Press Release-I-12-023, NRC to Hold Public Meeting, Open House on May 15 in Salem, N.J., to Discuss Salem, Hope Creek Nuclear Plant Annual Assessments

Press Release-I-12-023: NRC to Hold Public Meeting, Open House on May 15 in Salem, N.J., to Discuss Salem, Hope Creek Nuclear Plant Annual Assessments

ML12125A333
Person / Time
Issue date:	05/04/2012
From:	Office of Public Affairs Region I
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Category:Press Release
References
Press Release-I-12-023
Download: ML12125A333 (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: www.nrc.gov Blog: http://public-blog.nrc-gateway.gov No. I-12-023 May 4, 2012

Contact:

Diane Screnci, (610) 337-5330 Email: opa1.resource@nrc.gov Neil Sheehan, (610) 337-5331 NRC TO HOLD PUBLIC MEETING, OPEN HOUSE ON MAY 15 IN SALEM, N.J.,

TO DISCUSS SALEM, HOPE CREEK NUCLEAR PLANT ANNUAL ASSESSMENTS Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will conduct a public meeting and open house on Tuesday, May 15, regarding the agencys annual assessment of safety performance for the Salem and Hope Creek nuclear power plants.

The open house will take place from 6 to 7 p.m. at the PSEG Energy & Environmental Resource Center, at 244 Chestnut St. in Salem, N.J. Members of the public will have an opportunity to learn first-hand from NRC staff members about the plants safety performance during 2011 and the NRCs oversight of the facility. The meeting format will allow citizens to discuss plant-related topics on a one-on-one basis with NRC inspectors assigned to the plant and their supervisor. Starting at 7 p.m., at the same location, the NRC will conduct a meeting with the public at which NRC staff members will present information on the plants performance and take questions from audience members.

Salem is the site of two pressurized-water reactors while Hope Creek is the site of a single boiling-water reactor. The plants are located adjacent to each other in Hancocks Bridge (Salem County), N.J., and are owned and operated by PSEG Nuclear, LLC.

Overall, the Hope Creek and Salem Units 1 and 2 operated safely during 2011. At the conclusion of last year, as assessed by the NRCs Reactor Oversight Process, there were no performance indicators for the plants that were other than Green (very low risk) and no inspection findings that were Greater than Green (all findings were of very low safety significance). Therefore, for the rest of 2012, the Hope Creek and Salem plants will receive the very detailed inspection regime used by the NRC for plants that are operating well. In 2011, the NRC devoted approximately 4,800 hours0.00926 days <br />0.222 hours <br />0.00132 weeks <br />3.044e-4 months <br /> of inspection to the Hope Creek facility and approximately 6,600 hours0.00694 days <br />0.167 hours <br />9.920635e-4 weeks <br />2.283e-4 months <br /> to the Salem units.

Throughout 2011, our inspectors kept close watch on a daily basis to ensure there were no safety issues of significance. The Salem and Hope Creek plants were among those to meet our clearly defined performance criteria last year, NRC Region I Administrator Bill Dean said. In

addition, our inspectors spent time in 2011 checking on whether there were any immediate safety concerns at U.S. nuclear power plants following the March events at the Fukushima Daiichi facility in Japan. Those reviews indicated the plants remained safe for continued operation.

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, each 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 Salem units is available on the NRC web site at:

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/salm_2011q4.pdf. The annual assessment for Hope Creek is available on the NRC web site at:

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/hope_2011q4.pdf. The notice for the open house is available in the NRCs Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) under accession number ML12103A038. ADAMS is available at:

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams/web-based.html. Help in 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 each plant and by inspection specialists from the agencys Region I Office in King of Prussia, Pa.

Among the areas of performance at Salem to be inspected this year by NRC specialists are activities associated with emergency preparedness, radiological safety and fire protection. At Hope Creek, NRC specialists will evaluate activities associated with license renewal commitments, control room operator licensing, and refueling and maintenance outage inspections. In addition, the NRC will review both facilities implementation of a voluntary industry initiative to address potential degradation of underground piping.

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

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/HOPE/hope_chart.html. Current performance information for Salem Unit 1 is available on the NRC web site at:

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/SALM1/salm1_chart.html. Current performance information for Salem Unit 2 is available on the NRC web site at:

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/SALM2/salm2_chart.html.

News releases are available through a free listserv subscription or by clicking on the EMAIL UPDATES link on the NRC homepage (www.nrc.gov). E-mail notifications are sent to subscribers when news releases are posted to NRC's website. For the latest news, follow the NRC on www.twitter.com/NRCgov.