No. I-07-053 

Contact: Diane Screnci, 610/337-5330 

 Neil Sheehan, 610/337-5331 

October 19, 2007

NRC ISSUES CONFIRMATORY ACTION LETTER TO EXELON 

REGARDING SECURITY PROGRAM PLANS FOR PEACH BOTTOM PLANT 

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has issued a letter to Exelon confirming the 

company’s plans to address concerns related to the security program for the Peach Bottom 

nuclear power plant. Exelon operates the two-reactor plant, which is located in Delta (York 

County), Pa. 

Known as a Confirmatory Action Letter (CAL), it is being issued to the company to 

emphasize and confirm its agreement to take certain actions in response to inattentiveness on the 

part of some security officers at Peach Bottom. The company’s actions include: detailed 

briefings to security force personnel on acceptable behavior; round-the-clock supervisory 

oversight of security activities at the plant; and keeping the NRC informed of the status of the 

Peach Bottom transition from a contractor security force to one that is run by Exelon. 

“This CAL is intended to confirm the continuation of Exelon’s short-term response to the 

inattentive security officer situation. The NRC’s reviews are ongoing and we will not hesitate, if 

needed, to seek additional actions to ensure the security program is functioning as required,” 

NRC Region I Administrator Samuel J. Collins said. 

The commitments contained in the letter will remain in effect until the NRC has reviewed 

Exelon’s root cause analysis of the security program issues, the company’s corrective actions and 

implementation schedule, and the company’s method for assessing the effectiveness of the 

corrective actions. 

On Sept. 20, the NRC sent an eight-member Augmented Inspection Team (AIT) to Peach 

Bottom to look into information that security officers at the facility may have been inattentive 

while on duty. The inspection was concluded on Sept. 28 and a public meeting with Exelon held 

in Delta on Oct. 9 to provide preliminary results of that review. Among other things, the 

inspection confirmed that multiple security guards were inattentive on multiple occasions and 

that Exelon and Wackenhut, the contract security force provider, missed opportunities to identify 

such behavior. However, the inspection team also found that security at the plant was not 

NRC NEWS

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Office of Public Affairs, Region I 

475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pa. 19406 

E-mail: opa1@nrc.gov 

Site: http://www.nrc.gov
significantly degraded as a result and that Exelon took prompt action to address inattentiveness 

issues once they were identified. 

The NRC plans to conduct a follow-up review to assess Exelon’s root cause analysis and 

corrective actions. The team inspection is tentatively scheduled for early November. 

Consideration of appropriate enforcement measures will be undertaken upon completion of the 

NRC reviews. 

The Confirmatory Action Letter will be available in the NRC’s electronic document 

system at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html and from the agency Region I Office of 

Public Affairs. 

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