NRC NEWS

 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

 801 Warrenville Road

 Lisle IL 60532

 Web Site: http://www.nrc.gov

No. III-03-033 April 10, 2003

CONTACT: Jan Strasma (630) 829-9663 E-mail: opa3@nrc.gov

Viktoria Mitlyng (630) 829-9662 

NRC STAFF TO HOLD THREE MEETINGS APRIL 15 ON DAVIS-BESSE

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will hold two meetings on Tuesday, April 15, to 

review the status and adequacy of recent activities at the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station resulting

from the corrosion damage to the reactor vessel head. A third meeting that day will present

preliminary NRC inspection findings on the plant’s radiation protection program.

The plant, operated by FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company near Oak Harbor, Ohio, has

been shut down since February 16 of last year. 

The meeting covering the preliminary radiation protection findings will be at 9 a.m. (EDT) in

the Davis-Besse Administration Building, 5501 North State Route 2, near Oak Harbor. NRC

inspectors will present the results of their review of the company’s response to earlier NRC findings

associated with elevated worker radiation exposures during steam generator work in February of last

year. The inspection team also evaluated the company’s radiation protection program as one of the

topics to be considered before a decision on possible restart of the plant.

The public is invited to observe the business portion of the meeting between the NRC staff and

utility officials and will have an opportunity to make comments and ask questions of the NRC staff

before the meeting is adjourned. The report of the inspection will be issued in about 30 days. It will

be available on the NRC web site at: http://www.nrc.gov. Select “Davis-Besse” from the Key Topics

menu.

The other two meetings will be at the Camp Perry Clubhouse, 1000 Lawrence Road, Bldg. 600,

on Highway 2 west of Port Clinton. A picture identification is required to enter Camp Perry; the

guards will provide visitors with directions to the meeting site.

The first meeting will begin at 2 p.m. (EDT), when the NRC oversight panel, set up to

coordinate the agency’s activities associated with the corrosion damage to the reactor vessel head, will

meet with utility officials. The meeting will focus on the status of repairs at the plant, results of recent

NRC inspections and upcoming activities. The public is invited to observe the business portion of the

meeting and will have an opportunity to make comments and ask questions of the NRC staff before the

meeting is adjourned.

The second meeting will begin at 7 p.m. (EDT) for the oversight panel to update the public on

NRC’s activities related to the reactor vessel head degradation and will provide a summary of the

earlier meeting. The public will be invited to ask questions and make comments. 
Transcripts of both oversight panel meetings will be posted in several weeks on the NRC’s web

site.

The NRC oversight panel includes NRC management and staff from its Region III office in

Lisle, Illinois; the NRC Headquarters office in Rockville, Maryland; and the NRC Resident Inspector

Office at the Davis-Besse site.

Documents on the Davis-Besse corrosion issue, including further details on NRC’s oversight

panel activities, are posted on the NRC’s web site.

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