Press Release-III-09-019, NRC Schedules Open House to Discuss Nuclear Power Plant Issues and 2008 Performance of D.C. Cook Nuclear Power Plant

Press Release-III-09-019: NRC Schedules Open House to Discuss Nuclear Power Plant Issues and 2008 Performance of D.C. Cook Nuclear Power Plant

ML091400660
Person / Time
Site:	Cook
Issue date:	05/20/2009
From:	Office of Public Affairs Region II
To:
Category:Press Release
References
Press Release-III-09-019
Download: ML091400660 (2)

Text

NRC NEWS U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Region III 2443 Warrenville Road Lisle IL 60532 No. III-09-019 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 SCHEDULES OPEN HOUSE TO DISCUSS NUCLEAR POWER PLANT ISSUES AND 2008 PERFORMANCE OF D.C. COOK NUCLEAR POWER PLANT The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has scheduled an open house for Thursday, May 28, to meet with local residents to discuss the NRCs activities, nuclear power issues and answer questions about the agencys 2008 assessment of safety performance at the D.C. Cook nuclear power plant. The two unit plant operated by Indiana Michigan Power Co. is in Stevensville, Mich., roughly 60 miles southwest of Kalamazoo.

The open house is informal and will begin at 6:00 p.m. EDT at the St. Joseph/Maud Preston Palanske Memorial Library, 500 Market Street, in St. Joseph. NRC staff will be available to answer questions on the safety performance of the D.C. Cook plant, as well as areas of plant safety and security not specifically associated with the D.C. Cook station.

The NRC continually reviews the performance of the D.C. Cook 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 addressed the performance of the plant during 2008 and will serve as the basis for the discussion. It is available on the NRC web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/cook_2008q4.pdf.

The NRC found that the D.C. Cook plant met all NRC safety objectives during 2008, and its performance was at a level that resulted in no additional NRC oversight.

As a result of this performance, the NRC plans to conduct the very detailed inspections required at those plants operating well. Those inspections are conducted by NRC resident inspectors assigned to the site supplemented by more specific inspections completed by region-

based NRC inspectors. Among the areas of plant operations to be inspected this year by NRC are radiation protection, an emergency preparedness exercise and pad construction for an independent spent fuel storage installation.

Current performance information for D.C. Cook is available on the NRC web site at:

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/COOK1/cook1_chart.html (Unit 1) and http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/COOK2/cook2_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.