NRC TO MEET WITH FIRSTENERGY TO DISCUSS ANNUAL ASSESSMENT
OF BEAVER VALLEY NUCLEAR POWER PLANT PERFORMANCE
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The meeting, which will be open to the public for observation, is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. in the jurors lounge at the Beaver County Courthouse, on Third Street in Beaver, Pa. Before the session is adjourned, NRC staff will be available to answer questions from the public on the safety performance of Beaver Valley, 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 I Office to FirstEnergy 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/bv_2002q4.pdf

“Overall, Beaver Valley Power Station operated in a manner that preserved public health and safety and fully met all cornerstone objectives,” the letter states. Based on an inspection finding of low to moderate safety significance (“white”), Beaver Valley received additional NRC scrutiny in the area of emergency preparedness during the last assessment period. The finding involved inadequate maintenance and testing of personal home alerting devices, as well as insufficient effort to fully resolve the problem since 1988. The devices are part of Beaver Valley’s public alert and notification system and ensure that anyone in areas where pole-mounted sirens may not be heard will be alerted in a timely fashion of a significant event at the plant.

FirstEnergy has notified the NRC of interim and planned corrective actions, including the installation of additional pole-mounted sirens, that would eliminate the need for the personal home alerting devices. The NRC conducted a supplemental inspection in February to evaluate the adequacy of those changes. The results of that review will help the agency to determine if any additional inspections are needed in that area.

In addition, the letter notes: “As you are aware, since the terrorist attacks of 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, 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 Beaver Valley 1 is available on the NRC web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/BV1/bv1_chart.html

Current performance information for Beaver Valley 2 is available on the NRC web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/BV2/bv2_chart.html

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Thursday, February 22, 2007