Press Release-III-09-018, NRC to Discuss 2008 Performance Assessment for Fermi Nuclear Power Plant May 27

Press Release-III-09-018: NRC to Discuss 2008 Performance Assessment for Fermi Nuclear Power Plant May 27

ML091400477
Person / Time
Site:	Fermi
Issue date:	05/20/2009
From:	Office of Public Affairs Region II
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Category:Press Release
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Press Release-III-09-018
Download: ML091400477 (2)

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NRC NEWS U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Region III 2443 Warrenville Road Lisle IL 60532 No. III-09-018 May 20, 2009 Contacts: E-Mail: opa3@nrc.gov Viktoria Mitlyng 630-829-9662 Web site: www.nrc.gov Prema Chandrathil 630-829-9663 NRC TO DISCUSS 2008 PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT FOR FERMI NUCLEAR POWER PLANT MAY 27 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with representatives of Detroit Edison Company on Wednesday, May 27, to discuss the agencys assessment of safety performance last year at the Fermi Nuclear Power Plant, Unit 2. The plant is located in Newport, Mich., 25 miles northeast of Toledo.

The meeting, which will be open to the public, is scheduled to begin at 6:00 p.m. EDT at the Monroe County Board of Commissioners Chambers, County Courthouse, 125 E. Second St.,

in Monroe. 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 Fermi plant and the nations other commercial nuclear power facilities, NRC Region III Administrator Mark Satorius said. This meeting allows us to discuss our annual assessment of safety performance with the company and area residents. One of NRCs main goals is to explain to people in the community how the agency regulates 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/ferm_2008q4.pdf.

The NRC utilizes a combination of color-coded inspection findings and performance indicators to measure plant performance. The colors go from green to white, yellow or red, commensurate with the safety significance of the issues involved.

The NRCs assessment concluded that Fermi Unit 2 operated safely in 2008. All of the inspection findings and performance indicators for Fermi Unit 2 during 2008 were determined to be green.

As a result of this performance, the NRC will continue to conduct the very detailed routine inspections for plants that are performing well. Inspections are performed by two NRC Resident Inspectors assigned to the plant, and 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 initial operator license examinations, emergency response and design and construction of the independent spent fuel storage pad.

Current performance information for Fermi is available on the NRCs Web site at:

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/FERM2/ferm2_chart.html.

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.