Press Release-IV-05-023, NRC to Hold Conference with Arizona Public Service Co. for Palo Verde

Press Release-IV-05-023: NRC to Hold Conference with Arizona Public Service Co. for Palo Verde

ML051460535
Person / Time
Site:	Palo Verde
Issue date:	05/26/2005
From:	Office of Public Affairs Region IV
To:
Category:Press Release
References
Press Release-IV-05-023
Download: ML051460535 (1)

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-05-023 May 26, 2005

Contact:

Victor Dricks E-Mail: opa4@nrc.gov Phone: 817-860-8128 NRC TO HOLD CONFERENCE WITH ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE CO. FOR PALO VERDE Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials will hold a regulatory conference with representatives of Arizona Public Service Co. on Wednesday, June 1, to discuss an apparent violation of NRC requirements at the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station. APS operates the facility, located near Wintersburg, Ariz.

The conference will be held from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the NRCs Region IV office in Arlington, Texas. The public is invited to observe the meeting and will have one or more opportunities to communicate with the NRC after the business portion, but before the meeting is adjourned. Persons interested in participating in the conference via telephone can do so by calling (800) 952-9677 and dialing extension 475 to be transferred to the meeting.

An NRC inspection of Palo Verde this past winter discovered that changes made to the plants emergency action levels apparently decreased the effectiveness of the plants emergency plan. The changes removed direct use of measured radiation levels for the plants classification of Site Area Emergency and General Emergency levels.

Emergency preparedness is very important to protecting the publics health and safety, said NRC Region IV Administrator Bruce S. Mallett. Although the company corrected this problem when it was brought to their attention, its important for us to discuss with APS how this happened and how they will prevent any recurrence.

The company asked the NRC for the opportunity to provide its perspective on the apparent violation and to offer any other information that they believe the NRC should take into consideration in making an enforcement decision. No decision on the apparent violations or any enforcement action will be made at the conference. Those decisions will be made later by NRC officials.