NRC NEWS

 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

 2443 Warrenville Road

 Lisle IL 60532

 Web Site: http://www.nrc.gov E-mail: opa3@nrc.gov

No. III-07-018 May 4, 2007

CONTACT: Viktoria Mitlyng (630) 829-9662 

NRC TO DISCUSS 2006 PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT

FOR CLINTON NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with representatives of Exelon Generation

Co. on Wednesday, May 9, to discuss the agency’s assessment of safety performance for last year at the

Clinton Nuclear Power Plant. The plant is located near Clinton, Ill.

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

Warner Public Library, 310 N. Quincy St., Clinton. The NRC staff will present the results of the

assessment 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 Clinton 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/clin_2006q4.pdf. 

The NRC’s assessment concluded that the Clinton 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. 

During the year, there was one “white” inspection finding – an issue of low to moderate

importance to safety – associated with how water drains from a storage tank for emergency cooling

systems and its effect on the cooling systems. The NRC plans to conduct an inspection to review the

plant’s handling of the issue and its corrective actions.

All other inspection findings and performance indicators for Clinton during 2006 were

determined to be “green.” As a result of this performance, the NRC will conduct the normal, baseline

level of inspections during the upcoming 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., and the agency’s headquarters in

Rockville, Md. Among the areas of plant operations to be inspected this year by NRC specialists are

emergency preparedness, component design engineering, problem identification and resolution,

equipment inspection, and transportation and waste handling.

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

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/CLIN/clin_chart.html.

###

News releases are available through a free list serve subscription at the following Web address: http://www.nrc.gov/publicinvolve/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.