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NRC NEWS U. S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, REGION IV 611 Ryan Plaza Drive, Suite 400, Arlington TX 76011

NRC to Hold Workshop on Its New Reactor Inspection And Assessment Program

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hold a workshop March 14-16 at the Wyndham Arlington Hotel, Arlington, Texas, to discuss its revised reactor oversight program with industry representatives in preparation for the program's nationwide implementation in early April.

Since June of last year, 13 reactors at 9 sites throughout the U.S. have participated in a six-month pilot oversight program. From Region IV, these included Fort Calhoun Station and Cooper Nuclear Station in Nebraska. NRC staff members have been assessing and modifying the new inspection program before its nationwide expansion. The three-day workshop in Arlington will give industry representatives at the non-pilot plants in the NRC's Region IV an opportunity to become familiar with the new program. The workshop also is open to the public.

Registration will be held from 8 to 10 a.m. on the first day of the workshop, March 14, at the Arlington Wyndham, 1500 Convention Center Dr. The workshop will run from 10 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. on March 14, from 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. on March 15 and from 8 a.m. until 4:15 p.m. on March 16. It will feature presentations from NRC regional and headquarters staff with the first day focusing on a program overview and performance indicators, which are measurements of a plant's performance. The second day will focus on the baseline inspection program, supplemental inspections, and the significance determination process, which will be used by the agency to gauge the safety importance of events and issues. The final day will focus again on the significance determination process, and presenters also will discuss enforcement and the assessment process under the new program.

The revised reactor oversight program takes into account improvements in the nuclear industry and the agency's need to regulate the industry effectively with existing resources and staff. Under the new program, the NRC will apply more objective and timely criteria in assessing a plant's performance, while focusing agency resources on areas that have the greatest impact on safe plant operation.

Information about the revised reactor oversight process and the pilot program is available on the Internet at: http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/index.html.

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