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-03-019 April 7, 2003

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

Phone: 817-860-8128

 

 NRC TO MEET WITH ENERGY NORTHWEST TO DISCUSS

 PERFORMANCE OF COLUMBIA GENERATING STATION 

 

 Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with representatives of Energy Northwest, on

Friday, April 11, to discuss the results of the agency’s annual assessment of safety performance at

Columbia Generating Station. The facility is located near Richland, Wa., and is operated by Energy

Northwest. 

 The meeting, which will be open to the public for observation, is scheduled to begin at 6:30

p.m. at the Richland Public Library Gallery, 955 Northgate Drive, Richland, Wa.

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 Energy Northwest, 

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/wnp_2002q4.pdf

"Overall, Columbia Generating Station operated in a manner that preserved public health and

safety and fully met all cornerstone objectives," the letter says. "While plant performance for the most

recent quarter is within the Regulatory Response Column of the Action Matrix, there was an additional

safety significant inspection finding that was present during the first two quarters of the assessment

cycle,” the letter says. “During the first two quarters, plant performance was within the Degraded

Cornerstone Column of the Action Matrix based on a finding of substantial safety significance

(Yellow) in the Emergency Preparedness Cornerstone that was identified in the third quarter of 2001.”

The finding involved the failure to maintain adequate emergency plans and procedures for the

plant. The NRC staff performed a supplemental inspection and verified the adequacy of corrective
actions taken by Energy Northwest. As a result, the plant exited the Degraded Cornerstone Column

and entered the Regulatory Response Column in July 2002. 

However, despite these improvements, human performance issues continue to be a concern and

the NRC staff will review licensee efforts in this area as part of the baseline inspection program,

including a problem identification and resolution inspection in June.

In addition, the letter 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 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 Columbia Generating Station is available on the NRC

web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/WASH2/wash2_chart.html

###