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-06-034 May 24, 2006

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

Neil Sheehan, 610/337-5331

NRC TO DISCUSS 2005 PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT

FOR JAMES A. FITZPATRICK NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with representatives of Entergy Nuclear

Northeast on Wednesday, May 31, to discuss the agency’s annual assessment of safety performance at

the James A. FitzPatrick nuclear power plant. The period of performance to be discussed is January 1

to December 31, 2005.

Entergy operates the plant, which is located in Scriba, N.Y.

The meeting, which will be open to the public for observation, is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. at

the plant’s Joint News Center, which is located at the Oswego County Airport, on County Route 176 in

Fulton, N.Y. 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. 

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

nuclear power plant during the previous calendar year,” NRC Region I Administrator Samuel J. Collins

said. “The meeting on May 31st 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.”

Overall, the FitzPatrick plant 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. Because all of the inspection findings and performance indicators

for the facility during 2005 were determined to be “green,” the plant will receive a baseline (or routine)

level of inspections during the upcoming assessment period. 

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

by inspection specialists from the Region I Office in King of Prussia, Pa. Among the areas of plant

operations to be inspected during the next year by NRC specialists are problem identification and

resolution, radiological safety and permanent plant modifications. 
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/fitz_2005q4.pdf . The

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

and Management System (ADAMS) under accession number ML060860280. The NRC slides will be

available in ADAMS under accession number ML061170003. ADAMS is accessible via the agency’s

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

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

PDR@NRC.GOV .

Current performance information for FitzPatrick is available on the NRC web site at:

www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/FITZ/fitz_chart.html .

###