Press Release-IV-10-011, NRC Schedules Open House to Discuss the 2009 Performance of River Bend Nuclear Station

Press Release-IV-10-011: NRC Schedules Open House to Discuss the 2009 Performance of River Bend Nuclear Station

ML100950623
Person / Time
Site:	River Bend
Issue date:	04/05/2010
From:	Office of Public Affairs Region IV
To:
Category:Press Release
References
Press Release-IV-10-012
Download: ML100950623 (2)

Text

NRC NEWS U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Region III 2443 Warrenville Road Lisle IL 60532 No. III-10-010 April 13, 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 KEWAUNEE NUCLEAR POWER PLANT The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with representatives of Dominion Energy Kewaunee Inc. on Wednesday, April 21, to discuss the agencys assessment of safety performance for last year at the Kewaunee Nuclear Power Plant. The plant is located in Kewaunee, Wisc.

The meeting, which will be open to the public, is scheduled to begin at 6:00 p.m. CDT at the Kewaunee Municipal Building, Council Chamber Conference Room, 401 5th St., Kewaunee. 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 Kewaunee 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/kewa_2009q4.pdf.

The NRCs assessment concluded Kewaunee operated safely during the period. 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.

NRC inspectors identified one white finding of low to moderate safety significance in 2008.

This finding involved the inability of effluent radiation monitors to accurately signal utility staff to declare an Alert if radiation release levels were rising. An Alert is the second lowest of four levels

of emergency classifications used by the NRC. This finding was closed in June 2009 after the NRC conducted increased inspections and reviewed the utilitys actions to correct the problem and prevent recurrence. The letter also states that this failure could have potentially delayed the ability of state and local officials to respond to an emergency.

Kewaunee will continue to receive the detailed inspection regime used by the NRC for plants.

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 specialists are emergency preparedness, radiation monitoring and problem identification and resolution.

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

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/KEWA/kewa_chart.html.

News releases are available through a free listserv 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.