No: II-16-018 April 7, 2016

CONTACT: Roger Hannah 404-997-4417 

Joey Ledford 404-997-4416

NRC Schedules Open House to Discuss 2015 Vogtle Nuclear Plant 

Performance and Construction Inspections of New Units

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has scheduled an open house for Thursday, April 14,

to discuss the agency’s 2015 assessment of the Vogtle nuclear plant’s two operating units as well as the 

inspection and oversight of the two units under construction at the site.

The plant, operated by Southern Nuclear Operating Co., is located near Waynesboro, Ga., about 

26 miles southeast of Augusta.

The open house, which will include informational posters, is scheduled from 6 - 7 p.m. at the 

Augusta Tech College Auditorium, 216 Ga. Highway 24 in Waynesboro.

NRC resident inspectors and other staff members will be available to answer questions on the 

safety performance and regulatory oversight of the Vogtle plant, as well as highlights of NRC 

inspections. Other staff members, including NRC resident construction inspectors, will be available to 

discuss the construction oversight process.

“We invite the public to visit with us and find out what we’re doing to ensure Vogtle is being 

operated safely and the new units are being built in compliance with design specifications and NRC 

regulations,” said NRC Region II Administrator Cathy Haney. “These annual meetings offer an 

opportunity for everyone, and especially people who live near the plant, to learn about our inspection 

and oversight programs.”

An NRC letter sent to plant officials addresses the performance of the operating units during 

2015 and will serve as a focus of the open house. 

The NRC review of the Vogtle plant for 2015 concluded that it operated in a manner that 

preserved public health and safety and protected the environment. During the first three quarters of the 

year, the operating units were the subject of increased oversight due to a violation resulting from the 

discovery that plant employees loaded radioactive waste into a container approved and tested for waste 

with lower radiation levels. No one was endangered by the action, and the plant took the required 

corrective actions.

The NRC uses color-coded inspection findings and performance indicators to assess plant 

performance. The colors start with green, which has very low safety significance, and then progress to 

white, yellow or red, based on the significance of the issues. The waste container violation was 

classified as white, meaning it had low to moderate safety significance.
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Another letter sent from the NRC to plant officials addresses construction oversight on Units 3 

and 4 will serve as the basis for the informal discussions on the construction side. The NRC staff found 

that the units were being constructed in a manner that protected public health and safety and met all 

regulatory objectives. All violations at the construction sites were of very low safety significance.

Current performance information for Vogtle Unit 1 and Unit 2 is available on the NRC website. 

That information is updated at least quarterly. The website also has additional information on the NRC 

construction reactor oversight process.