No. I-10-019 

Contact: Diane Screnci, 610/337-5330 

 Neil Sheehan, 610/337-5331 

April 12, 2010 

E-mail: opa1@nrc.gov

NRC TO HOLD PUBLIC MEETING ON APRIL 19 IN DELTA, PA. TO DISCUSS 

ANNUAL ASSESSMENT OF PEACH BOTTOM NUCLEAR POWER PLANT 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will hold a public meeting on Monday, April 19 

regarding the agency’s annual assessment of safety performance for the Peach Bottom nuclear 

power plant during 2009. 

The meeting is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. at Mt. Nebo Methodist Church, 962 Flintville 

Road in Delta (York County), Pa. It will take place in the meeting room located on the building’s 

lower level. Prior to the meeting’s conclusion, there will be an opportunity for members of the 

public to ask questions of the NRC staff regarding the plant’s performance, as well as the 

agency’s oversight of the facility. 

Peach Bottom, which is the site of two operating boiling-water reactors, is located in 

Delta. It is owned and operated by Exelon Nuclear. Exelon managers will participate in the 

meeting. 

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

indicators to gauge plant performance. The colors start with “green,” representing very low 

safety significance, to “white,” “yellow” or “red,” commensurate with the significance of the 

issues involved. 

Overall, Peach Bottom operated safely during 2009. At the conclusion of last year, there 

were no performance indicators for the plant that were other than “green” and no inspection 

findings that were “greater than green.” Therefore, for the remainder of 2010, Peach Bottom will 

continue to receive the normal, very detailed inspection regime used by the NRC for plants that 

are operating well. 

In 2009, the NRC devoted approximately 5,800 hours to inspection of the facility, 

including two major team inspections. 

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
“Each year, the NRC steps back and assesses the performance of nuclear power plants in 

a systematic and detailed manner. We take these reviews very seriously and they help guide our 

oversight in the year ahead,” NRC Region I Administrator Samuel J. Collins said. “We also 

believe that providing the public with an opportunity to not only learn about these results firsthand but to communicate with us on our determinations is an integral part of the process and 

consistent with our commitment to openness and transparency.” 

While no performance indicators or inspection findings were identified during 2009 that 

would result in additional NRC oversight, the agency will be conducting a follow-up inspection 

in 2010 to review Exelon’s corrective actions for two acts of deliberate misconduct handled 

under the NRC’s Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) process. The first act involved a 

maintenance supervisor who provided incomplete and inaccurate information for unescorted 

access to the site. The second act involved a licensed reactor operator who deliberately failed to 

report an arrest in accordance with the site’s security program procedures associated with driving 

under the influence. The NRC staff issued a Confirmatory Order to Exelon on Dec. 1, 2009, 

formalizing an agreement for both issues that involved several corrective actions at both the 

Peach Bottom site and across the Exelon nuclear fleet. 

The agency issues reports on performance at specific plants twice a 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 Peach Bottom plant is available on the NRC web site 

at: ML100621009 . The notice for the annual assessment meeting for the plant is available in the 

NRC’s Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) under accession 

number ML100760523. ADAMS is available at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.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.Resources@NRC.GOV. 

Routine inspections are carried out by two NRC Resident Inspectors assigned to the plant 

and by inspection specialists from the agency’s Region I Office in King of Prussia, Pa. Among 

the areas at Peach Bottom to be inspected this year by NRC specialists are the dry cask storage of 

spent nuclear fuel, emergency planning, and radioactive waste handling and transportation. 

Current performance information for Peach Unit 2 is available on the NRC web site at: 

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/PB2/pb2_chart.html. Current performance 

information for Peach Bottom Unit 3 is available at: 

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/PB3/pb3_chart.html. 

### 

News releases are available through a free listserv 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.