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-07-007 March 23, 2007

CONTACT: Viktoria Mitlyng (630) 829-9662 

NRC to Discuss 2006 Performance Assessment

for Kewaunee Nuclear Power Plant

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with representatives of Dominion Energy

Kewaunee on Thursday, March 29, to discuss the agency’s assessment of safety performance for last

year at the Kewaunee Nuclear Power Plant. The plant is located at Kewaunee, Wisc.

The meeting, which will be open to the public, is scheduled to begin at 

6 p.m. at the Kewaunee Municipal Building Council Chamber Conference Room, 401 5th Street. 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 Kewaunee 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/kewa_2006q4.pdf . 

The NRC’s assessment concluded that overall the Kewaunee plant operated safely during the

period but with moderate degradation in safety performance. 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 during 2006 were determined to be “green.” 

There was one “white” performance indicator reflecting the increased number of unplanned

plant shutdowns.

The letter also addresses two substantive cross-cutting areas; problem identification and

resolution and human performance. These issues are referred to as “substantive cross-cutting” because

they affect multiple areas of plant performance. 
The NRC’s letter to the utility refers to six inspection findings that are attributed to inadequate

problem evaluation and seven findings attributed to problems with human performance. The letter

states that both of these issues will remain open until the number of findings with the same crosscutting aspect is reduced or when the NRC gains confidence in the plant’s ability to identify and

address technical and human performance problems. 

As a result, in addition to the normal, baseline level of inspections during the upcoming year,

the NRC will conduct a follow-up inspection related to the “white” performance indicator. 

As part of the NRC’s continuing review of the substantive cross-cutting issues, an expanded

problem identification and resolution inspection will be conducted. In addition, the NRC will hold a

public meeting during which the utility has been asked to discuss its efforts and progress in addressing

these issues. 

Routine and focused 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. 

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

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/KEWA/kewa_chart.html .

###

News releases are available through a free list serve subscription at the following Web address: 

http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/listserver.html . The NRC homepage at www.nrc.gov also offers a SUBSCRIBE link. 

E-mail notifications are sent to subscribers when news releases are posted to NRC's Web site.