No: I-15-013 April 7, 2015

 CONTACT: Diane Screnci, 610-337-5330 

 Neil Sheehan, 610-337-5331 

NRC Staff to Meet with Connecticut Nuclear Energy Advisory Council

April 14 to Discuss Millstone Nuclear Plant Annual Assessment

Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with the Connecticut Nuclear Energy Advisory 

Council (NEAC) on April 14 in Waterford, Conn., to discuss the agency’s annual review of safety 

performance at the Millstone nuclear power plant.

The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. at Waterford Town Hall, located at 15 Rope Ferry Rd. Prior to 

the session’s adjournment, attendees will have an opportunity to ask questions of NRC staff regarding 

the 2014 assessment.

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.

Dominion Nuclear Connecticut Inc. owns and operates the Waterford plant. On an overall basis, 

Millstone, which has two operating reactors, operated safely in 2014. As of the end of last year, 

Millstone Unit 2 had no inspection findings or performance indicators that were greater than green

(very low safety significance). Therefore, that unit is currently under the NRC’s normal level of 

oversight.

Unit 3, however, is receiving additional NRC oversight due to a white (low to moderate safety 

significance) inspection finding resulting from problems involving the plant’s turbine-driven auxiliary 

feedwater pump. The pump is one of several that can be used to help cool down the reactor after a 

shutdown by pumping water into the secondary side of the plant’s steam generators. Once Dominion 

notifies the agency of its readiness, the NRC will conduct a supplemental inspection at the facility to 

assess the company’s root-cause evaluation of the underlying issues and its corrective actions. The 

results of that inspection will determine whether the finding can be closed out.

The NRC also issued a final significance determination for a security-related inspection finding 

for Millstone Unit 3 on April 2. That violation has been classified as “greater than green.” Unless the 

finding is successfully appealed, it will result in additional scrutiny in the area of security.
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Millstone Unit 3 is currently under stepped-up scrutiny in response to the ‘white’ inspection 

finding and due to the ‘greater than green’ security-related finding,” NRC Region I Administrator Dan 

Dorman said. “More broadly, our annual assessments serve to help us focus our inspection resources on 

those areas where attention is most needed.”

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 9,150 hours of review at Millstone.

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 the vicinity of each plant to discuss 

the results.

Normal inspections are performed by three Resident Inspectors assigned to Millstone. Reviews 

are also carried out at the sites 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 Millstone are the dry cask storage of spent 

nuclear fuel, radiological safety and emergency planning.

The annual assessment letter for Millstone, as well as the notice for the April 14 meeting, are 

available on the NRC website. Current performance information is also available for Millstone Unit 2

and Millstone Unit 3.