NRC NEWS

UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, REGION II

61 Forsyth Street SW, Atlanta GA 30303

Web Site: www.nrc.gov

No. II-07-008 April 4, 2007

CONTACT: Ken Clark (404)562-4416 E-mail: OPA2@nrc.gov

Roger Hannah (404)562-4417

NRC TO HOLD PUBLIC MEETING AT SWEETWATER ON APRIL 9

TO DISCUSS 2006 PERFORMANCE AT WATTS BAR NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff is scheduled to meet with Tennessee Valley

Authority officials in Sweetwater on April 9 to discuss the NRC’s annual assessment of safety

performance at the Watts Bar nuclear power plant, located near Spring City, Tenn., for calendar year

2006.

The 2:00 p.m. meeting, at the Best Western Motel at 1421 Murrays Chapel Road in

Sweetwater, is open to public observation. Before the meeting ends, NRC staff will be available to

answer public questions on the plant’s safety performance, as well as the agency’s role in ensuring safe

operation of the facility.

“Each year the NRC staff rates the performance of the Watts Bar plant and all of the nation’s

other commercial nuclear power plants,” NRC Region II Administrator William Travers said. “This

meeting gives us a chance to discuss our assessment with the company, with local officials and with

residents near the plant. Our aim is to make this information available to the public and answer any

questions people may have about our oversight.”

The NRC report says the Watts Bar plant operated safely during 2006. The NRC uses colorcoded inspection findings and performance indicators to assess performance. The colors start with

“green” and increase to “white,” “yellow” or “red,” commensurate with the safety significance of the

issues involved. The report said TVA performance at Watts Bar during 2006 was classified as Green, 

meaning that any NRC inspection findings were of very low safety significance. 

Based on the plant’s performance during 2006, the NRC said Watts Bar will receive the

baseline, or normal, level of inspections during 2007. The NRC plans to conduct additional

non-routine inspections of the plant’s reactor pressure vessel head and penetration nozzle examinations

and to review containment emergency recirculation sump blockage calculations and commitments. 

The NRC also has scheduled initial reactor operator licensing examinations at Watts Bar during 2007.

A letter sent from the NRC Region II 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 www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/wb_2006q4.pdf. 

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

specialists from the Region II Office in Atlanta, and the agency’s headquarters in Rockville, Md. 

Current information for the Watts Bar plant is available on the NRC web site at:

www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/WB1/wb1_chart.html.

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