No: I-15-029 June 9, 2015

CONTACT: Diane Screnci, 610-337-5330 E-mail: opa1.resource@nrc.gov

 Neil Sheehan, 610-337-5331 

NRC to Hold Regulatory Performance Public Meeting

Regarding Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant on June 18

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will discuss its annual assessment of safety performance 

at the Seabrook nuclear power plant during a public meeting on June 18th in Hampton, N.H.

The meeting is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. at the Best Western Plus – The Inn at Hampton, at 

815 Lafayette Road in Hampton. During the meeting, the NRC staff will provide a brief presentation on 

the plant’s performance and the agency’s oversight activities at the Seabrook, N.H., facility. It will be 

followed by a question-and-answer session. There will also be an open house from 6 to 7 p.m. at the 

same location. During the open house, NRC staff will be available to informally discuss issues related 

to plant performance with members of the public.

Under the NRC’s Reactor Oversight Process, the agency gauges plant performance through the 

use of color-coded inspection findings and performance indicators, which are statistical measurements 

of plant performance that can trigger additional oversight if exceeded. The colors range from “green” to 

“white,” “yellow” and “red,” which is the highest level of significance.

On an overall basis, Seabrook, a pressurized-water reactor owned by NextEra, operated safely 

in 2014. As of the end of last year, the plant had no inspection findings or performance indicators that 

were greater than “green” (very low safety significance). Therefore, the plant is currently under the 

NRC’s lowest level of oversight.

The NRC’s normal level of oversight at each U.S. nuclear power plant involves thousands of 

hours of inspection. In 2014, the agency devoted approximately 6,400 hours of review at Seabrook.

“By assessing each plant’s performance in a comprehensive manner, we are able to focus our 

inspection resources on those areas most in need of attention,” NRC Region I Administrator 

Dan Dorman said. “Because Seabrook did not have any safety or security issues rising above low 

significance in 2014, we are not currently planning any inspections above and beyond our normal 

reviews.”

The NRC 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
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are also updated on a quarterly basis on the agency’s website. Following the release of the Annual 

Assessment letters each March, the NRC meets with the public in the vicinity of each plant to discuss 

the results.

Normal inspections are performed by two Resident Inspectors assigned to Seabrook. Reviews 

are also carried out at the site by specialist inspectors assigned to the agency’s Region I Office in King 

of Prussia, Pa. Among the areas to be inspected this year at Seabrook are the dry cask storage of spent 

nuclear fuel, the plant’s Radiological Effluent Monitoring Program and emergency planning. In 

addition, the NRC will perform an audit at the plant in late July with respect to some of the agency’s 

post-Fukushima requirements, namely “Mitigation Strategies for Beyond-Design-Basis External 

Events” and enhanced spent fuel pool instrumentation. Also, the NRC is continuing with focused 

oversight of NextEra’s work to assess and address concrete degradation identified at the plant.

The Annual Assessment letter for Seabrook, as well as the notice for the June 18th meeting, are 

available on the NRC website. Current performance information is also available for Seabrook.