NRC NEWS

 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

 OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS -- REGION I

 475 Allendale Road

 King of Prussia, PA 19406

No. I-03-030 April 10, 2003

CONTACT: Diane Screnci, (610) 337-5330 E-mail: opa1@nrc.gov

Neil A. Sheehan, (610) 337-5331

NRC TO DISCUSS ANNUAL PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT

OF NINE MILE POINT NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

 Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with representatives of Nine Mile Point

Nuclear Station, LLC, on Tuesday, April 15, to discuss the results of the agency’s annual assessment of

safety performance at the Nine Mile Point Units 1 and 2 nuclear power plants. The facility is located

in Scriba, N.Y.

 The meeting, which will be open to the public for observation, is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.

at the Joint News Center for the plant, located at the Oswego County Airport, 2262 N.Y. State Route

176 in Fulton, N.Y. Before the session is adjourned, NRC staff will be available to answer questions

from the public on the safety performance of the Nine Mile Point units, 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 plant officials addresses the performance of the

facility 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/nmp_2002q4.pdf

 Overall, Nine Mile Point operated safely and met all cornerstone objectives, the letter

indicates. (Cornerstones are measures of plant performance.) Therefore, the NRC plans to conduct

only baseline inspections at the site through March 31, 2004.

 During the last assessment period, the NRC conducted a supplemental inspection at Nine

Mile Point to review the company’s response in two areas: Unit 1 “High-Pressure Safety Injection

Unavailability,” which refers to the operability of a type of emergency reactor cooling system, and Unit

2 “Unplanned Scrams per 7000 Critical Hours,” which refers to the number of unplanned shutdowns of

the reactor. The inspection determined that Nine Mile Point had performed comprehensive evaluations

for the causes of both issues. However, the NRC will continue to monitor the company’s progress

toward addressing those issues through the baseline inspection program.
 The letter also 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 Nine Mile Point Unit 1 is available on the NRC web site

at: http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/NMP1/nmp1_chart.html

 Current performance information for Nine Mile Point Unit 2 is available on the NRC web site

at: http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/NMP2/nmp2_chart.html