NRC ISSUES MID-CYCLE ASSESSMENTS FOR NATION’S NUCLEAR PLANTS

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued mid-cycle assessment letters to the 

nation’s 104 operating commercial nuclear power plants. As of the end of June, 96 plants were in 

the two highest performance categories.

“We ensure nuclear power plants are safe, inspecting them and rating their performance

regularly, as part of our mission to protect people and the environment,” said Ho Nieh, director 

of the Division of Inspection and Regional Support in the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.

Of the 96 highest-performing reactors, 62 fully met all safety and security performance 

objectives and were inspected by NRC using the normal inspection program. Thirty-four reactors 

were assessed as needing to resolve one or two items of low safety significance. This represents 

an increase from the previous assessment cycle. The NRC is confident, however, that the 

regulatory actions dictated by the Reactor Oversight Process action matrix are appropriate for 

these plants with one or two items of low safety significance. For this performance level, 

regulatory oversight includes additional inspection and attention to follow up on corrective 

actions. 

These plants requiring additional inspection are: Braidwood 2 (Ill.); Browns Ferry 2 and 

3 (Ala.); Brunswick 1 and 2 (N.C.); Callaway (Mo.); Calvert Cliffs 1 and 2 (Md.); Crystal River 

3 (Fla.); Farley 1 and 2 (Ala.); Fermi 2 (Ohio); Limerick 2 (Pa.); Millstone 2 (Conn.); North 

Anna 1 and 2 (Va.); Palo Verde 1, 2 and 3 (Ariz.); Pilgrim (Mass.); Point Beach 1 and 2 (Wis.); 

Prairie Island 1 and 2 (Minn.); River Bend (La.); San Onofre 2 and 3 (Calif.); Seabrook (N.H.); 

Susquehanna 1 (Pa.); Turkey Point 3 and 4 (Fla.); Waterford (La.); Watts Bar (Tenn.) and Wolf 

Creek (Kans.). (Callaway, Calvert 1 and 2, Crystal River 3, Limerick 2, Waterford, and Watts 

Bar have resolved their issues since the reporting period ended and have transitioned to the 

highest performing level.) 

Six nuclear reactors were in the third performance category with a degraded level of 

performance. For this category, regulatory oversight includes more NRC inspections, senior 

management attention and oversight focused on the cause of the degraded performance. These 

NRC NEWS

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

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No. 12-099 September 6, 2012
plants were: Hope Creek (N.J.); Palisades (Mich.); Perry 1 (Ohio); Saint Lucie 1* (Fla.) and 

Salem 1 and 2 (N.J.). 

One reactor, Browns Ferry 1 in Alabama, is in the fourth performance category and 

requires increased oversight due to a safety finding of high significance, which will include 

additional inspections to confirm the plant’s performance issues are being addressed. 

Fort Calhoun plant in Nebraska is in an extended shutdown with significant performance 

issues and is currently under a special NRC oversight program distinct from the normal 

performance levels. Therefore the plant will not receive a mid-cycle assessment letter.

In addition to regular inspections, the NRC is currently conducting extra inspections to 

assess all plants’ preparedness to deal with earthquakes and floods. These additional inspections 

are part of the NRC’s post-Fukushima actions.

The NRC routinely provides changes to information on each plant’s current performance 

and posts the latest information as it becomes available to the action matrix summary. The midcycle assessment letters sent to each operating reactor licensee are also available through the 

NRC’s Web page on the Reactor Oversight Process. Mid-cycle construction assessments for new 

reactors at the Vogtle and Summer sites and at Watts Bar 2 are also on the NRC website.

Every six months each plant receives either a mid-cycle or annual assessment letter along 

with an NRC inspection plan. This year’s mid-cycle assessments also include security findings 

after the recent reintegration of the security cornerstone into the Reactor Oversight Process 

action matrix.

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 * St. Lucie 2 was mistakenly listed here in the original press release. Unit 2 is among the 62 plants in the highestperforming category.