NRC NEWS

 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

 2443 Warrenville Road

 Lisle IL 60532

 Web Site: http://www.nrc.gov E-mail: opa3@nrc.gov

No. III-06-014 April 6, 2006

CONTACT: Jan Strasma (630) 829-9663 

Viktoria Mitlyng (630) 829-9662 

NRC TO DISCUSS 2005 PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT

FOR BYRON NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with representatives of Exelon Generation

Co. on Monday, April 10, to discuss the agency’s assessment of safety performance for last year at the

company’s Byron Nuclear Power Plant. The plant is located at Byron, Ill.

The meeting, which will be open to the public, is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. at the Byron

Station Training Center, Room 107, 4448 N. German Church Road, Byron. The NRC staff will

present the results of the assessment and be available to respond to questions or comments from the

public before the close of the meeting. 

“The NRC continually reviews the performance of the Byron plant and the nation’s other

commercial nuclear power facilities,” NRC Region III Administrator James Caldwell said. “This

meeting will provide an opportunity for a discussion of our annual assessment of safety performance

with the company and with local officials and residents who live near the plant. Our goal is to explain

the NRC oversight process and make as much information as possible available to the public regarding

our regulation of these facilities.”

A letter sent from the NRC Region III 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: http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/byro_2005q4.pdf .

The NRC’s assessment concluded that the Byron plant operated safely during the period. The

NRC uses color-coded inspection findings and performance indicators to assess nuclear plant

performance. The colors start with “green” and then increase to “white,” “yellow” or “red,”

commensurate with the safety significance of the issues involved. 

All of the inspection findings and performance indicators for Byron during 2005 were

determined to be “green.” As a result of this performance, the NRC will conduct the normal, baseline

level of inspections during the upcoming year.

During the year NRC inspectors identified several instances, all of very low safety significance,

in which personnel performance was not adequate. These human performance issues are considered

“cross cutting” in that they potentially affect multiple aspects of plant performance. The NRC intends

to focus on these human performance issues during an inspection this year.
Routine inspections are performed by two NRC Resident Inspectors assigned to the plant and

by inspection specialists from the Region III Office in Lisle, Ill., and the agency’s headquarters in

Rockville, Md. Among the areas of plant operations to be inspected this year by NRC specialists are

emergency preparedness, radioactive waste processing and transportation, security, and radiation

protection.

Current performance information for Byron is available on the NRC’s web site at: 

(Unit 1) http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/BYRO1/byro1_chart.html and (Unit 2)

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/BYRO2/byro2_chart.html .

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