NRC NEWS

 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 

 Office of Public Affairs, Region I

 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pa.

 Web Site: http://www.nrc.gov/OPA

No. I-05-027 May 5, 2005

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

Neil Sheehan, 610/337-5331

NRC TO DISCUSS 2004 PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT

FOR OYSTER CREEK NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

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

LLC, on Thursday, May 12, to discuss the agency’s annual assessment of safety performance at the

Oyster Creek nuclear power plant. The period of performance to be discussed is Jan. 1 to Dec. 31,

2004.

AmerGen operates the plant, located in Lacey Township, N.J.

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

the Ocean County Administration Building, Room 119, 101 Hooper Ave., Toms River, N.J. 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.

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

commercial nuclear power facilities,” NRC Region I Administrator Samuel J. Collins 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.”

Overall, the Oyster Creek 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.

As of the fourth quarter of 2004, all of Oyster Creek’s performance indicators were “green.” 

However, the plant had one “white,” or of low to moderate significance, inspection finding. That

finding, issued in the first quarter of 2004, involved a failure of a 4,160-volt electrical cable as a result

of ineffective corrective actions for prior similar failures. An NRC supplemental inspection conducted

in September of last year in response to that finding concluded AmerGen’s corrective actions for the

problem were appropriate. Therefore, the finding has been closed out.
Also, an inspection finding preliminarily classified as “white” was identified in January of this

year. It involved an inappropriate change in one of the plant’s emergency action levels, that is, the

point during a severe accident at which a General Emergency and/or Site Area Emergency would be

declared. The finding was finalized on March 1, 2005. That issue remains open pending an NRC

supplemental inspection to assess AmerGen’s root cause analysis and corrective actions for the

problem.

In addition, the NRC has identified a substantive cross-cutting issue in the area of problem

identification and resolution at Oyster Creek. A cross-cutting issue is one that affects several different

areas of performance. The issue is based on five NRC inspection findings stemming from a failure by

plant staff to fully implement corrective actions developed for identified problems. The NRC plans to

closely monitor AmerGen’s corrective actions during routine inspections and inspections targeted at

the area of problem identification and resolution.

Routine inspections are performed by two NRC resident inspectors assigned to the plants and

by inspection 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 this year are

radiological safety, fire protection and emergency preparedness.

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: http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/oc_2004q4.pdf . The

notice and agenda for the annual assessment meeting are available in the NRC’s Agencywide

Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) under accession number ML050960243. 

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 1-800-397-4209 or

301-415-4737 or by e-mail at PDR@nrc.gov .

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

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/OC/oc_chart.html .

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