Press Release-III-10-020, NRC to Discuss 2009 Performance Assessment for Byron Nuclear Power on June 2

Press Release-III-10-020: NRC to Discuss 2009 Performance Assessment for Byron Nuclear Power on June 2

ML101440251
Person / Time
Site:	Byron
Issue date:	05/24/2010
From:	Office of Public Affairs Region II
To:
Category:Press Release
References
Press Release-III-10-020
Download: ML101440251 (2)

Text

NRC NEWS U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Region III 2443 Warrenville Road Lisle IL 60532 No. III-10-020 May 24, 2010 Contacts: E-Mail: opa3@nrc.gov Viktoria Mitlyng 630-829-9662 Web site: www.nrc.gov Prema Chandrathil 630-829-9663 NRC TO DISCUSS 2009 PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT FOR BYRON NUCLEAR POWER ON JUNE 2 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will hold a public meeting with representatives of Exelon Generation Co. on Wednesday, June 2, to discuss the agencys assessment of safety performance for last year at the Byron Nuclear Power Plant. The plant has two reactor units in Byron, Ill., located roughly 15 miles southwest of Rockford.

The meeting is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. CDT at the Byron Station Training Center, Room 107, 4450 N. German Church Road, Byron. 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 Byron 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/byro_2009q4.pdf.

The NRC found that overall the Byron nuclear plant operated safely and performance at both units was at a level that resulted in no additional NRC oversight. 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.

All performance indicators and inspection findings for Byron during 2009 were determined to be green. Performance indicators are a statistical measurement of plant and equipment performance.

Byron will continue to receive the detailed inspection regime used by the NRC for plants that require no additional oversight. Routine inspections are performed by two NRC Resident Inspectors assigned to the plant and by inspection specialists from the Region III Office in Lisle, Ill., and the agencys headquarters in Rockville, Md. Among the areas of plant operations to be inspected this year by NRC are radiation protection, fire protection and the independent spent fuel storage installation.

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

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/BYRO1/byro1_chart.html (Unit 1) and http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/BYRO2/byro2_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.