NRC NEWS

 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 

 Office of Public Affairs, Region I

 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pa.

www.nrc.gov

 

No. I-06-018 March 29, 2006

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

Neil Sheehan, 610/337-5331

NRC TO DISCUSS 2005 PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT

FOR THREE MILE ISLAND 1 NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with representatives of AmerGen Energy Co.,

LLC, on Wednesday, April 5, to discuss the agency’s annual assessment of safety performance at the

Three Mile Island 1 nuclear power plant. The period of performance to be discussed is Jan. 1 to Dec.

31, 2005.

AmerGen operates the plant, which is located in Middletown, Pa.

The meeting, which will be open to the public for observation, is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. at

Middletown Borough Hall, 60 W. Emaus St., Middletown. 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

agency’s role in ensuring safe operation of the facility.

“As we do every year, we have carefully reviewed the safety performance of the Three Mile

Island 1 nuclear power plant during the previous calendar year,” NRC Region I Administrator Samuel

J. Collins said. “The meeting on April 5th will afford the public a chance to learn more about the

results of our assessment and to pose any questions they might have regarding plant performance or our

oversight activities.”

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/tmi_2005q4.pdf . The

meeting notice, with the meeting agenda attached, is available in the NRC’s Agencywide Documents

Access and Management System (ADAMS) under accession number ML060750799. The NRC slides

for the meeting can be found under accession number ML060750803. ADAMS is accessible via the

agency’s web site at: www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html . Help in using ADAMS is available by

contacting the NRC’s Public Document Room at 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, or by e-mail at

PDR@NRC.GOV . 

Overall, Three Mile Island 1 operated safely during the period. The NRC uses color-coded

inspection findings and performance indicators to assess nuclear power 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 performance indicators for Three Mile Island 1 were “green” during 2005. With

regard to inspection findings, they were all “green” with the exception of a “white” finding identified in

the second quarter of last year. That finding involved some members of the plant’s emergency

response organization not completing required annual classroom training. The NRC confirmed during

the initial inspection that the company had begun to take actions to address the issue. NRC then

conducted a supplemental inspection during the week of Feb. 27, 2006, to determine if the issue had

been addressed. The results will be issued within a few weeks. The finding will remain open at least

through the first quarter of this year.

Routine inspections are performed by two NRC Resident Inspectors assigned to the plant and

by specialists from the Region I Office in King of Prussia, Pa., and the agency’s headquarters in

Rockville, Md. Among the areas of plant operations to be inspected during the next year by NRC

specialists are problem identification and resolution, emergency planning and radiological safety.

Current performance information for Three Mile Island 1 is available on the NRC web site at:

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/TMI1/tmi1_chart.html .

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