No. II-10-024 April 12, 2010 

CONTACT: Roger Hannah (404) 977-4417 E-mail: OPA2@nrc.gov

 Joey Ledford (404) 977-4416 

NRC SCHEDULES OPEN HOUSE TO DISCUSS 

2009 PERFORMANCE OF MCGUIRE NUCLEAR POWER PLANT 

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials have scheduled an open house Thursday, 

April 22 to provide information on the agency’s annual assessment of safety performance for the 

McGuire nuclear power plant during 2009. 

The open house is scheduled to run from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the Energy Explorium near the 

McGuire site at 13339 Hagers Ferry Road in Huntersville, N.C. The open house will provide an 

opportunity for the public to learn about the plant’s performance last year as well as NRC 

oversight and inspection. 

The McGuire plant, which has two pressurized-water reactors, is located near 

Huntersville, 17 miles north of Charlotte. It is owned and operated by Duke Energy. 

Overall, the NRC staff concluded that the McGuire plant operated safely in 2009, but the 

facility has seen increased NRC oversight due to an inspection finding in the second half of 2008 

related to a strainer backwash system. Based on the plant’s performance, the NRC staff plans to 

continue the detailed routine or baseline inspections all nuclear power plants receive and has 

recently completed an inspection on the backwash system issue. 

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

and detailed way. These reviews allow us to respond to ongoing issues, if needed, and to plan our 

future inspections,” NRC Region II Administrator Luis Reyes said. “This open house gives local 

officials and citizens an opportunity to learn more about our oversight and is consistent with our 

commitment to openness and transparency.” 

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. 

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

www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/mcg_2009q4.pdf. 

NRC NEWS

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Office of Public Affairs, Region II 

Marquis One Tower 

245 Peachtree Center Ave., NE Suite 1200 

Atlanta, GA 30303-1257 

Web Site: www.nrc.gov 
Routine inspections are carried out by the NRC resident inspectors assigned to the plant 

and by inspection specialists from the Region II office in Atlanta. Among the areas at the 

McGuire plant to be inspected this year by NRC specialists are the site’s independent spent fuel 

storage facility, potential gas accumulation in the emergency core cooling system and dissimilar 

metal welds. 

Current performance information for McGuire Unit 1 is available on the NRC web site at 

www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/MCG1/mcg1_chart.html. Current performance 

information for McGuire Unit 2 is available on the NRC web site at 

www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/MCG2/mcg2_chart.html. 

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