NRC TO HOLD OPEN HOUSE ON APRIL 2 IN PLYMOUTH, MASS.,

TO DISCUSS PILGRIM NUCLEAR POWER PLANT ANNUAL ASSESSMENT

 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hold a public open house on Tuesday, April 2,

to discuss the agency’s annual assessment of safety performance at the Pilgrim nuclear power 

plant.

During the open house, which is scheduled for 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Plymouth Town Hall, at 

11 Lincoln St. in Plymouth, Mass., attendees will have an opportunity to hold one-on-one 

discussions with NRC staff members about the plant’s 2012 performance and the agency’s 

oversight of the facility. NRC staff on hand will include the inspectors assigned to the plant on a 

full-time basis, several NRC technical experts and management from the Region I Office in King 

of Prussia, Pa.

In addition, NRC staff will brief Plymouth’s Board of Selectmen at 7 p.m. on the same 

day and at the same location on plans for a dry cask storage facility for spent nuclear fuel at 

Pilgrim, as well as on the plant’s performance in 2012. The meeting will include a public 

question-and-answer portion to be facilitated by the board.

Overall, the Pilgrim plant — located in Plymouth and operated by Entergy Nuclear 

Operations, Inc. — operated safely during 2012. At the conclusion of last year, as assessed by 

the NRC’s Reactor Oversight Process, there were no performance indicators for the facility that 

were other than green (very low risk) and no inspection findings that were greater than green 

(that is, none of the findings exceeded very low safety significance). As a result, Pilgrim will 

continue to receive the NRC’s normal level of oversight during 2013.

For plants that are meeting criteria set out by the NRC, normal oversight still consists of a 

detailed regime involving thousands of hours of inspection. In 2012, the agency devoted 

approximately 7,400 hours of inspection to the Pilgrim plant.

The NRC issued Pilgrim a white (low to moderate safety significance) inspection finding 

in November 2011 in response to the failure of control room operators to follow appropriate 

standards and procedures related to reactivity control during a start-up of the reactor on May 10, 

2011. An NRC team inspection performed at the plant in November 2012 determined that 

Entergy had satisfactorily evaluated the root causes of the event and put in place appropriate 

NRC NEWS

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Office of Public Affairs, Region I 

2100 Renaissance Blvd., King of Prussia, Pa. 19406-2713

E-mail: opa1@nrc.gov 

Site: www.nrc.gov

Blog: http://public-blog.nrc-gateway.gov

No. I-13-011

Contact: Diane Screnci (610) 337-5330

 Neil Sheehan (610) 337-5331

March 28, 2013

Email: opa1.resource@nrc.gov
corrective actions. Based on the results of that review, the NRC closed out the finding in 

December 2012.

“When the time comes to evaluate a plant’s performance for the previous year, we take a 

fresh look at any and all issues that might be of concern. We then adjust our plans for assessing 

the facility accordingly,” NRC Region I Administrator Bill Dean said. “As we map out our 

inspection plans for the remainder of 2013, we remain focused on ensuring that safety is the 

foremost objective for all plant operators.”

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

indicators to assess plant performance. The colors begin with green and then increase to white, 

yellow or red, commensurate with the risk significance of the issues involved. The agency issues 

reports on performance at each plant 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 website, 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 sessions are in keeping with the agency’s commitment to transparency with respect 

to its activities.

The annual assessment letter for Pilgrim is available on the NRC website. The notice for 

the open house is available in the NRC’s Agencywide Documents Access and Management 

System (ADAMS) under accession number ML13086A590. Help in using ADAMS can be 

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

at: PDR.Resource@NRC.GOV. 

Routine inspections are carried out by the 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 of performance to be inspected this year by NRC specialists are activities 

associated with radiological safety; emergency preparedness; underground pipes and tanks; and 

the construction of the concrete pad for the dry cask storage of spent nuclear fuel.

Current performance information for Pilgrim is available on the NRC website.

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