Press Release-II-11-056, NRC Schedules Meeting Oct. 3 to Discuss Inspection at North Anna Nuclear Power Station

Press Release-II-11-056: NRC Schedules Meeting Oct. 3 to Discuss Inspection at North Anna Nuclear Power Station

ML11263A018
Person / Time
Site:	North Anna
Issue date:	09/20/2011
From:	Office of Public Affairs Region II
To:
Category:Press Release
References
Press Release-II-11-056
Download: ML11263A018 (1)

Text

NRC NEWS U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs, Region II 245 Peachtree Center Ave., NE, Suite 1200 Atlanta, GA 30303-1257 Site: www.nrc.gov Blog: http://public-blog.nrc-gateway.gov No: II-11-056 September 20, 2011 CONTACT: Roger Hannah 404-997-4417 E-mail: OPA2.Resource@nrc.gov Joey Ledford 404-997-4416 NRC SCHEDULES MEETING OCT. 3 TO DISCUSS INSPECTION AT NORTH ANNA NUCLEAR POWER STATION The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has scheduled a public meeting at the North Anna nuclear power station to discuss the preliminary results of an Augmented Inspection Team which reviewed the effects of the Aug. 23 earthquake and the plants response.

The meeting is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 3, at 1 p.m. EDT at the North Anna Nuclear Information Center, 1022 Haley Drive in Mineral, Va. The meeting will include members of the NRC inspection team as well as managers from NRC headquarters in Rockville, Md., and the Region II office in Atlanta. After the results are presented to Dominion, the plants operator, NRC staff will be available to answer questions from media representatives and the public.

During the quake, the North Anna stations two units automatically shut down. The company declared an Alert, the next to lowest NRC emergency classification for plant events, and exited the Alert after the plant staff restored offsite power. The NRC determined that an Augmented Inspection Team or AIT was the appropriate level of follow-up inspection.

An AIT is formed by the NRC to review significant events or issues at NRC-licensed facilities. The North Anna AIT included technical experts from NRC headquarters in Rockville, Md., as well as inspectors from the regional office in Atlanta. It was led by NRC Region II Branch Chief Mark Franke and North Anna Senior Resident Inspector Greg Kolcum.

The station remains shut down and NRC regulations require that the station not restart until it can demonstrate that no functional damage occurred to those features needed for continued safe operation.

The AIT is expected to release its final inspection report later in October and that report will be available on the NRCs website.

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