NRC TO HOLD OPEN HOUSE ON MARCH 20 IN ONTARIO, N.Y., TO DISCUSS

ANNUAL ASSESSMENT OF GINNA NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

 Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will conduct an open house on Tuesday, March 20, 

regarding the agency’s annual assessment of safety performance for the R.E. Ginna nuclear 

power plant.

 The open house will take place from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Ontario Town Hall, located at 

1850 Ridge Road in Ontario, N.Y. Members of the public will have an opportunity to learn firsthand from NRC staff members about the plant’s safety performance during 2011 and the NRC’s 

oversight of the facility. The meeting format will allow citizens to discuss plant-related topics on 

a one-on-one basis with NRC inspectors assigned to the plant and their NRC Region I 

supervisor.

 Ginna is a pressurized-water reactor located in Ontario, N.Y. It is owned and operated by 

Constellation Energy Nuclear Group, LLC.

Overall, Ginna operated safely during 2011. At the conclusion of last year, as assessed 

by the NRC’s Reactor Oversight Process, there were no performance indicators for the plant that 

were other than “Green” (very low safety significance) and no inspection findings that were 

“Greater than Green.” Therefore, for the rest of 2012 Ginna will receive the very detailed 

inspection regime used by the NRC for plants that are operating well. In 2011, the NRC devoted 

approximately 5,300 hours of inspection to the Ginna facility.

“Throughout 2011, our inspectors kept close watch on a daily basis to ensure there were 

no safety issues of significance. The Ginna plant was among those to meet our clearly defined 

performance criteria last year,” NRC Region I Administrator Bill Dean said. “In addition, our 

inspectors spent time in 2011 checking on whether there were any immediate safety concerns at 

NRC NEWS

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Office of Public Affairs, Region I 

475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pa. 19406

E-mail: opa1@nrc.gov 

Site: www.nrc.gov

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

No. I-12-006

Contact: Diane Screnci, (610) 337-5330

 Neil Sheehan, (610) 337-5331

March 15, 2012

Email: opa1.resource@nrc.gov
U.S. nuclear power plants following the March events at the Fukushima Daiichi facility in Japan. 

Those reviews indicated the plants remained safe for continued operation.”

For most of 2011, Ginna was under additional NRC oversight due to a “White”

Performance Indicator related to issues associated with a turbine-driven auxiliary feedwater 

pump. However, that Performance Indicator returned to “Green” in the fourth quarter of 2011. 

The NRC performed a supplemental inspection at the plant in response to the “White” 

Peformance Indicator to ensure that the root causes of the issues were fully understood and that 

sufficient corrective actions had been implemented.

The NRC utilizes a combination of color-coded inspection findings and performance

indicators to measure plant performance. The colors start with “Green” and then increase to

“White,” “Yellow” or “Red,” commensurate with the safety significance of the issues involved.

The agency issues reports on performance at specific plants 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 the NRC’s website each quarter. Following the release of the 

annual reports every March, the NRC meets with the public in the vicinity of each plant to 

discuss the results. Such interactions are in keeping with the agency’s commitment to

transparency with regard to its activities.

The annual assessment for the Ginna plant is available on the NRC website. The notice 

for the open house is available in the NRC’s Agencywide Documents Access and Management

System (ADAMS) under accession number ML12065A193. Help in using ADAMS can be 

obtained via the NRC’s Public Document Room at 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, or by 

e-mail at PDR.Resource@NRC.GOV.

Routine inspections are carried out by the two NRC Resident Inspectors assigned to the

plant and by inspection specialists from the agency’s Region I Office in King of Prussia, Pa.

Among the areas of performance at Ginna to be inspected this year by NRC specialists are

activities associated with radiological safety, dry cask storage of spent nuclear fuel, fire 

protection and the plant’s implementation of a voluntary initiative to address potential 

degradation of underground piping.

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

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