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-07-017 April 16, 2007

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

Neil Sheehan, 610/337-5331

NRC TO DISCUSS 2006 ASSESSMENTS FOR SALEM, HOPE CREEK NUCLEAR PLANTS

AT PUBLIC MEETING SCHEDULED FOR APRIL 23

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s annual assessment of safety performance at the Salem

and Hope Creek nuclear power plants, in Hancocks Bridge (Salem County), N.J., will be the subject of

a public meeting on Monday, April 23.

NRC staff will meet with representatives of plant owner PSEG Nuclear, LLC, at 7 p.m. to

discuss the assessments, which cover the period from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2006, and were documented in

a March 2nd letter to the company. The session will take place at the Bridgeport Holiday Inn, One

Pureland Drive in Swedesboro, N.J. The hotel is located off Exit 10 of Interstate 295.

Before the meeting is adjourned, NRC staff will be available to answer questions from the

public on the performance of the plants, as well as the role of the NRC in providing oversight of plant

safety.

“Each year we size up plant performance during the previous calendar year, with the

overarching goal of ensuring that facilities are achieving the levels of safety that are essential to

protecting the public and the environment,” said NRC Region I Administrator Samuel J. Collins, who

noted the agency also conducts mid-year assessments of performance. “At the meeting on April 23rd,

we will explain how we go about that review process for Salem and Hope Creek, as well as other

nuclear power plants across the nation. The NRC staff will also be prepared to answer questions from

attendees.”

The annual assessment letter for the Hope Creek plant is available on the NRC web site at:

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/hope_2006q4.pdf . The annual

assessment for the twin-reactor Salem plant can be found on the same web site at:

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/salm_2006q4.pdf . The notice for the

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

Management System (ADAMS) under accession number ML070950527. ADAMS is accessible at:

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html . Help in using ADAMS is available via 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 Hope Creek and Salem plants operated safely during 2006. The NRC utilizes

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 performance indicators for the plants were

determined to be “green” and there were no inspection findings greater than “green” at the end of 2006,

the facilities will receive the baseline, or routine, level of inspections in 2007.

Routine inspections are performed by four NRC Resident Inspectors assigned to the plants and

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

performance to be inspected this year by NRC specialists are activities associated with emergency

preparedness, radiological protection and problem identification and resolution. There will also be

inspections related to a 15-percent power uprate proposed for Hope Creek and of Salem Unit 1

containment sump modifications. 

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

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/HOPE/hope_chart.html .

Current performance information for Salem Unit 1 is available on the NRC web site at:

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/SALM1/salm1_chart.html .

Current performance information for Salem Unit 2 is available on the NRC web site at:

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/SALM2/salm2_chart.html .

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