NRC ISSUES ANNUAL ASSESSMENTS FOR ALL NUCLEAR PLANTS

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued annual assessment letters for all operating nuclear power plants and posted them to its web site.

The assessment letters sent to each licensee are available from the NRC Office of Public Affairs, at http://www.nrc.gov/OPA/ppr on the NRC web site, and through ADAMS, the Agencywide Documents Access and Management System.

All commercial nuclear power plants (with the exception of the two D.C. Cook plants, due to their extended shutdown) are now being evaluated under the revised reactor oversight process initiated on April 2, 2000. The NRC expects to make additional refinements to the program based on lessons learned from the first year of initial implementation.

The revised reactor oversight process reflects several important themes for all of NRC's activities -- an even greater focus on safety, an effort to improve objectivity and timeliness, a commitment to stakeholder involvement, and improved transparency of agency activities for both licensees and the general public.

As part of the new program, each plant will receive an assessment letter every six months: a mid-cycle review letter and the annual assessment letter. Updated information on plant performance is being posted to the NRC web site every quarter.

The NRC is in the process of aligning the inspection and assessment cycle with the calendar year. In order to transition to a calendar year, the current inspection and assessment cycle will consist of three quarters (the second, third and fourth calendar quarters of calendar year 2001). The next annual assessment letters will be issued in March 2002, and the next mid-cycle review letters in September 2002.

Public meetings at each plant are planned. Details of the meetings, which will be open to the public, will be announced as they are scheduled.

Details about plant performance can be found at:
http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/index.html on the NRC web site.

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Thursday, February 22, 2007