Press Release-II-12-031, NRC Schedules Meeting to Discuss 2011 Performance of St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant

Press Release-II-12-031: NRC Schedules Meeting to Discuss 2011 Performance of St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant

ML12129A243
Person / Time
Site:	Saint Lucie
Issue date:	05/08/2012
From:	Office of Public Affairs Region II
To:
Category:Press Release
References
Press Release-II-12-031
Download: ML12129A243 (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-12-031 May 8, 2012 CONTACT: Roger Hannah (404) 997-4417 E-mail: OPA2@nrc.gov Joey Ledford (404) 997-4416 NRC SCHEDULES MEETING TO DISCUSS 2011 PERFORMANCE OF ST. LUCIE NUCLEAR POWER PLANT The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has scheduled a meeting for Wednesday, May 16, to discuss the agencys assessment of safety performance during 2011 at the St. Lucie nuclear power plant. The plant, operated by FPL, is located in Jensen Beach, Fla., east of Port St.

Lucie.

The meeting, which is open to the public, will begin at 1 p.m. at the Energy Encounter at St. Lucie Site Visitors Center, 6501 South Ocean Drive in Jensen Beach. After a brief presentation, NRC staff will be available to answer questions on the safety performance of the St. Lucie plant last year, as well as the NRC role in ensuring safe plant operations.

During 2011, our inspectors spent many hours ensuring that the St. Lucie 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 St. Lucie and other U.S. plants after the March 2011 events at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan. Those reviews found that the units continued to operate safely.

A letter sent from the NRC Region II office to plant officials addresses the performance of the plant during 2011 and will serve as the basis for the meeting discussion. It is available on the NRC web site at: www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/stl_2011q4.pdf.

The NRC found that the performance of the St. Lucie plant met all of the agencys safety objectives in 2011 and was at a level that results in no additional NRC oversight. However, the NRC is currently evaluating plant performance indicators related to unplanned shutdowns and that process could affect the NRC assessment and inspection level.

The NRC uses color-coded inspection findings and performance indicators to assess plant performance. The colors start with green, which has very low safety significance, to white, which means low to moderate safety significance, to 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.

This year, the NRC plans to continue to conduct the very detailed inspections required at those plants that are operating well. In addition, the agency will complete some generic inspections related to operator licensing examinations, emergency preparedness, fire protection and buried piping.

Current performance information for St. Lucie Unit 1 is available on the NRC web site at www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/STL1/stl1_chart.html. Current performance information for Unit 2 is at www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/STL2/stl2_chart.html.

NOTE: Anyone wishing to take photos or use a camera to record any portion of a NRC meeting should contact the Office of Public Affairs beforehand.

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