No. I-14-022 May 14, 2014 

Contact: Diane Screnci, 610-337-5330 

 Neil Sheehan, 610-337-5331 

NRC to Meet With Exelon on May 22nd to Discuss

Performance of Oyster Creek Nuclear Power Plant

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hold a public meeting on Thursday, May 22, to 

discuss the agency’s annual review of safety performance at the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant, 

which is located in Lacey Township (Ocean County), N.J.

The public meeting is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Manahawkin, at 151 

Route 72 West in Manahawkin, N.J. It will include a formal question-and-answer session regarding 

plant performance and oversight topics. It will be preceded by an open house planned for 5:30 to 6 p.m. 

at the same location. During the open house, there will be an opportunity for attendees to hold one-onone discussions with NRC staff members about the plant’s performance and the agency’s oversight of 

the facility. 

Under the NRC’s Reactor Oversight Process, color-coded inspection findings and performance 

indicators are used to assess plant performance. (Performance indicators are statistical measurements of 

plant and equipment performance which, if exceeded, trigger additional NRC oversight.) The colors 

range from green, connoting very low safety or security significance, to white, yellow or red, for an 

issue of high significance.

Overall, the Oyster Creek plant, which is owned and operated by Exelon Generation Co. LLC,

operated safely during 2013. At the conclusion of last year, as assessed by the Reactor Oversight 

Process, there were no performance indicators for the plant that were other than “green” (very low risk) 

and no inspection findings that were “greater than green” (that is, none of the findings exceeded very 

low safety significance). As a result, Oyster Creek will continue to receive the NRC’s normal level of 

oversight during 2014, barring any changes.

The normal level of oversight consists of a detailed regime entailing thousands of hours of 

inspection. In 2013, the NRC devoted approximately 5,310 hours of inspection at Oyster Creek, a 

boiling-water reactor that began operations in 1969.

“We take very seriously the task of stepping back on a regular basis to size up plant 

performance. These comprehensive evaluations help guide our reviews for the year ahead, though we 

maintain flexibility should conditions change,” NRC Region I Administrator Bill Dean said. “Oyster 
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Creek, by virtue of its performance in 2013, will receive our routine – though still substantial – battery 

of inspections.”

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 

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 vicinity of each plant to discuss the 

results.

Normal inspections are carried out by the two Resident Inspectors assigned to Oyster Creek. 

Reviews are also performed 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 Oyster Creek are emergency 

preparedness, radiological protection and the plant’s problem identification and resolution program.

The Annual Assessment letter for Oyster Creek, as well as the notice for the May 22nd public 

meeting and open house, are available on the NRC website. Current performance information is also 

available for Oyster Creek.