5330 Neil Sheehan, 610/337-5331 NRC TO DISCUSS ANNUAL ASSESSMENT FOR NINE MILE POINT PLANT AT TWO PUBLIC MEETINGS SET FOR APRIL 23 IN FULTON, N.Y.

The results of the Nuclear Regulatory Commissions annual safety performance assessment for the Nine Mile Point nuclear power plant will be the subject of a public meeting on Wednesday, April 23. Nine Mile Point, which is the site of two operating boiling-water reactors, is located in Scriba (Oswego County), N.Y., and operated by Constellation Energy, LLC.

At 2 p.m., NRC staff will meet with representatives of Constellation to discuss the assessment, which covers the period from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2007, and was documented in a March 3rd letter to the company. The session will take place at the plants Joint News Center, which is at the Oswego County Airport, on County Route 176 in Fulton, N.Y.

Prior to the conclusion of the meeting, NRC staff will be available to answer questions from the public on the plants performance during 2007, 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 23rd to present that information for the Nine Mile Point nuclear power plant.

The annual assessment letter for Nine Mile Point is available on the NRC web site at:

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/nmp_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 ML080730030. The slides for the meeting can be found under accession number ML080790187. 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 Nine Mile Point units 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 Nine Mile Point 2 that were other than green and no inspection findings that were greater than green.

Therefore, that unit will receive the baseline, or routine, level of inspections for the remainder of 2008. Nine Mile Point 1 did have a single white (low to moderate safety significance) inspection finding as of the end of 2007. That finding involved a compromise of the units licensed operator requalification training program for calendar years 2005 and 2006. However, the NRC conducted a supplemental inspection at the plant from Nov. 5 to Dec. 4, 2007 to determine if the issue has been sufficiently addressed by Constellation and found that to be the case. As a result, that finding was closed out effective Jan. 1 and Nine Mile Point 1 will likewise 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 Nine Mile Point to be inspected this year by NRC specialists are activities associated with radiological safety, emergency preparedness and operator licensing.

In addition, the NRC will conduct a Component Design Bases Inspection at the plant.

Current performance information for Nine Mile Point 1 is available on the NRC web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/NMP1/nmp1_chart.html . Current performance information for Nine Mile Point 2 is available on the NRC web site at:

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/NMP2/nmp2_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.