NRC ISSUES MID-CYCLE ASSESSMENTS FOR NATION’S NUCLEAR PLANTS
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The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued mid-cycle assessment letters to the nation’s 104 operating commercial nuclear power plants. The agency’s most recent assessments show all the plants continue to operate safely.

“We ensure nuclear power plants are safe, inspecting them and rating their performance regularly, as part of our mission to protect people and the environment,” said Fred Brown, Director of the Division of Inspection and Regional Support in the NRC’s Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. “The latest round of assessments shows that 90 percent of the nation’s commercial nuclear power plants require only the basic level of attention by the agency. This is an improvement from a year ago, when only 72 percent of the plants required this lower level of oversight.”

If a nuclear power plant’s performance declines, the NRC assigns additional resources to ensure the plant operator is taking the steps necessary to correct the situation. Only one plant, Palo Verde in Arizona, requires the NRC’s highest level of attention, which will include additional inspections this fall to confirm the plant’s performance issues are being addressed. Five plants require significantly increased NRC attention, and another five plants get some additional attention. These numbers are significantly lower than last year’s mid-cycle assessments.

A list of each plant’s current performance rating is available on the NRC Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/actionmatrix_summary.html.

Updated information on plant performance is posted to the NRC Web site every quarter. In addition to the mid-cycle assessment letters, the plants will also receive annual assessment letters in March 2009. The mid-cycle assessment letters sent to each licensee are available on the NRC Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/index.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.

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Thursday, September 04, 2008