No. III-08-013 

Contacts: 

Viktoria Mitlyng 630-829-9662 

Prema Chandrathil 630-829-9663 

 April 7, 2008 

 E-Mail: opa3@nrc.gov 

Web site: www.nrc.gov

NRC NEWS

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Office of Public Affairs Region III 

2443 Warrenville Road 

Lisle IL 60532 

NRC TO DISCUSS 2007 PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT 

FOR PERRY NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with representatives of First Energy Nuclear 

Operating Company on April 15 to discuss the agency’s assessment of safety performance for last year at 

the Perry Nuclear Power Plant. The plant is located at Perry, Ohio. 

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

Resort, 11080 Concord-Hambden Road, in Painesville. 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 and 

comments from the public before the close of the meeting. 

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

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

will provide an opportunity for a discussion of our annual assessment of safety performance with the 

company and with local officials and residents who live near the plant. Our goal is to explain the NRC 

oversight process and make as much information as possible available to the public regarding 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/LETTERS/perr_2007q4.pdf 

 The NRC’s assessment concluded that the Perry 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. 

 All of the inspection findings for Perry during 2007 were determined to be “green” while two 

performance indicators – one for emergency electrical power equipment performance and one for 

unplanned scrams – were “white” during the year, indicating a condition of low to moderate safety 

significance. 

 In addition, the NRC identified what is called a “substantive cross cutting issue” in the area of 

human performance – cross cutting means that the issue affects multiple areas of plant activities. The 

NRC identified 12 inspection finding attributed to human performance deficiencies; four were in the area 

of work control and planning. 
 Caldwell indicated that human performance had been a cross-cutting issue in prior years, but that 

in 2006 the NRC staff observed improvement in the human performance area. “The improvements 

observed in 2006, however, did not continue into 2007, the current assessment year,” he said. 

 In May 2007, following an update to its performance assessment of Perry, the NRC staff ended a 

period of heightened regulatory oversight at Perry as a result of safety equipment problems in 2003 and 

2004. 

 The NRC continues its normal, baseline level of inspections for Perry. In addition, inspectors 

will provide further focus on the cross cutting issue of human performance as well as the unplanned 

scrams performance indicator. 

 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., and the agency’s headquarters in Rockville, 

Md. Among the plant activities to be inspected this year by NRC specialists are radiation protection, 

emergency preparedness, and reactor operator training and testing. 

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

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/PERR1/perr1_chart.html. 

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