Press Release-II-12-009, NRC Schedules Open House to Discuss Annual Assessment of Hatch Nuclear Power Plant

Press Release-II-12-009: NRC Schedules Open House to Discuss Annual Assessment of Hatch Nuclear Power Plant

ML12107A404
Person / Time
Site:	Hatch
Issue date:	04/04/2012
From:	Office of Public Affairs Region II
To:
Category:Press Release
References
Press Release-II-12-009
Download: ML12107A404 (2)

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 Web Site: www.nrc.gov No. II-12-009 April 4, 2012 CONTACT: Roger Hannah (404) 997-4417 E-mail: OPA2@nrc.gov Joey Ledford (404) 997-4416 NRC SCHEDULES OPEN HOUSE TO DISCUSS ANNUAL ASSESSMENT OF HATCH NUCLEAR POWER PLANT U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials have scheduled an open house for Wednesday, April 11 to discuss the agencys assessment of safety performance during 2011 for the Hatch nuclear power plant. The plant, operated by Southern Nuclear, is in south Georgia near Baxley, about 20 miles south of Vidalia.

The open house and poster session, which will be open to the public, is scheduled for 6 p.m. EDT in Suite 201 of the Appling County Courthouse Annex, 69 Tippins Street, in Baxley.

NRC staff will be available to answer questions on the safety performance of the Hatch plant, as well as the NRC role in ensuring safe plant operations.

Overall, the NRC staff concluded that the Hatch plant operated safely in 2011 and will receive normal detailed baseline oversight and inspection efforts. All inspection findings and performance indicators at the plant were green, meaning they had very low safety significance.

The NRC uses color-coded inspection findings and performance indicators to assess plant performance. The colors start with green, and escalate to white, yellow or red, based on the significance of the issues. Inspection findings and performance indicators are updated on the NRCs web site (www.nrc.gov ) each quarter.

During 2011, our inspectors spent many hours ensuring that the Hatch plant met NRC safety requirements and protected both people living near the plant and the environment, NRC Region II Administrator Victor McCree said.

NRC inspectors also looked at whether there were immediate safety concerns at Hatch and other U.S. plants after the March 2011 events at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan. Those reviews found that the plants remained safe.

The annual assessment letter for the Hatch plant is available on the NRC web site at www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/hat_2011q4.pdf.

Routine inspections are carried out by the NRC resident inspectors assigned to the plant and by inspection specialists from the Region II office in Atlanta. Among the areas at the Hatch

plant to be inspected this year by NRC specialists are component design basis, emergency preparedness and operator licensing examinations.

Current performance information for Hatch Unit 1 is available on the NRC web site at www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/HAT1/hat1_chart.html. Current performance information for Hatch Unit 2 is available on the NRC web site at www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/HAT2/hat2_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.