Press Release-II-13-027, NRC Schedules Open House to Discuss Crystal River Nuclear Power Plant
| ML13113A383 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Crystal River  |
| Issue date: | 04/23/2013 |
| From: | Office of Public Affairs Region II |
| To: | |
| Category:Press Release | |
| References | |
| Press Release-II-13-027 | |
| Download: ML13113A383 (2) | |
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No. II-13-027 April 23, 2013 CONTACT: Roger Hannah (404) 997-4417 E-mail: OPA2@nrc.gov Joey Ledford (404) 997-4416 NRC SCHEDULES OPEN HOUSE TO DISCUSS CRYSTAL RIVER NUCLEAR POWER PLANT The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has scheduled an open house for May 1 to discuss the agencys assessment of safety performance during 2012 for the Crystal River nuclear power plant. The plant, operated by Duke Energy, is near Crystal River, Fla., about 80 miles north of Tampa.
The open house is scheduled to run from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in Room 150 of the Crystal River plant training center at 8200 Venable St. in Crystal River. There will be posters explaining the NRCs role, and the NRC staff will be available to answer questions about the Crystal River plant as well as overall NRC oversight and inspection.
In February, Duke Energy announced that it would retire Crystal Rivers single nuclear unit, which has been shut down since 2009. Although the purpose of the May 1 meeting is not to specifically discuss the process for decommissioning the Crystal River plant, NRC staff members with expertise in that area will be there to answer any questions. In addition, the NRC will no longer staff the resident inspector office at the plant and will perform inspections with inspectors from the NRC regional office in Atlanta or other NRC offices.
Overall, the NRC staff concluded that the Crystal River plant was maintained in a safe manner in 2012, but the plant was subject to increased oversight due to an emergency preparedness issue during the first two quarters of the year. An NRC inspection found that the issue was addressed and the plant was under normal oversight for the second half of 2012.
The NRC staff is currently developing an inspection plan consistent with decommissioning at the plant.
The NRC inspects nuclear plants and monitors their performance on an ongoing basis, said NRC Region II Administrator Victor McCree. We will continue to inspect and monitor the activities at the Crystal River site as Duke Energy works through the decommissioning process.
We will have further meetings to discuss that process and although we will be closing the resident inspector office, we welcome any comments or questions nearby residents may have.
The annual assessment letter for Crystal River is available on the NRC website.
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
Further information about decommissioning can also be found on the NRC website.
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