NRC NEWS

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Office of Public Affairs Region III

2443 Warrenville Road

Lisle IL 60532

Site: http://www.nrc.gov

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

No. III-11-028

Contact: Viktoria Mitlyng (630) 829-9662

 Prema Chandrathil (630) 829-9663

August 4, 2011

E-Mail: OPA3.RegionIII@nrc.gov 

NRC SCHEDULES PUBLIC MEETING AUGUST 11 TO DISCUSS PERRY NUCLEAR 

POWER PLANT PERFORMANCE AND NRC OVERSIGHT

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with representatives of FirstEnergy 

Nuclear Operating Co. on Thursday, August 11, to discuss the agency’s assessment of safety 

performance for last year at the Perry nuclear power plant. The single unit plant is located in 

Perry, about 35 miles northeast of Cleveland.

The meeting, which will be open to the public, is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. EDT at 

the Perry Township Community Center, 2800 Perry Park Road in Perry. The NRC staff will 

present the results of the assessment, talk about the NRC, and its range of activities, and be 

available to respond to questions or comments from the public before the close of the meeting. 

“The NRC continually reviews the performance of the Perry plant and the nation’s other 

commercial nuclear power facilities,” said NRC Region III Administrator Mark Satorius. “This 

meeting allows us to discuss our annual assessment of safety performance with the company and 

area residents. One of NRC’s main goals is to explain to people in the community how the 

agency regulates nuclear power plants.”

The NRC Region III Office sent a letter to plant officials that addresses the performance 

of the plant during the period and will serve as the basis for the meeting discussion. 

Overall, the NRC found that the Perry plant operated safely in 2010. The NRC uses 

color-coded inspection findings and performance indicators to assess nuclear plant performance. 

The colors start with “green” and then increase to “white,” “yellow” or “red,” commensurate 

with the safety significance of the issues involved. All performance indicators and inspection 

findings for Perry during 2010 were determined to be “green.”

The NRC letter also addressed a substantive cross-cutting issue in the area of human 

performance specifically human errors made in work planning. Cross-cutting issues are issues 

that “cut across” multiple areas of plant operation. 
In Perry’s case, the NRC first identified the issue in early 2008. The plant implemented 

actions in response to address the human performance issues. The NRC reviewed the plant’s 

corrective actions and determined the improvements made have not yet addressed the issue and 

that additional efforts by the plant staff are needed. 

The NRC has also determined additional actions by the agency are warranted. The NRC 

will perform an inspection to assess the effectiveness of the plant’s corrective action program in 

addressing the human performance cross-cutting issues specifically in the area of work planning. 

When a substantive cross-cutting issue is identified at a nuclear power plant the NRC expects the 

problem to be corrected. The NRC has requested the plant to discuss their progress and plans to 

correct these issues during the upcoming meeting.

As a result of this performance Perry will continue to receive the detailed inspection 

regime used by the NRC. Routine inspections are performed by two NRC Resident Inspectors 

assigned to the plant and by inspection specialists from the Region III Office in Lisle, Ill., and 

the agency’s headquarters in Rockville, Md. Among the areas of plant operations being inspected 

this year are radiation protection, emergency preparedness and fire protection.

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

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