No. I-09-026 

Contact: Diane Screnci, 610/337-5330 

 Neil Sheehan, 610/337-5331 

April 30, 2009 

E-mail: opa1@nrc.gov

NRC TO DISCUSS ANNUAL ASSESSMENT FOR SALEM, HOPE CREEK PLANTS 

AT PUBLIC MEETING SET FOR MAY 5 IN WOODSTOWN, N.J. 

The results of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s annual safety performance assessment 

for the Salem and Hope Creek nuclear power plants will be the subject of a public meeting on 

Tuesday, May 5. 

The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. at the Salem 911/Emergency Services Center, 125 

Cemetery Road in Woodstown, N.J. Prior to the conclusion of the meeting, NRC staff will be 

available to answer questions from the public on the plants’ performance, as well as the agency’s 

oversight of the facility. 

Salem is the site of two pressurized-water reactors while Hope Creek is the site of a single 

boiling-water reactor. All of the reactors are located in Hancocks Bridge (Salem County), N.J. They 

are owned and operated by PSEG. 

Overall, the Salem and Hope Creek plants operated safely during 2008. At the conclusion of 

last year, as assessed by the NRC Reactor Oversight Process, there were no performance indicators 

for the plants that were other than “green” and no inspection findings that were “greater than 

green.” Therefore, for the rest of 2009, the plants will receive the very detailed inspection regime 

used by the NRC for plants that are operating well. In 2008, the NRC devoted approximately 8,000 

hours of inspection to Salem, including four major team inspections, and 4,700 hours to Hope 

Creek, including two major team inspections. 

The NRC did identify what is known as a “substantive cross-cutting issue” – an issue that 

cuts across multiple areas of performance – at the Salem plant. That issue involves human 

performance, with a cross-cutting theme having to do with documentation and procedure adequacy. 

During the 2008 assessment period, there were seven inspection findings pertaining to this theme. 

NRC staff intends to monitor PSEG’s progress in addressing this issue via the agency’s routine 

oversight process. 

NRC NEWS

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Office of Public Affairs, Region I 

475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pa. 19406 

Site: http://www.nrc.gov
“In 2008, all but one of the 26 commercial power reactors in Region I, which covers the 

Northeastern United States, fully met our clearly defined performance criteria. Salem and Hope 

Creek were among the plants achieving those objectives. That means those plants will receive 

the normal level of NRC oversight this year if they continue to meet the high safety benchmarks set 

out for each site,” said NRC Region I Administrator Samuel J. Collins. “That said, our inspectors 

will remain on the lookout for any problems or adverse trends that might indicate a change in 

performance. As always, we will not hesitate to act should we identify any safety concerns.” 

The NRC utilizes a combination of color-coded inspection findings and performance 

indicators to measure 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 agency 

issues reports on performance at specific plants twice a year: During the mid-cycle, or mid-point, of 

the year, and at the conclusion of the year. Inspection findings and performance indicators are also 

updated on the NRC’s web site, www.nrc.gov, each quarter. Following the release of the annual 

reports every March, the NRC meets with the public in the vicinity of each plant to discuss the 

results. The meetings are in keeping with the agency’s commitment to transparency with regard to 

its activities. 

The annual assessment letter for the Salem plant is available on the NRC web site at: 

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/salm_2008q4.pdf. The annual 

assessment letter for the Hope Creek plant is available on the NRC web site at: 

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/hope_2008q4.pdf. The notice for the 

annual assessment meeting is available in the NRC’s Agencywide Documents Access and 

Management System (ADAMS) under accession number ML091070316. ADAMS is available at: 

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams/web-based.html. Help in using ADAMS can be obtained via 

the NRC’s Public Document Room at 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, or by e-mail at 

PDR.Resource@NRC.GOV. 

Routine inspections are carried out by the four NRC Resident Inspectors assigned to Salem 

and Hope Creek (two at each plant) and by inspection specialists from the agency’s Region I Office 

in King of Prussia, Pa. Among the areas at Salem to be inspected this year by NRC specialists are 

fire protection, problem identification and resolution, radiological safety and emergency planning. 

Among the areas at Hope Creek to be inspected this year by NRC specialists are radiological safety, 

emergency planning, problem identification and resolution, and a proposed power uprate for the 

reactor. 

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

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/SALM1/salm1_chart.html. Current performance 

information for Salem 2 is available on the NRC web site at: 

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/SALM2/salm2_chart.html. Current performance 

information for Hope Creek is available on the NRC web site at: 

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/HOPE/hope_chart.html. 

 

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