Press Release-IV-03-007, NRC to Meet with Omaha Public Power District to Discuss Performance of Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Plant

Press Release-IV-03-007: NRC to Meet with Omaha Public Power District to Discuss Performance of Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Plant

ML030780099
Person / Time
Site:	Fort Calhoun
Issue date:	03/19/2003
From:	Office of Public Affairs Region IV
To:
Category:Press Release
References
Press Release-IV-03-007
Download: ML030780099 (2)

Text

NRC NEWS U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs, Region IV 611 Ryan Plaza Drive - Suite 400 Arlington TX 76011- 4005 No. IV-03-007 March 19, 2003 CONTACT: Victor Dricks E-mail: opa4@nrc.gov Phone: 817-860-8128 NRC TO MEET WITH OMAHA PUBLIC POWER DISTRICT TO DISCUSS PERFORMANCE OF FORT CALHOUN NUCLEAR POWER PLANT Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with representatives of the Omaha Public Power District on Thursday, March 27, to discuss the results of the agencys annual assessment of safety performance at the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Plant. The facility is located north of Omaha, Nebraska.

The meeting, which will be open to the public for observation, is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m.

at the Holiday Inn Express, 10729 J Street (just north of 108th Street), Omaha.

Before the session is adjourned, NRC staff will be available to answer questions from the public on the safety performance of the plant, as well as the role of the NRC in ensuring safe plant operation.

The performance period to be discussed is January 1 to December 31, 2002. In addition, NRC staff will provide an overview of how the agencys Reactor Oversight Process works.

A letter sent from the NRC Region IV Office to the Omaha Public Power District 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/fcs_2002q4.pdf Overall, Fort Calhoun Station operated in a manner that preserved public health and safety and fully met all cornerstone objectives, the letter says. During the most recent quarter, plant staff detected radiation that exceeded required levels on the external surface of a shipment package, but took immediate corrective actions in response. Your staff determined that no members of the public came in close proximity to the package during shipment; therefore the shipment did not present an immediate safety concern to members of the public, the letter says. The company appropriately performed investigations, reviews and self-assessments in response, the letter says. NRC also conducted a supplemental inspection last August to assess the adequacy of the licensees actions, and found the licensees response to the incident satisfactory.

In addition, the letter notes: As you are aware, since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the NRC has issued several Orders and threat advisories to enhance security capabilities and improve guard force readiness. We have conducted inspections to review your implementation of these requirements and have monitored your actions in response to changing threat advisories. For calendar Year 2003, we plan

to continue these inspections and conduct portions of the security baseline inspection program, as well as perform additional inspections to evaluate your compliance with new requirements that may be ordered.

Current performance information for Fort Calhoun is available on the NRC web site at:

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/FCS/fcs_chart.html