No. III-08-015 

Contacts: 

Viktoria Mitlyng 630-829-9662 

Prema Chandrathil 630-829-9663 

 April 18, 2008 

 E-Mail: opa3@nrc.gov 

Web site: www.nrc.gov

 

NRC TO DISCUSS 2007 PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT 

FOR BYRON NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with representatives of Exelon 

Generation Company Thursday, April 24, to discuss the agency’s assessment of safety 

performance for last year at the Byron Nuclear Power Plant. The two-unit plant is located in 

Byron, Ill. 

 The meeting, which will be open to the public, is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. CDT at the 

Byron Training Center, Room 107, 4448 N. German Church, in Byron. The NRC staff will 

present the results of the assessment, talk about the NRC and its range of activities, and be 

available to respond to questions or comments from the public before the close of the meeting. 

 “The NRC continually reviews the performance of the Byron plant and the nation’s other 

commercial nuclear power facilities,” NRC Region III Administrator James Caldwell said. “This 

meeting allows us to discuss our annual assessment of safety performance with the company and 

with local officials and area residents. Our goal is to explain how the NRC works and make sure 

as much information as possible is available on 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/listofasmrpt.html . 

 The NRC’s assessment concluded that both units of the Byron 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. 

 The NRC letter to the utility stated that, during 2007, all of the inspection findings and 

performance indicators were determined to be “green” for Byron, Unit 1. For Unit 2, there was 

one “white” performance indicator, meaning it had a low to medium significance to safety. The 

NRC NEWS

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Office of Public Affairs Region III 

2443 Warrenville Road 

Lisle IL 60532 
performance indicator was associated with the availability and operability of heat removal 

systems. In February 2007, the NRC completed a follow-up inspection which focused on 

assessing the utility’s understanding of the issue and the corrective actions to address it. The 

inspection did not identify any major findings. 

 The letter also mentioned a problem with essential service water piping that was still 

under the NRC’s review when the letter to the utility was issued. In April of this year, the NRC 

determined that the degradation of a portion of the essential service water system piping was a 

“white” finding, meaning it had a low to medium significance to safety. As a result of the 

“white” finding, the NRC will perform a supplemental inspection focusing on this issue in 

addition to the normal, baseline level of inspections for the rest of this 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. Among the areas of plant 

operations to be inspected this year by NRC specialists are emergency preparedness, radiation 

protection, and reactor system operations. 

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

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/BYRO1/byro1_chart.html Unit 1 and 

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/BYRO2/byro2_chart.html Unit 2. 

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