NRC TO DISCUSS PILGRIM NUCLEAR PLANT ANNUAL ASSESSMENT AT PUBLIC MEETING SCHEDULED FOR MARCH 26 IN PLYMOUTH, MASS.
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The results of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s annual safety performance assessment for the Pilgrim nuclear power plant, in Plymouth, Mass., will be discussed at a public meeting on Wednesday, March 26.

Scheduled to begin at 6 p.m., the session will take place at the Hilton Garden Inn, 4 Home Depot Drive, Plymouth.  Prior to the conclusion of the meeting, NRC staff will be available to answer questions from the public on the plant’s performance, as well as the agency’s oversight of the facility.

Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc., operates the boiling-water reactor, and representatives of the company will be on hand to discuss the assessment with NRC staff.

“Through a combination of inspection findings and performance indicators, we are able to develop a comprehensive picture of how nuclear power plants are performing with regard to safety,” said NRC Region I Administrator Samuel J. Collins.  “As part of our commitment to make the findings of our reviews accessible to the public, we hold meetings near each plant once a year to share the details of those assessments.  We look forward to the opportunity on March 25th to present that information for the Pilgrim nuclear power plant.”

The annual assessment letter for Pilgrim is available on the NRC web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/pilg_2007q4.pdf.  The notice for the meeting, with agenda attached, is available in the NRC’s Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) under accession number ML080710068.  The slides for the meeting are available under accession number ML080701135.  ADAMS is accessible at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams/web-based.html.  Help in using ADAMS is available via the NRC’s Public Document Room at 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, or by e-mail at PDR@NRC.GOV.

Overall, the Pilgrim plant operated safely during 2007.  When considering nuclear power plant performance, the NRC uses color-coded performance indicators and inspection findings.  The colors start with “green” and then increase to “white,” “yellow” or “red,” commensurate with the safety significance of the issues involved.

At the conclusion of last year, there were no performance indicators for Pilgrim that were other than “green” and no inspection findings that were “greater than green.”  Therefore, the plant will receive the baseline, or routine, level of inspections for the remainder of 2008.

Routine inspections are carried out by the two NRC Resident Inspectors assigned to the plant and by inspection specialists from the agency’s Region I Office in King of Prussia, Pa.  Among the areas of performance at Pilgrim to be inspected this year by NRC specialists are activities associated with emergency preparedness and radiological safety.

In addition, a Component Design Basis Inspection (CDBI) will be conducted by the NRC at the plant starting in late April.  CDBIs are team inspections that include a review of selected risk-significant plant components to determine if they are capable of performing their intended safety functions.  These inspections also evaluate relatively high-risk operator and plant staff actions and consider operating experience information.

Current performance information for Pilgrim is available on the NRC web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/PILG/pilg_chart.html.

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Tuesday, April 08, 2008