No. III-09-019 

Contacts: 

Viktoria Mitlyng 630-829-9662 

Prema Chandrathil 630-829-9663 

 May 20, 2009 

 E-Mail: opa3@nrc.gov 

Web site: www.nrc.gov

 

NRC SCHEDULES OPEN HOUSE TO DISCUSS NUCLEAR POWER PLANT ISSUES 

AND 2008 PERFORMANCE OF D.C. COOK NUCLEAR POWER PLANT 

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has scheduled an open house for Thursday, 

May 28, to meet with local residents to discuss the NRC’s activities, nuclear power issues and 

answer questions about the agency’s 2008 assessment of safety performance at the D.C. Cook 

nuclear power plant. The two unit plant operated by Indiana Michigan Power Co. is in 

Stevensville, Mich., roughly 60 miles southwest of Kalamazoo. 

 The open house is informal and will begin at 6:00 p.m. EDT at the St. Joseph/Maud 

Preston Palanske Memorial Library, 500 Market Street, in St. Joseph. NRC staff will be available 

to answer questions on the safety performance of the D.C. Cook plant, as well as areas of plant 

safety and security not specifically associated with the D.C. Cook station. 

 “The NRC continually reviews the performance of the D.C. Cook plant and the nation’s 

other commercial nuclear power facilities,” said NRC Region III Administrator Mark Satorius. 

“This meeting allows us to discuss our annual assessment of safety performance with the 

company and members of the local community. We want to help people understand how the 

NRC works to protect the public and the environment and make sure as much information as 

possible is available on the NRC’s regulation of nuclear power plants.” 

 A letter sent from the NRC Region III office to plant officials addressed the performance 

of the plant during 2008 and will serve as the basis for the discussion. It is available on the NRC 

web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/cook_2008q4.pdf. 

 The NRC found that the D.C. Cook plant met all NRC safety objectives during 2008, and 

its performance was at a level that resulted in no additional NRC oversight. 

 As a result of this performance, the NRC plans to conduct the very detailed inspections 

required at those plants operating well. Those inspections are conducted by NRC resident 

inspectors assigned to the site supplemented by more specific inspections completed by regionNRC NEWS

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Office of Public Affairs Region III 

2443 Warrenville Road 

Lisle IL 60532 
based NRC inspectors. Among the areas of plant operations to be inspected this year by NRC are 

radiation protection, an emergency preparedness exercise and pad construction for an 

independent spent fuel storage installation. 

 Current performance information for D.C. Cook is available on the NRC web site at: 

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/COOK1/cook1_chart.html (Unit 1) and 

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/COOK2/cook2_chart.html (Unit 2). 

 

### 

 NRC news releases are available through a free list serve 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.