NRC NEWS

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, REGION III

801 Warrenville Road

Lisle IL 60532

No. III-00-37 July 6, 2000

CONTACT: Jan Strasma (630)829-9663/e-mail: rjs2@nrc.gov

Pam Alloway-Mueller (630)829-9662/e-mail: pla@nrc.gov

NRC TO HOLD IOWA PUBLIC MEETINGS JULY 13-14 ON REACTOR OVERSIGHT

CHANGES AND LATEST ASSESSMENT OF DUANE ARNOLD NUCLEAR PLANT

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hold two public meetings in Iowa to discuss, on July

13, the NRC’s reactor oversight process and, on July 14, the latest performance review results for the

Duane Arnold Energy Center. The nuclear power plant, operated by IES Utilities Inc., is located in

Palo, Iowa.

The July 13 meeting will begin at 7 p.m. CDT at Cedar Rapids City Hall. The meeting will be

held on the fourth floor of the City Hall which is located at 50 Second Ave. Bridge in Cedar Rapids.

NRC officials will describe the new oversight program which began at the Duane Arnold plant in

April. Members of the public will have the opportunity to ask questions during the meeting.

The new oversight process uses more objective, timely, and safety-significant criteria in

assessing performance, while seeking to more effectively and efficiently regulate the industry. It also

takes into account improvements in the performance of the nuclear industry over the past twenty years.

Under the new oversight program, inspections by NRC resident inspectors and regional officebased personnel are supplemented by statistical measures of plant activities called performance

indicators. These performance indicators measure important safety aspects of plant operations,

including the viability of redundant safety systems, emergency planning, radiation protection, and

security measures.

Inspection findings and performance indicators for each nuclear power plant are posted on the

NRC’s internet web site every three months. The safety significance of each inspection finding or

performance indicator is assessed with a color coding -- green, white, yellow, or red.

The NRC response to the inspection findings and performance indicators will be based on the

assessment. A green finding would receive normal NRC oversight, while white, yellow, or red

assessments would receive increasing NRC involvement. Multiple red findings could result in a plant

shutdown.

The second NRC public meeting will be held at 9 a.m. CDT Friday, July 14, in the Training

Building at the Duane Arnold Energy Center, 3363 DAEC Road in Palo. During the meeting, NRC

staff members will discuss Duane Arnold's latest plant performance review results.
The Plant Performance Reviews (PPRs) are an interim measure the NRC has used to assess

nuclear power plant safety while a reactor oversight process was being developed. The primary

purpose of the PPRs is to evaluate safety performance information and identify any changes in plant

performance so the NRC can allocate inspection resources appropriately. The text of each PPR letter,

including the one on Duane Arnold, is available from the NRC Office of Public Affairs and has been

posted at: <http://www.nrc.gov/OPA/ppr> on the NRC web site.

Current performance information for the Duane Arnold Energy Center is available on the NRC

web site at: <http://www.nrc.gov/ras>.

A plain language summary of the new reactor oversight process is available from the NRC Office of

Public Affairs or on the web site at <http://www.nrc.gov/OPA/primer.htm>.

####