NRC NEWS

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

 Office of Public Affairs, Region I

 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pa. 19406

 www.nrc.gov

No. I-04-024 April 26, 2004

CONTACT: Diane Screnci, 610/337-5330 Email: opa1@nrc.gov

Neil Sheehan, 610/337-5331

NRC TO DISCUSS ANNUAL PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT

OF SUSQUEHANNA NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

 Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with representatives of PPL

Susquehanna, LLC, on Tuesday, April 27, to discuss the results of the agency’s annual

assessment of safety performance at the Susquehanna nuclear power plant. PPL operates the

twin-reactor plant, which is located in Berwick, Pa.

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

6 p.m. at the Susquehanna Energy Information Center, 634 Salem Boulevard in Berwick. Before

the session is adjourned, NRC staff will be available to answer questions from the public on the

plant’s safety performance, as well as the role of the NRC in ensuring safe operation of the

facility.

 The performance period to be discussed is January 1 to December 31, 2003. In

addition, NRC staff will provide a brief 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 plant during the period and will serve as the basis for the meeting discussion. It is

available on the NRC web site at:

www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/susq_2003q4.pdf .

 Overall, the Susquehanna plant operated safely and met all cornerstone objectives

during the period. (Cornerstones are program areas where NRC measures plant safety

performance.) As a result, the plant will receive baseline-level inspections through Sept. 30,

2005.

 The NRC has identified a substantive cross-cutting issue at the Susquehanna plant in

the area of problem identification and resolution. It involves weak evaluations of some technical

issues and is based on six “green,” or very low safety, inspection findings in which such

evaluations either did not identify relevant aspects of problems or did not specify adequate
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corrective actions to prevent recurrence. Because the findings highlight the need for

improvement in this area, the NRC will assess this issue through the baseline inspection

program, particularly in the periodic case reviews associated with problem identification and

resolution inspection efforts.

 In addition, the NRC has closed a previous cross-cutting issue identified in the midcycle 2003 letter regarding the plant. The issue was in the area of human performance and

involved lapses in following procedures.

 With regard to security issues, the NRC has issued several orders and threat advisories

to enhance security capabilities and improve guard force readiness since the terrorist attacks on

September 11, 2001. The agency has also conducted inspections to review the implementation of

these requirements and has monitored the action of plant operators in response to changing threat

conditions. The NRC will continue security inspections during 2004.

 Current performance information for Susquehanna Unit 1 is available on the NRC web

site at: www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/SUSQ1/susq1_chart.html .

 Current performance information for Susquehanna Unit 2 is available on the NRC web

site at: www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/SUSQ2/susq2_chart.html .

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