NRC NEWS U. S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

 Office of Public Affairs Region IV 

 611 Ryan Plaza Drive - Suite 400

 Arlington, TX 76011-4005

No. IV-07-006 March 27, 2007

Contact: Victor Dricks E-Mail: opa4@nrc.gov

Phone: 817-860-8128

NRC TO DISCUSS 2006 PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT

FOR PALO VERDE NUCLEAR GENERATING STATION

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet in Avondale, Ariz., on April 3, with

representatives of Arizona Public Service Company to discuss the agency’s assessment of safety

performance for last year at the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station.

The meeting, which will be open to the public, is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m at

Estrella Mountain Community College, North Community Room, 2nd Floor of Estrella Hall, 3000

N. Dysart Road, Avondale. 

In addition to the performance assessment, the NRC staff will also discuss the recent

decision to increase its oversight of Palo Verde due to performance problems.

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

from the public on the safety performance of Palo Verde, as well as the NRC’s role in ensuring

safe plant operation.

“Palo Verde is being operated safely,” said Bruce S. Mallett, NRC Region IV

Administrator. “But improvements in performance are needed. The meeting will provide an

opportunity to discuss our annual assessment of safety performance with the company and with

local officials and residents.”

A letter sent from the NRC Region IV office to plant officials addresses the performance

of the plant during 2006 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/palo_2006q4.pdf
Palo Verde has been under increased NRC oversight since the fourth quarter of 2004

following a finding for a substantial safety issue. Inspectors found that APS had incorrectly left

air pockets in portions of the emergency core cooling system at each reactor that could have

hindered the system’s operation during certain types of accidents. The finding remains open

because APS has not effectively addressed performance problems. 

Those include a lack of questioning attitude, lack of technical rigor and poor operability

determinations by workers - factors which contributed to a finding issued by the NRC last month

for problems with the diesel generators at Unit 3, moving Palo Verde into a higher level of NRC

oversight.

Two substantive cross-cutting issues in the areas of human performance and problem

identification and resolution have also remained open since the NRC’s 2004 end-of-cycle

assessment. APS has also had numerous operational challenges since 2004, including multiple 

reactor trips and unplanned shutdowns.

Routine inspections at Palo Verde are performed by resident inspectors assigned to the

site and by inspection specialists from the Region IV office in Arlington, Texas. Among the

areas of plant operations to be inspected this year by NRC are a review of safety culture,

emergency operations, engineering, maintenance, radiological protection as well as several

supplemental inspections associated with emergency diesel generators, design and control issues,

and the effectiveness of corrective actions.

Current performance information for Unit 1 is available on the NRC web site at:

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/PALO1/palo1_chart.html . Current

performance information for Unit 2 is available at:

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/PALO2/palo2_chart.html . Current

information for Unit 3 is available at: 

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/PALO3/palo3_chart.html . 

###

NRC news releases are available through a free list serve subscription at the following Web address: 

http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/listserver.html . The NRC homepage at www.nrc.gov also offers a SUBSCRIBE

link. E-mail notifications are sent to subscribers when news releases are posted to NRC's Web site.