Press Release-III-99-043, NRC Region III Issues MID-CYCLE Nuclear Plant Performance Review Results
| ML003696916 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 10/13/1999 |
| From: | Strasma J Office of Public Affairs Region II |
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| Category:Press Release | |
| References | |
| Press Release-III-99-043 | |
| Download: ML003696916 (1) | |
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U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Region III Office of Public Affairs 801 Warrenville Road, Lisle, IL 60532-4351 NEWS ANNOUNCEMENT:
RIII-99-43 October 13, 1999 CONTACT:
Jan Strasma 630/829-9663 E-mail:
opa3@nrc.gov NRC REGION III ISSUES MID-CYCLE NUCLEAR PLANT PERFORMANCE REVIEW RESULTS The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is making its mid-cycle Plant Performance Reviews (PPRs) for nuclear power plants available on the NRC web site.
PPRs are an interim measure the NRC is using to assess nuclear power plant safety.
The agency began using it for this purpose after suspending the Systematic Assessment of Licensee Performance (SALP) in 1998 while it developed a revised reactor oversight process.
The text of each mid-cycle PPR letter is available from the NRC Region 3 Office of Public Affairs and on the NRC web site at http://www.nrc.gov/OPA/ppr.
Full scale PPRs, which consisted of an in-depth, integrated assessment of overall plant performance were conducted approximately six months ago.
The results of those PPRs were communicated to each power reactor licensee and provided performance information similar to that previously contained in SALP reports.
The recently conducted mid-cycle PPRs did not entail the same level of assessment effort.
The primary purpose of these reviews was to evaluate safety performance information from the past six months to identify any changes in performance from that described in the last PPRs in order to allocate inspection resources appropriately.
In most instances, the region will continue to execute inspection plans consisting of core and regional initiative inspections, commensurate with the level of performance described in the PPRs issued last spring.
However, as a result of the staffs recent evaluation of licensee performance, the inspection activity at some plants will be adjusted in certain areas.
The revised reactor oversight process is currently undergoing a pilot evaluation at nine plants and is scheduled for full implementation next spring.
Under the revised process, the staff will conduct quarterly performance reviews based on a number of performance indicators and inspection findings.
A full description of the revised program is available on the NRC web site at http://www.nrc.gov/OPA/primer.htm.
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