NRC TO DISCUSS ANNUAL ASSESSMENT FOR MILLSTONE NUCLEAR PLANT AT TWO PUBLIC MEETINGS SET FOR APRIL 17 IN WATERFORD, CONN.
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The results of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s annual safety performance assessment for the Millstone nuclear power plant will be the subject of two public meetings on Thursday, April 17.  Millstone, which is the site of two operating pressurized-water reactors, is located in Waterford, Conn., and operated by Dominion Nuclear Connecticut, Inc.

At 2 p.m., NRC staff will meet with representatives of Dominion to discuss the assessment, which covers the period from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2007, and was documented in a March 3rd letter to the company.  The session will be held at Waterford Town Hall, 15 Rope Ferry Road, Waterford.

Then at 6 p.m., NRC staff will present the review results to Connecticut’s Nuclear Energy Advisory Council (NEAC).  That meeting will also take place at Waterford Town Hall.

Prior to the conclusion of both meetings, NRC staff will be available to answer questions from the public on the plant’s performance during 2007, as well as the agency’s oversight of the facility.

“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 April 17th to present that information for the Millstone nuclear power plant.”

The annual assessment letter for Millstone is available on the NRC web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/mill_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 ML080920073.  The slides for the meeting can be found under accession number ML080880180.  The notice for the meeting with NEAC, with agenda attached, is available under accession number ML080920844.  The slides for the meeting with NEAC can be found under accession number ML080880083.  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 Millstone units 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 Millstone 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 three 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 Millstone to be inspected this year by NRC specialists are activities associated with emergency preparedness, radiological safety and fire protection.  In addition, the NRC will conduct inspections related to dissimilar metal butt welds on the Unit 2 reactor coolant system.   Current performance information for Millstone Unit 2 is available on the NRC web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/MILL2/mill2_chart.html.  Current performance information for Millstone Unit 3 is available on the NRC web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/MILL3/mill3_chart.html.

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Tuesday, April 15, 2008