NRC CITES EXELON NUCLEAR GENERATION COMPANY
FOR VIOLATION OF LOW TO MODERATE RISK SIGNIFICANCE AT PEACH BOTTOM

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has determined that a violation of NRC regulations at Exelon Generation Company's Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station, in Delta, Pa., should be characterized as "white," meaning that it is an issue of low to moderate importance to safety but one which may require additional NRC inspections.

The violation concerned several occasions when the public address (PA) and evacuation alarm (EA) system was not maintained or did not function properly in accordance with the plant's emergency plan and implementing procedures. The issue has low to moderate safety significance because a failed or degraded emergency onsite communication system would prevent the license from properly informing and alerting onsite personnel of protective actions and could unnecessarily delay a site evacuation.

Under the significance determination process, NRC officials classify certain conditions at nuclear power plants as being one of four colors which delineate increasing levels of severity, beginning with green and progressing in severity to white, yellow or red.

A preliminary "white" finding was described in an inspection report dated August 3 of this year. The letter transmitting the report provided the company with an opportunity to either request a regulatory conference to discuss this issue or to respond in writing. Exelon sent a written response, indicating the company did not contest the characterization of the risk significance of this finding.

In a letter transmitting the final significance determination and notice of violation, Region I Administrator Hubert J. Miller said, "This problem with the PA and EA system addressed in this letter is just one of a number of Emergency Preparedness (EP) related problems that have surfaced in the past several months." He said the company has informed him that it has "initiated actions to resolve these problems and strengthen EP performance in the Exelon MidAtlantic regional operating group."

Because this violation falls into the regulatory response band of the NRC's oversight process, Peach Bottom may be subject to increased NRC oversight such as additional meetings or inspections. The agency will determine the most appropriate response and notify Exelon once that determination has been made.

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Thursday, February 22, 2007