Press Release-II-17-030, NRC Schedules Open House to Discuss 2016 Performance of St. Lucie Nuclear Plant

Press Release-II-17-030: NRC Schedules Open House to Discuss 2016 Performance of St. Lucie Nuclear Plant

ML17130A931
Person / Time
Site:	Saint Lucie
Issue date:	05/08/2017
From:	Office of Public Affairs Region II
To:
Category:Press Release
References
Press Release-II-17-030
Download: ML17130A931 (1)

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No: II-17-030 May 8, 2017 CONTACT: Roger Hannah, 404-997-4417 Joey Ledford, 404-997-4416 NRC Schedules Open House to Discuss 2016 Performance of St. Lucie Nuclear Plant Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will be available to discuss the 2016 safety performance of the St. Lucie nuclear power plant, operated by Florida Power & Light, during an open house planned for May 16 in Jensen Beach, Fla.

The plant is located about 10 miles southeast of Fort Pierce near Jensen Beach.

The open house is scheduled to run from 5:30-6:30 p.m. at the Energy Encounter, located adjacent to the plant at 6501 South Ocean Drive (Highway A1A), Gate B, in Jensen Beach. Inspectors and managers responsible for NRC oversight of the plant, including the site-based resident inspectors, will be on hand to discuss the plants regulatory performance and NRC inspections.

Overall, the St. Lucie plant operated safely during 2016 and met NRC requirements. As of the end of 2016, the plant had no inspection findings or performance indicators outside the normal band.

However, the NRC notified FPL in late April that an inspection finding related to a Unit 1 reactor trip and loss of offsite power in August 2016 will result in a follow-up inspection and increased NRC oversight beyond the baseline level, which entails thousands of hours of inspection each year.

The NRC inspection finding, which was characterized as white (low-to-moderate safety significance), involved a 2013 modification of electrical circuitry associated with the Unit 1 main generator. That modification led to the plant trip last year and NRC inspectors found that the workers who performed the modification had failed to properly plan and execute the work.

Under the NRCs Reactor Oversight Process, the agency assesses plant performance through the use of color-coded inspection findings and performance indicators, which are statistical measurements of plant performance. Any inspection findings or performance indicators that are greater than green (very low safety significance) trigger increased NRC oversight.

Routine inspections are performed by resident inspectors assigned to the plant. Reviews are also carried out at the sites by specialist inspectors assigned to the agencys Region II office in Atlanta.

The annual assessment letter for St. Lucie, as well as the notice for the open house, are available on the NRC website at www.nrc.gov. Current performance information for St. Lucie Unit 1 and Unit 2 is also available.