NRC NEWS

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Office of Public Affairs Region III

2443 Warrenville Road

Lisle IL 60532

Site: www.nrc.gov

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

No. III-12-029

Contact: Viktoria Mitlyng (630) 829-9662

 Prema Chandrathil (630) 829-9663

July 13, 2012

E-Mail: OPA3 @nrc.gov 

NRC SCHEDULES PUBLIC MEETING JULY 18 TO DISCUSS PERFORMANCE OF 

BYRON NUCLEAR POWER STATION

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will hold a public meeting with 

representatives of Exelon Generation Company, LLC, on Wednesday, July 18, to discuss the 

agency’s assessment of safety performance for last year at the Byron Nuclear Power Station. The 

two-unit plant is located in Byron, Ill., roughly 17 miles southwest of Rockford.

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

Byron Station Training Building, 4450 N. German Church Road, room 107 in Byron. The NRC 

staff will present the results of the annual assessment, talk about the NRC and its range of 

activities and be available to respond to questions or comments from the public. 

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

nuclear power facilities,” said Region III Regional Administrator Charles Casto. “This meeting 

will allow us to speak directly with the local community about the plant’s performance last year 

and the NRC’s actions to make sure the plant continues to operate safely. Those actions include 

additional inspections in response to the events at the Fukushima Daiichi facilities to evaluate the 

safety of US nuclear plants. The reviews showed that Byron and other US plants continue to 

operate safely. ” 

A letter sent from the NRC Region III office to plant officials addressed the performance 

of the plant during 2011 and will serve as the basis for the discussion. It is available on the NRC 

web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/byro_2011q4.pdf

Overall, the NRC found that the Byron facility operated safely in 2011. 

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. Performance 

indicators are statistical measurements of plant and equipment performance.
All performance indicators and inspection findings for Byron Unit 1 during 2011 were 

determined to be “green.” The letter states that Unit 2 had one “white” finding of low–tomoderate safety significance. The white finding involved the failure to ensure that the nuts were 

appropriately tightened on a newly installed piece of equipment on one of two emergency diesel 

generators. The issue was identified during NRC required routine testing. It resulted in an NRC 

violation due to one diesel being inoperable for an 11-month period of time between equipment 

installation and testing and because the plant was unaware of the issue.

The utility has taken corrective actions to address the issue. The NRC completed a 

supplemental inspection to make sure the problems in work planning and procedures surrounding 

the finding were fully understood and resolved by the utility. 

Byron will continue to receive the detailed inspection regime used by the NRC for plants. 

Routine inspections are performed by two NRC resident inspectors assigned to the plant and 

inspection specialists from the Region III Office in Lisle, Ill., and the agency’s headquarters in 

Rockville, Md. 

In addition to the day-to-day inspections performed by the resident inspectors, specific 

areas of plant operations to be inspected include radiation protection, the independent spent fuel 

storage installation, and fire protection.

The most current performance information for Byron is available on the NRC web site at: 

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/BYRO1/byro1_chart.html (Unit1) and 

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/BYRO2/byro2_chart.html (Unit 2).

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