Home > Electronic Reading Room > Document Collections > News Releases > 2000 > I-00-006

NRC NEWS U. S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, REGION I 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pa. 19406

I-00-06

January 19, 2000

NRC to Hold "Roundtable Discussion" on New Reactor Oversight Program at Public Meeting in Pennsville, N.J.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with invited community leaders, industry representatives and members of public interest groups on Wednesday, January 26, for a "roundtable" discussion of the agency's new reactor oversight process. A pilot program for the new process is currently in use at the Salem 1 and 2 and Hope Creek nuclear power plants in Hancock's Bridge, N.J. The plants are operated by Public Service Electric and Gas Company.

The meeting will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Hampton Inn on Route 49 South (near the Delaware Memorial Bridge), in Pennsville, N.J. The roundtable discussion portion of the meeting will be open for public observation. Members of the public will have an opportunity to present their views to NRC officials afterward.

Salem 1 and 2 and Hope Creek are three of 13 plants at nine sites nationwide participating in the pilot program, which began June 1 to allow for testing and adjustments to the new oversight process. A public meeting is planned for each site. Following a trial period lasting several months, to determine if revisions are needed, the process is expected to be extended next year to all 103 U.S. commercial nuclear power reactors.

The NRC is seeking input from the public on the new process, which is designed to maintain safety, improve public confidence, increase efficiency and effectiveness, and reduce unnecessary regulatory burden. The changes reflect, in part, improvements in nuclear power plant safety performance over the past 20 years. Plants that perform well generally will have less regulatory oversight than plants that have problems.

In addition to Salem and Hope Creek, the pilot plant sites are: the James A. FitzPatrick plant (Scriba, N.Y.), Shearon Harris (near Raleigh, N.C.), Sequoyah 1 and 2 (near Chattanooga, Tenn.), Prairie Island 1 and 2 ( near Minneapolis, Minn.), Quad Cities 1 and 2 (near Moline, Ill.), Ft. Calhoun (near Omaha, Neb.), and Cooper (near Nebraska City, Neb.).

Information on the new oversight program, including a list of questions that will be discussed at the roundtable meeting, is available on the NRC web site at: www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/index.html .

#