Press Release-I-09-013, NRC to Hold Meeting on March 26 in Plymouth, Mass., to Discuss Annual Assessment of Performance for Pilgrim Nuclear Plant

Press Release-I-09-013: NRC to Hold Meeting on March 26 in Plymouth, Mass., to Discuss Annual Assessment of Performance for Pilgrim Nuclear Plant

ML090780472
Person / Time
Site:	Pilgrim
Issue date:	03/19/2009
From:	Office of Public Affairs Region I
To:
Category:Press Release
References
Press Release-I-09-013
Download: ML090780472 (2)

Text

NRC NEWS U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs, Region I 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pa. 19406 Site: http://www.nrc.gov No. I-09-013 March 19, 2009

Contact:

Diane Screnci, 610/337-5330 E-mail: opa1@nrc.gov Neil Sheehan, 610/337-5331 NRC TO HOLD MEETING ON MARCH 26 IN PLYMOUTH, MASS., TO DISCUSS ANNUAL ASSESSMENT OF PERFORMANCE FOR PILGRIM NUCLEAR PLANT Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will conduct a public meeting on Thursday, March 26, regarding the agencys annual assessment of safety performance for the Pilgrim nuclear power plant.

The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn, 4 Home Depot Drive in Plymouth, Mass. Prior to its conclusion, NRC staff will be available to answer questions from the public on the plants performance, as well as the agencys oversight of the facility. In addition, an informational open house will be held from 6 to 7 p.m. at the same location. It will provide members of the public with an opportunity to discuss plant-related topics on a one-on-one basis with NRC inspectors assigned to the facility and their NRC Region I supervisor.

Pilgrim is a boiling-water reactor located in Plymouth. It is owned and operated by Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.

Overall, Pilgrim operated safely during 2008. At the conclusion of last year, as assessed by the NRC Reactor Oversight Process, there were no performance indicators for the plant that were other than green and no inspection findings that were greater than green. Therefore, for the rest of 2009 Pilgrim will receive the very detailed inspection regime used by the NRC for plants that are operating well. In 2008, the NRC devoted approximately 5,300 hours0.00347 days <br />0.0833 hours <br />4.960317e-4 weeks <br />1.1415e-4 months <br /> of inspection to the Pilgrim facility.

In 2008, all but one of the 26 commercial power reactors in Region I, which covers the Northeastern United States, fully met our clearly defined performance criteria. Pilgrim was among those plants achieving those objectives. That means those plants will receive the normal level of NRC oversight this year if they continue meet the high safety benchmarks set out for each site, NRC Region I Administrator Samuel J. Collins. That said, our inspectors will remain on the lookout for any problems or adverse trends that might indicate a change in performance.

As always, we will not hesitate to act should we identify any safety concerns.

The NRC utilizes a combination of color-coded inspection findings and performance indicators to measure plant performance. The colors start with green and then increase to white, yellow or red, commensurate with the safety significance of the issues involved.

The agency issues reports on performance at specific plants twice a year: During the mid-cycle, or mid-point, of the year, and at the conclusion of the year. Inspection findings and performance indicators are also updated on the NRCs web site, www.nrc.gov, every quarter. Following the release of the annual reports every March, the NRC meets with the public in the vicinity of each plant to discuss the results. The meetings are in keeping with the agencys commitment to transparency with regard to its activities.

The annual assessment for the Pilgrim plant is available on the NRC web site at:

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/pilg_2008q4.pdf. The notice for the annual assessment meeting is available in the NRCs Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) under accession number ML090680785. ADAMS is available at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams/web-based.html. Help is using ADAMS can be obtained via the NRCs Public Document Room at 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, or by e-mail at PDR.Resource@NRC.GOV.

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 Pilgrim to be inspected this year by NRC specialists are activities associated with problem identification and resolution, radiological safety, emergency preparedness and fire protection.

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

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/PILG/pilg_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.