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-06-015 April 7, 2006

CONTACT: Jan Strasma (630) 829-9663 

Viktoria Mitlyng (630) 829-9662 

NRC TO DISCUSS 2005 PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT

FOR PRAIRIE ISLAND NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with representatives of Nuclear

Management Co. on Wednesday, April 12, to discuss the agency’s assessment of safety performance

for last year at the Prairie Island Nuclear Power Plant. The plant is located near Red Wing, Minn.

The meeting, which will be open to the public, is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. in Classroom 3

of the Prairie Island Training Center, 1660 Wakonade Dr. West, Welch, Minn. 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 Prairie Island 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/prai_2005q4.pdf.

The NRC’s assessment concluded that the Prairie Island 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 Prairie Island 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.

The safety significance of one issue from 2005 remains under review. The NRC has identified

an apparent violation of the agency’s emergency planning requirements which has been preliminarily

evaluated to be a “white” finding, one of low to moderate safety significance. The NRC found that the

plan’s emergency plan did not meet the requirements for actions to be taken in the event of flooding at
the plant. Once the final safety significance has been determined, additional inspections may be

scheduled to review the issue.

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, security, maintenance, fire protection, dry cask spent fuel storage, and a

review of the planned replacement of the Unit 1 reactor vessel head.

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

(Unit 1) http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/PRAI1/prai1_chart.html and (Unit 2)

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/PRAI2/prai2_chart.html.

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