NRC TO HOLD PUBLIC MEETING ON MARCH 23 IN ONTARIO, N.Y., TO DISCUSS 

EFFORTS TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE OF GINNA NUCLEAR POWER PLANT 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will hold a public meeting on Tuesday, March 23 

regarding the agency’s annual assessment of safety performance for the Ginna nuclear power 

plant during 2009. 

The meeting is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. at Ontario Town Hall, at 1850 Ridge Road in 

Ontario, N.Y. Prior to the meeting’s conclusion, there will be an opportunity for members of the 

public to ask questions of the NRC staff regarding the plant’s performance, as well as the 

agency’s oversight of the facility. 

Ginna is a pressurized-water reactor located in Ontario. It is owned and operated by 

Constellation Energy. Constellation managers will participate in the meeting. 

Overall, Ginna operated safely during 2009. However, at the conclusion of last year, and 

continuing into 2010, the facility has been in what is known as the “Degraded Cornerstone” 

column of the NRC’s Action Matrix for plant performance, which is available at: 

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/actionmatrix_summary.html. That 

categorization is based on the plant receiving two “white” (low to moderate safety significance) 

inspection findings and a “white” performance indicator, all in 2009. As a result of that 

designation, Ginna is receiving NRC additional oversight until the agency is satisfied that the 

root and contributing causes of the problems are fully understood by the company; in order for 

the NRC to independently assess the extent of the condition and determine if safety culture 

problems contributed to the issues; and to provide assurance that sufficient corrective actions 

have been implemented to prevent recurrences. 

One of the white inspection findings originated in the first quarter of last year and was 

related to inadequate implementation of a preventive maintenance program for, and subsequent 

failure of, a speed control, or governor, for a turbine-driven auxiliary feedwater pump. An 

auxiliary feedwater pump is used to help cool down the reactor during a sudden shutdown. The 

second white inspection finding, which originated in the fourth quarter of 2009, pertained to 

inadequate corrective actions that led to the binding of the same speed control valve and the 

failure of the same pump to operate during testing. 

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

No. I-10-007 

Contact: Diane Screnci 610/337-5330 

 Neil Sheehan 610/337-5331 

 

March 17, 2010 

Email: OPA1.RESOURCE@nrc.gov
 With respect to the performance indicator, it resulted from Ginna exceeding the white 

threshold for the Mitigating Systems Performance Index/Heat Removal Systems Performance 

Indicator in the third quarter of 2009. This was due to reliability and unavailability issues 

associated with the same auxiliary feedwater pump. 

Routine inspections are carried out by two NRC Resident Inspectors assigned to the plant 

and by inspection specialists from the agency’s Region I Office in King of Prussia, Pa. Among 

the areas at Ginna to be inspected this year by NRC specialists are the dry cask storage of spent 

nuclear fuel, which will begin at the site later this year; radiation safety; operator licensing initial 

exams; and the plant’s problem identification and resolution program. 

In addition to routine inspections, the NRC plans to conduct a supplemental inspection at 

Ginna in 2010 to determine if Constellation has corrected the deficiencies associated with the 

pump. 

“The additional oversight by the NRC will help ensure these issues are receiving the 

attention they deserve,” NRC Region I Administrator Samuel J. Collins. “The turbine-driven 

auxiliary feedwater pump is an important plant component and we fully expect Constellation to 

do what it takes to address any and all problems that could adversely affect its performance.” 

In 2009, the NRC devoted approximately 5,800 hours to inspection of the facility, 

including two major team inspections. 

The NRC utilizes a combination of color-coded inspection findings and performance 

indicators to gauge plant performance. The colors start with “green,” representing very low 

safety significance, to “white,” “yellow” or “red,” commensurate with the significance of the 

issues involved. The agency issues reports on performance at specific plants twice a year; during 

the mid-cycle, or mid-point, of the year, and at the conclusion of the year. Inspection findings 

and performance indicators are also updated on the NRC’s web site, www.nrc.gov, each quarter. 

Following the release of the annual reports every March, the NRC meets with the public in the 

vicinity of each plant to discuss the results. The meetings are in keeping with the agency’s 

commitment to transparency with regard to its activities. 

The annual assessment letter for the Ginna plant is available on the NRC web site at: 

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/ginn_2009q4.pdf. The notice for 

the annual assessment meeting for the plant is available in the NRC’s Agencywide Documents 

Access and Management System (ADAMS) under accession number ML100690412. ADAMS is 

available at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. Help in using ADAMS can be obtained 

via the NRC’s Public Document Room at 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, or by e-mail at 

PDR.Resources@NRC.GOV. 

Current performance information for Ginna is available on the NRC web site at: 

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/GINN/ginn_chart.html. 

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