Press Release-III-09-016, NRC to Hold Public Meetings to Discuss Performance Assessment for Braidwood Nuclear Power Plant

Press Release-III-09-016: NRC to Hold Public Meetings to Discuss Performance Assessment for Braidwood Nuclear Power Plant

ML091330852
Person / Time
Site:	Braidwood
Issue date:	05/13/2009
From:	Office of Public Affairs Region II
To:
Category:Press Release
References
Press Release-III-09-016
Download: ML091330852 (2)

Text

NRC NEWS U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Region III 2443 Warrenville Road Lisle IL 60532 No. III-09-016 May 13, 2009 Contacts: E-Mail: opa3@nrc.gov Viktoria Mitlyng 630-829-9662 Web site: www.nrc.gov Prema Chandrathil 630-829-9663 NRC TO HOLD PUBLIC MEETINGS TO DISCUSS PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT FOR BRAIDWOOD NUCLEAR POWER PLANT The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with representatives of Exelon Generation Co. Thursday, May 21, to discuss the agencys assessment of safety performance for last year at the Braidwood Nuclear Power Plant. The plant has two reactor units in Braceville, Ill., 20 miles southwest of Joliet.

The meeting, which will be open to the public, is scheduled to begin at 6:00 p.m. CDT at the Fossil Ridge Public Library District meeting room, 386 W. Kennedy Road, in Braidwood.

The NRC staff will present the results of the assessment, talk about the NRC and its range of activities, and be available to respond to questions or comments from the public before the close of the meeting.

The NRC continually reviews the performance of the Braidwood plant and the nations other commercial nuclear power facilities, said NRC Region III Administrator Mark Satorius.

This meeting allows us to discuss our annual assessment of safety performance with the company and members of the local community. We want to help people understand how the NRC works to protect the public and the environment and make sure as much information as possible is available on the NRCs regulation of nuclear power plants.

A letter sent from the NRC Region III Office to plant officials addresses the performance of the plant during the period and will serve as the basis for the meeting discussion. It is available on the NRC web site at:

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/brai_2008q4.pdf.

The NRC uses color-coded inspection findings and performance indicators to assess nuclear plant performance. The colors start with green and then increase to white, yellow or red, commensurate with the safety significance of the issues involved.

Overall, Braidwood operated safely during 2008. At the conclusion of last year, all performance indicators and inspection findings were at a level that required no additional NRC oversight.

Based on last years performance, in 2009, Braidwood will continue to receive the detailed inspection regime used by the NRC for plants that are operating well.

Inspections are performed by two NRC resident inspectors assigned to the plant and by inspection specialists from the Region III Office in Lisle, Ill. Among the areas of plant operations to be inspected this year by NRC specialists are independent spent fuel storage pad construction, radiation protection, and emergency preparedness exercise inspection.

Current performance information for Quad cities is available on the NRCs web site at:

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/BRAI1/brai1_chart.html (Unit 1) and http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/BRAI2/brai2_chart.html (Unit 2).

NRC news releases are available through a free list serve subscription at the following Web address:

http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/listserver.html. The NRC homepage at www.nrc.gov also offers a SUBSCRIBE link. E-mail notifications are sent to subscribers when news releases are posted to NRC's Web site.