PUBLIC MEETING ON TRANSITION OF OPERATING NUCLEAR PLANTS 

TO A RISK-INFORMED FIRE PROTECTION PROGRAM 

 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff and officials of Progress Energy and Duke 

Energy Power Co., will meet Thursday, July 17, to discuss the Shearon Harris and Oconee 

nuclear power plant’s transition from the current fire protection program to an alternative 

program that allows licensees to focus on the areas of greatest fire risk. The two plants 

volunteered to participate in a Transition Pilot Program. Plant officials will discuss their 

applications to amend their operating licenses, and NRC staff will discuss the process for 

reviewing these applications. 

The meeting, which will be open to the public, will begin at 9 a.m. with a brief ceremony 

to recognize the participants in the Transition Pilot Program. Formal discussions will begin at 

9:30 a.m. The ceremony and the meeting will be held in Conference Room T-2B3 in the 

agency’s Two White Flint North building at 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Md. 

“The Oconee and Shearon Harris plants that volunteered to participate in the pilot 

program have reached a major milestone in their transition to a risk-informed fire protection 

program and we want to recognize this achievement,” Director of Nuclear Reactor Regulation 

Eric Leeds said. “Our staff is currently reviewing the applications from Duke Power and 

Progress Energy and believe that the information developed during preparation of their 

applications will help the remaining plants to complete their transitions.” 

Also on the same day, the NRC staff will brief the Commission on the agency’s overall 

nuclear power plant fire protection program. The meeting, which is open to the public for 

observation, will be held at 2 p.m. in the Commissioners' Conference Room, at One White Flint 

North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Md. 

 In June 2004, the Commission approved the alternative fire protection rule, 10 CFR 

50.48(c), as a risk-informed and performance-based alternative to the existing prescriptive rules 

in 10 CFR 50.48(b). The alternative rule endorses, with some exceptions, the fire protection 

requirements contained in the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Standard 805, 

“Performance-Based Standard for Fire Protection for Light-Water Reactor Electric Generating 

Plants, 2001 Edition.” In order to help licensees make the transition from their current fire 

NRC NEWS

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 

Washington, D.C. 20555-0001 

E-mail: opa@nrc.gov 

Site: http://www.nrc.gov

No. 08-131 July 15, 2008
protection program to one based on NFPA 805; the NRC staff issued Regulatory Guide 1.205, 

“Risk-Informed, Performance-Based Fire Protection for Existing Light-Water Nuclear Power 

Plants.“

 In August 2005, NRC kicked off the Transition Pilot Program with Oconee and Shearon 

Harris volunteering to be pilot plants for the transition to NFPA 805. To aid other plants in their 

transition to the new rule, NRC and industry staff observed the plants’ progress and developed 

information to address transition issues. To date, operators of 47 nuclear power plants have sent 

NRC letters of intent to transition their facilities to NFPA 805. 

The Shearon Harris nuclear plant is located near Raleigh, N.C., and operated by Progress 

Energy. The Oconee Nuclear Power plant is near Greenville, S.C. and operated by Duke Energy 

Power Co. 

More information on the meeting is available on the NRC’s Web site at: 

http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/public-meetings/index.cfm. The meeting Web cast will also 

be available at this Web address on the day of the meeting. Anyone with questions about the 

morning meeting should contact Marlayna Vaaler at 301-415-3178. 

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