No. II-10-037 May 10, 2010 

CONTACT: Roger Hannah (404) 997-4417 E-mail: OPA2@nrc.gov

 Joey Ledford (404) 997-4416 

NRC SCHEDULES MEETING TO DISCUSS PERFORMANCE 

OF HARRIS NUCLEAR POWER PLANT 

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials have scheduled a meeting on Tuesday, 

May 18 to provide information on the agency’s annual assessment of safety performance for the 

Harris nuclear power plant during 2009. 

The meeting is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. with an open house and poster session 

followed by a brief presentation at 7 p.m. at the New Horizons Fellowship, 820 E. Williams 

Street in Apex, N.C. The presentation will be followed by a question and answer session. NRC 

staff will discuss the plant’s performance last year as well as NRC oversight and inspection. 

The Harris plant, which has one pressurized-water reactor, is located near New Hill, 

N.C., about 20 miles southwest of Raleigh. It is operated by Progress Energy. 

Overall, the NRC staff concluded that the Harris plant operated safely in 2009, and there 

were no inspection findings or performance indicators that would cause the NRC to increase its 

level of oversight and inspection. Based on the plant’s performance, the NRC staff plans to 

continue the detailed routine or baseline inspections all nuclear power plants receive. 

“Every year, the NRC evaluates the safety performance of nuclear plants in a systematic 

and detailed way. These reviews allow us to respond to ongoing issues, if needed, and to plan our 

future inspections,” NRC Region II Administrator Luis Reyes said. “This meeting gives local 

officials and citizens an opportunity to learn more about our oversight and is consistent with our 

commitment to openness and transparency.” 

The NRC uses color-coded inspection findings and performance indicators to assess plant 

performance. The colors start with “green,” which has very low safety significance, to “white,” 

“yellow” or “red,” based on the significance of the issues. Inspection findings and performance 

indicators are updated on the NRC’s web site (www.nrc.gov) each quarter. 

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

www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/har_2009q4.pdf. 

NRC NEWS

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Office of Public Affairs, Region II 

245 Peachtree Center Ave. NE, Suite 1200 

Atlanta, GA 30303-1257 

Web Site: www.nrc.gov
Routine inspections are carried out by the NRC resident inspectors assigned to the plant 

and by inspection specialists from the Region II office in Atlanta. Among the areas at the Harris 

plant being inspected this year by NRC specialists are groundwater protection, dissimilar metal 

welds and potential gas accumulation in the emergency core cooling system. 

Current performance information for Harris is available on the NRC web site at 

www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/HAR1/har1_chart.html. 

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