No: I-14-011 March 25, 2014

CONTACT: Diane Screnci, 610-337-5330 

 Neil Sheehan, 610-337-5331 

NRC Schedules Open House for April 3rd to Discuss

Performance of Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Plant

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will conduct an open house on Thursday, April 3, to 

discuss the agency’s annual review of safety performance at the Beaver Valley nuclear power plant.

During the open house, scheduled for 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Shippingport Community and 

Municipal Building, at 164 State Road 3016 in Shippingport, Pa., members of the public will be able to 

hold one-on-one discussions with NRC staff regarding the plant’s performance in 2013, as well as the 

agency’s oversight plans for the facility this year. NRC staff in attendance will include the NRC 

Resident Inspectors assigned to the plant on a full-time basis and their supervisor.

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 Beaver Valley plant — located in Shippingport (Beaver County) and owned and 

operated by FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co. — performed safely during 2013. At the conclusion of 

last year, as assessed by the NRC’s Reactor Oversight Process, there were no performance indicators 

for the plants 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, Beaver 

Valley will continue to receive the NRC’s normal level of oversight during 2013, 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 6,600 hours of inspection at Beaver Valley.

“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 to adjust what we plan to inspect should conditions change,” NRC Region I 

Administrator Bill Dean said. “Beaver Valley, by virtue of its performance in 2013, will receive our 

routine – though still substantial – battery of inspections.”
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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 carried out by the two Resident Inspectors assigned to Beaver Valley. 

Reviews are also performed 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 Beaver Valley are the 

plant’s radiological safety program, emergency planning and the initial use of a dry cask storage facility 

for spent nuclear fuel.

The Annual Assessment letter for Beaver Valley, as well as the meeting notice for the April 3rd

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

Beaver Valley 1 and Beaver Valley 2.