NRC NEWS

 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

 Office of Public Affairs, Region IV

 611 Ryan Plaza Drive - Suite 400

 Arlington TX 76011-4005

No. IV-03-016 April 2, 2003

CONTACT: Victor Dricks E-mail: opa4@nrc.gov

Phone: 817-860-8128

 NRC TO MEET WITH ENTERGY OPERATIONS, INC. TO DISCUSS

 PERFORMANCE OF RIVER BEND STATION

 

 Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with representatives of Entergy Operations,

Inc, on Thursday, April 10, to discuss the results of the agency’s annual assessment of safety

performance at River Bend Station. The facility is located near St. Francisville, LA., and is operated by

Entergy. 

 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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