No. I-09-022 

Contact: Diane Screnci, 610/337-5330 

 Neil Sheehan, 610/337-5331 

April 17, 2009 

E-mail: opa1@nrc.gov

NRC TO DISCUSS ANNUAL ASSESSMENT FOR MILLSTONE NUCLEAR PLANT 

AT TWO PUBLIC MEETINGS SET FOR APRIL 23 IN WATERFORD, CONN. 

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

assessment for the Millstone nuclear power plant will be the subject of two public meetings on 

Thursday, April 23. Millstone, which is the site of two operating pressurized-water reactors, is 

located in Waterford. It is operated by Dominion Nuclear Connecticut, Inc. 

The first meeting will begin at 3 p.m. at Waterford Town Hall, at 15 Rope Ferry Road in 

Waterford, Conn. Then, at 7 p.m., NRC staff will present the review results to Connecticut’s 

Nuclear Energy Advisory Council (NEAC). That meeting will also take place at Waterford Town 

Hall. Prior to the conclusion of both meetings, NRC staff will be available to answer questions 

from the public on the plant’s performance, as well as the agency’s oversight of the facility. 

Overall, the Millstone units 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 

plant that were other than “green” and no inspection findings that were “greater than green.” 

Therefore, for the rest of 2009, Millstone will receive the very detailed inspection regime used 

by the NRC for plants that are operating well. In 2008, the NRC devoted approximately 6,680 

hours of inspection to the facility, including three major team inspections. 

“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. Millstone was 

among those 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. 

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
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 Millstone plant is available on the NRC web site at: 

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/mill_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 ML090980084. 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 email at PDR.Resource@NRC.GOV. 

Routine inspections are carried out by the three 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 Millstone to be inspected this year by NRC specialists are radiological 

safety, emergency planning, operator licensing and the dry cask storage of spent nuclear fuel. 

Current performance information for Millstone Unit 2 is available on the NRC web site 

at: http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/MILL2/mill2_chart.html. Current 

performance information for Millstone 3 is available on the NRC web site at: 

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/MILL3/mill3_chart.html. 

 

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