No. II-10-038 May 17, 2010 

CONTACT: Roger Hannah (404) 997-4417 E-mail: OPA2@nrc.gov

 Joey Ledford (404) 997-4416 

NRC SCHEDULES MEETING TO DISCUSS 

2009 PERFORMANCE OF BRUNSWICK NUCLEAR POWER PLANT 

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has scheduled a meeting for Thursday, 

May 27, to discuss the agency’s assessment of safety performance during 2009 at the Brunswick 

nuclear power plant. The plant, operated by Progress Energy, is on North Carolina’s southeastern 

coast near Southport. 

The meeting will begin with an informal open house and poster session at 5 p.m. During 

the open house, NRC staff will be available to answer questions on the safety performance of the 

Brunswick plant, as well as the NRC role in ensuring safe plant operation. 

The open house is scheduled to run from 5-6:45 p.m. and will be followed by a brief 

presentation at 7 p.m. After the presentation, there will also be a question and answer session. 

The open house and presentation will be in the Brunswick Media Center Auditorium, 8520 River 

Road SE in Southport. 

 “Every year, the NRC evaluates the safety performance of nuclear plants in a systematic 

and detailed way,” NRC Region II Administrator Luis Reyes said. “These reviews allow us to 

respond to ongoing issues, if needed, and to plan our future inspections. This open house gives 

local officials and citizens near the Brunswick plant an opportunity to learn more about our 

oversight and is consistent with our commitment to openness and transparency.” 

A letter sent from the NRC Region II office to plant officials addresses the performance 

of the plant during 2009 and will serve as the basis for the meeting discussion. It is available on 

the NRC web site at: www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/bru_2009q4.pdf. 

The NRC found that the Brunswick plant overall operated safely during 2009. However, 

due to a “white” inspection finding involving the safe shutdown function of the emergency diesel 

generators, there will be a supplemental inspection in addition to the very detailed inspections 

required at all plants. 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 II 

245 Peachtree Center Ave. NE, Suite 1200 

Atlanta, GA 30303-1257 

Web Site: www.nrc.gov
based NRC inspectors. In addition to these inspections, the agency plans some generic 

inspections at Brunswick this year including operator licensing examinations, managing gas 

accumulation in some safety systems and spent fuel storage installation pre-operational testing. 

The NRC uses color-coded inspection findings and performance indicators to assess plant 

performance. The colors start with “green,” which has very low safety significance, to “white,” 

“yellow” or “red,” based on the significance of the issues. Inspection findings and performance 

indicators are updated on the NRC’s web site (www.nrc.gov) each quarter. 

Current performance information for the Brunswick Unit 1 and 2 is available on the NRC 

web site at: www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/BRU1/bru1_chart.html and 

www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/BRU2/bru2_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.