Press Release-II-13-046, NRC Schedules Public Meeting to Discuss Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant

Press Release-II-13-046: NRC Schedules Public Meeting to Discuss Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant

ML13183A212
Person / Time
Site:	Browns Ferry
Issue date:	07/02/2013
From:	Office of Public Affairs Region II
To:
Category:Press Release
References
Press Release-II-13-046
Download: ML13183A212 (2)

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No: II-13-046 July 2, 2013 CONTACT: Roger Hannah 404-997-4417 Joey Ledford 404-997-4416 NRC Schedules Public Meeting to Discuss Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has scheduled a public meeting for July 11 near the Browns Ferry nuclear power plant to discuss the recently completed NRC supplemental inspections performed as a result of a red inspection finding at the Tennessee Valley Authority facility.

Also at the meeting, the staff will discuss the annual safety assessment of the plant, located near Athens, about 32 miles west of Huntsville.

The meeting is scheduled for Thursday, July 11, at 1 p.m. at the Calhoun Community College Aerospace Training Center, 6250 Highway 31 North in Tanner, Ala.

The meeting will begin with a discussion of the safety performance of the three Browns Ferry units during 2012. Due to the red inspection finding issued in May 2011, Browns Ferry continues to receive increased inspection and oversight.

The red finding is associated with the failure of a low-pressure coolant injection valve at the plant in the fall of 2010. That valve is part of a system that would be used for core cooling during certain accident scenarios, and its inoperable state could have led to core damage had a series of unlikely events occurred. Even though the valve was promptly repaired after its condition was discovered, under the NRCs oversight process a red finding has high safety significance and results in intensive NRC inspection and oversight.

The increased oversight process will be discussed during the second portion of the meeting.

A 23-person inspection team has spent more than 3,000 total hours reviewing a wide range of programs at the plant, including maintenance, operations, engineering, problem identification and resolution and safety culture as well as management oversight and decision making.

NRC inspectors and managers from the NRCs Region II office in Atlanta will attend the meeting and will be available to answer questions from the public following the business portion of the meeting.

Although the NRC continually monitors each nuclear plant, we believe it is important to hold annual meetings near each plant to discuss our oversight and answer any questions local residents may have, said NRC Region II Administrator Victor McCree. We also want to ensure people get all the information they need about key inspections such as the one just completed at Browns Ferry.

The annual performance letter for the Browns Ferry plant is available on the NRC website, as is performance information for Browns Ferry Unit 1, Unit 2 and Unit 3.

Members of the public who cannot attend the meeting but are interested in participating by telephone should contact the NRCs Craig Kontz before the meeting at 404-997-4715 or Craig.kontz@nrc.gov.

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