Press Release-III-03-012, NRC to Meet with Firstenergy Officials to Discuss Safety Performance at Perry Nuclear Power Plant

Press Release-III-03-012: NRC to Meet with Firstenergy Officials to Discuss Safety Performance at Perry Nuclear Power Plant

ML030800578
Person / Time
Site:	Perry
Issue date:	03/21/2003
From:	Office of Public Affairs Region II
To:
Category:Press Release
References
Press Release-III-03-012
Download: ML030800578 (3)

Text

NRC NEWS U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 801 Warrenville Road Lisle IL 60532 Web Site: http://www.nrc.gov No. III-03-012 March 21, 2003 CONTACT: Jan Strasma (630) 829-9663 E-mail: opa3@nrc.gov Viktoria Mitlyng (630) 829-9662 NRC TO MEET WITH FIRSTENERGY OFFICIALS TO DISCUSS SAFETY PERFORMANCE AT PERRY NUCLEAR POWER PLANT The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with FirstEnergy officials on Thursday, March 27, to discuss the results of NRCs annual assessment of safety performance at the Perry nuclear power plant in Perry, Ohio.

The meeting will be held at 5 p.m. in Room 6 of the Tarbuck Center, 4325 Manchester Avenue.

The public is invited to observe the meeting, and NRC officials will be available before the conclusion of the meeting to answer any questions.

A letter from the NRC to FirstEnergy addresses plant safety performance during the previous year and forms the basis for the meeting discussions. The letter is available from Region III Public Affairs Office and on the NRC web site at:

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/listofasmrpt.html According to the letter, overall, Perry operated in a manner that preserved public health and safety. There was one finding of low to moderate safety significance in the last quarter of 2002, which resulted from the failure of the high pressure core spray pump to start during testing in October 2002.

This occurred because the licensee didnt follow proper procedures during the installation and inspection of a circuit breaker in 1994. The improper installation led to the degradation of the electrical connection, resulting in the pumps failure to start. The inspection report is on the NRC web site at:

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams/web-based.html The letter states that in addition to baseline inspection, as a result of this finding, the NRC will conduct a supplemental inspection to make sure the licensee has properly addressed all the issues associated with it.

In addition, the letter notes: "As you are aware, since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the NRC has issued several Orders and threat advisories to enhance security capabilities and improve guard force readiness. We have conducted inspections to review your implementation of these requirements and have monitored your actions in response to changing threat advisories. For calendar Year 2003, we plan to continue these inspections and conduct portions of the security baseline inspection

program, as well as perform additional inspections to evaluate your compliance with new requirements that may be ordered."

Current performance information for Perry is available on the NRC web site at:

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/PERR1perr1_chart.htm