NRC TO DISCUSS 2007 PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT
FOR DAVIS-BESSE NUCLEAR POWER PLANT
Printable Version

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with representatives of FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co. Tuesday, May 13, to discuss the agency’s assessment of safety performance for last year at the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Plant. The plant is located in Oak Harbor, Ohio.

The meeting, which will be open to the public, is scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m. EDT at the Davis-Besse Site Energy Education Center, 5501 North State Route 2, Oak Harbor. 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 Davis-Besse plant and the nation’s other commercial nuclear power facilities,” NRC Region III Administrator James Caldwell said. “This meeting allows us to discuss our annual assessment of safety performance with the company and with local officials and area residents. Our goal is to explain how the NRC works and make sure as much information as possible is available on our regulation of these facilities.”

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/davi_2007q4.pdf.

The NRC’s assessment concluded that the Davis-Besse plant 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.          

All of the inspection findings and performance indicators for Davis-Besse during 2007 were determined to be “green.”  As a result of this performance, the NRC will conduct the normal, baseline level of inspections during the upcoming year.

The NRC letter to the utility identified some deficiencies in the area of maintaining proper engineering calculations and designs for plant equipment. The utility took actions to correct these deficiencies. The NRC’s review of the utility’s actions showed the problems were adequately addressed.

FirstEnergy has been conducting annual independent assessments of Engineering, Corrective Action, Operations and Safety Culture at the plant since 2004 under the terms of an NRC Confirmatory Order. The NRC will continue to conduct inspection activities to review these assessments, in addition to the baseline inspection program. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will also continue to review the utility's progress in meeting the terms of NRC Confirmatory Order issued in 2007 regarding the company’s actions to ensure the prompt sharing of information of potential regulatory interest to the agency.

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 agency’s headquarters in Rockville, Md. Among the areas of plant operations to be inspected this year by NRC specialists are emergency preparedness, radiation protection, and reactor system operations.

Current performance information for Davis-Besse is available on the NRC’s web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/DAVI/davi_chart.html.

NRC news releases are available through a free listserv subscription at the following Web address: http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/listserver.html. The NRC Home Page at www.nrc.gov also offers a Subscribe to News link in the News & Information menu. E-mail notifications are sent to subscribers when news releases are posted to NRC's Web Site.

Privacy Policy | Site Disclaimer
Monday, May 05, 2008