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-06-023 April 14, 2006

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

Neil Sheehan, 610/337-5331

NRC TO DISCUSS 2005 PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT

FOR CALVERT CLIFFS NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with representatives of Constellation

Generation Group, LLC, on Thursday, April 20, to discuss the agency’s annual assessment of safety

performance at the Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant. The period of performance to be discussed is

Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2005.

Constellation operates the twin-reactor plant, which is located in Lusby (Calvert County), Md.

The meeting, which will be open to the public for observation, is scheduled to begin at 6:30

p.m. at the Holiday Inn Express, 355 Merrimac Court in Prince Frederick, Md. 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 Calvert Cliffs

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

said. “The meeting on April 20th 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: http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/calv_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 ML060740658. The NRC slides

are available in ADAMS under accession number ML060940405. 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 .

Overall, the Calvert Cliffs 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 plant as of the end of 2005 were determined to be “green,” Calvert Cliffs will receive a baseline

(or routine) level of inspections during the upcoming assessment period.

Calvert Cliffs had a “white” inspection finding open during the first quarter of last year. That

finding involved a relay failure that caused the steam dump valves to remain full open following a Unit

2 reactor trip in January 2004. A supplemental inspection, conducted in January 2005, determined that

the root causes for the performance deficiencies were understood and that completed and planned

corrective actions were reasonable to address the related causes. Based on that information, the finding

was closed.

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 the replacement of reactor vessel

heads at both units and the dry cask storage for spent fuel at the facility.

Current performance information for Calvert Cliffs 1 is available on the NRC web site at:

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/CALV1/calv1_chart.html .

Current performance information for Calvert Cliffs 2 is available on the NRC web site at:

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/CALV2/calv2_chart.html .

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