No. II-12-031 May 8, 2012

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

 Joey Ledford (404) 997-4416

NRC SCHEDULES MEETING TO DISCUSS 2011 PERFORMANCE OF 

ST. LUCIE NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

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

May 16, to discuss the agency’s assessment of safety performance during 2011 at the St. Lucie

nuclear power plant. The plant, operated by FPL, is located in Jensen Beach, Fla., east of Port St. 

Lucie.

The meeting, which is open to the public, will begin at 1 p.m. at the Energy Encounter at 

St. Lucie Site Visitors’ Center, 6501 South Ocean Drive in Jensen Beach. After a brief 

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

St. Lucie plant last year, as well as the NRC role in ensuring safe plant operations. 

“During 2011, our inspectors spent many hours ensuring that the St. Lucie plant met 

NRC safety requirements and protected both people living near the plant and the environment,” 

NRC Region II Administrator Victor McCree said.

NRC inspectors also looked at whether there were immediate safety concerns at St. Lucie 

and other U.S. plants after the March 2011 events at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan. Those 

reviews found that the units continued to operate safely.

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

of the plant during 2011 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/stl_2011q4.pdf.

The NRC found that the performance of the St. Lucie plant met all of the agency’s safety 

objectives in 2011 and was at a level that results in no additional NRC oversight. However, the 

NRC is currently evaluating plant performance indicators related to unplanned shutdowns and 

that process could affect the NRC assessment and inspection level. 

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,” 

which means low to moderate safety significance, to “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. 

NRC 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
This year, the NRC plans to continue to conduct the very detailed inspections required at 

those plants that are operating well. In addition, the agency will complete some generic 

inspections related to operator licensing examinations, emergency preparedness, fire protection 

and buried piping. 

Current performance information for St. Lucie Unit 1 is available on the NRC web site at

www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/STL1/stl1_chart.html. Current performance 

information for Unit 2 is at www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/STL2/stl2_chart.html.

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