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-05-023 May 9, 2005

CONTACT: Jan Strasma (630) 829-9663 

Viktoria Mitlyng (630) 829-9662 

NRC TO DISCUSS 2004 PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT

FOR BRAIDWOOD NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with representatives of Exelon Generation

Company on Wednesday, May 11, to discuss the agency’s assessment of safety performance for last

year at the Braidwood Nuclear Power Plant. The plant is located near Braidwood, Ill.

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

4:30 p.m. at Fossil Ridge Library, 386 Kennedy Road, Braidwood.

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

public on the safety performance of the Braidwood plant, as well as the role of the NRC in ensuring

safe plant operation.

“The NRC continually reviews the performance of the Braidwood 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/brai_2004q4.pdf .

The NRC’s assessment concluded that the Braidwood 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 NRC inspection findings for Braidwood during 2004 were determined to be “green.” 

One Unit 1 performance indicator was “white,” indicating low to moderate safety significance, during

the first quarter of 2004. This “white” performance indicator stemmed from two failures of a backup

cooling system pump to operate during testing in 2003. A followup inspection by the NRC showed the

the Braidwood staff had taken appropriate corrective action, and the performance indicator was

returned to “green” for the remainder of the year.
As a result of this performance, the NRC will conduct the normal, baseline level of inspections

during the upcoming year.

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

safety system design, maintenance, emergency planning, problem identification and resolution, and

worker radiation protection.

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

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/BRAI1/brai1_chart.html and

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/BRAI2/brai2_chart.html .

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