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-04-025 April 22, 2004

CONTACT: Jan Strasma (630) 829-9663 

Viktoria Mitlyng (630) 829-9662 

NRC TO MEET WITH EXELON GENERATION COMPANY TO DISCUSS

PERFORMANCE OF QUAD CITIES NUCLEAR PLANT

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with representatives of Exelon

Generation Company on Tuesday, April 27, to discuss the results of the agency’s assessment of safety

performance at the Quad Cities Nuclear Power Plant during 2003. The facility, which has two reactor

units, is located at Cordova, Illinois.

The meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. at the Best Western Steeplegate Inn, 100 West 76th

Street, Davenport, Iowa. The public is invited to observe the meeting, and NRC officials will be

available before the conclusion of the meeting to answer questions from the public. In addition, the

NRC staff will provide an overview of how the agency’s Reactor Oversight Process works.

The NRC has concluded that the plant operated safely last year, and plant performance does not

require additional inspections beyond the normal inspection program. All NRC inspection findings

during 2003 were of very low safety significance, and safety performance data showed no issues

requiring additional NRC review.

Routine inspections are performed by the two NRC resident inspectors assigned to the plant

and by inspection specialists from the NRC’s Region III office in Lisle, Illinois. 

In its assessment, the NRC noted that the company had undertaken a number of human

performance initiatives during 2003 which had resulted in a decline in human performance errors from

the previous year.

Two issues which continue to affect plant performance are equipment deficiencies resulting

from power capacity increases of 17.8 percent which were implemented in 2002 and the collective

radiation exposure to plant workers, which is among the highest of all nuclear plants in the country. 

While the radiation exposures have been within regulatory limits, the utility is taking actions to reduce

the radiation levels within the plant. The NRC is continuing to monitor the utility’s response to these

two issues.

A March 4 letter from the NRC to Exelon officials addresses the performance of the plant

during 2003 and will serve as the basis for the meeting discussion. It is available at:

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/quad_2003q4.pdf
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With regard to security issues, the NRC has issued several orders and threat advisories to

enhance security capabilities and improve guard force readiness since the terrorist attacks on

September 11, 2001. The agency has also conducted inspections to review the implementation of these

requirements and has monitored the action of plant operators in response to changing threat conditions. 

The NRC will continue security inspections during 2004.

Current performance indicators and inspection findings for the Quad Cities plant are available

on the NRC web site at: (Unit 1)

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/QUAD1/quad1_chart.html and (Unit 2)

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/A SSESS/QUAD2/quad2_chart.html

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