No. II-10-034 April 26, 2010 

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

 Joey Ledford (404) 997-4416 

NRC SCHEDULES OPEN HOUSE TO DISCUSS 2009 PERFORMANCE 

OF ST. LUCIE NUCLEAR POWER PLANT 

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has scheduled an open house for 

Tuesday, May 4, and will be available to discuss and answer questions about the agency’s 

assessment of safety performance during 2009 at the St. Lucie nuclear power plant. The plant, 

operated by Florida Power and Light Co., is located in Jensen Beach, Fla., east of Port St. Lucie. 

The open house is informal and scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. at the St. Lucie Energy 

Encounter Facility on Hutchinson Island, located at 6501 S A1A in Jensen Beach, Fla. During 

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

St. Lucie plant last year, as well as the NRC’s role in ensuring safe plant operation. 

“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 St. Lucie 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/stl_2009q4.pdf. 

The NRC found that the St. Lucie plant’s 2009 performance met all of the agency’s 

safety objectives and was at a level that would have resulted in no additional NRC oversight. 

This year, the NRC had planned to conduct the very detailed inspections required at those plants 

that are operating well, but a recent finding related to air intrusion into the system that uses water 

to cool some safety equipment changes the NRC’s assessment of performance and results in 

additional oversight. In addition, the agency will complete some plant-specific activities at St. 

Lucie related to operator licensing, managing gas accumulation in emergency core cooling and 

reactor coolant system welds. 

 

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
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 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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