NRC TO MEET WITH ENTERGY OPERATIONS, INC. TO DISCUSS
PERFORMANCE OF RIVER BEND STATION
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The meeting, which will be open to the public for observation, is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. at the River Bend Station Training Center, 5485 U.S. Highway 61 (at the River Bend Station Plant Access Road), St. Francisville.

Before the session is adjourned, NRC staff will be available to answer questions from the public on the safety performance of the plant, as well as the role of the NRC in ensuring safe plant operation.

The performance period to be discussed is January 1 to December 31, 2002. In addition, NRC staff will provide an overview of how the agency’s Reactor Oversight Process works.

A letter sent from the NRC Region IV Office to representatives of Entergy, addresses the performance of the plant during the period and will serve as the basis for the meeting discussion. It is available on the NRC web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/rbs_2002q4.pdf

“Overall, River Bend Station operated in a manner that preserved public health and safety and fully met all cornerstone objectives,” the letter says. However, “Between 1985 and January 2002, River Bend Station did not provide emergency preparedness information to members of the public utilizing facilities within the licensee’s owner controlled area,” the letter states. A supplemental inspection was conducted in November 2002. “Your evaluation of the issue was satisfactory and appropriate corrective actions had been implemented,” the letter says.

“However,” the letter notes, “the significance of another finding, the failure to properly lock open a condensate valve that inadvertently closed following a reactor scram (automatic shutdown) in September 2002 and resulted in a loss of feedwater flow, is still under review as part of the Significance Determination Process.”

In addition, the letter notes: “As you are aware, since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the NRC has issued several Orders and threat advisories to enhance security capabilities and improve guard force readiness. We have conducted inspections to review your implementation of these requirements and have monitored your actions in response to changing threat conditions. For calendar year 2003, we plan to continue these inspections and conduct portions of the security baseline inspection program, as well as perform additional inspections to evaluate your compliance with new requirements that may be ordered.”

Current performance information for River Bend is available on the NRC web site at:
http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/RBS1/rbs1_chart.html

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Thursday, February 22, 2007