No: I-14-024 May 22, 2014

CONTACT: Diane Screnci, 610-337-5330 

 Neil Sheehan, 610-337-5331 

NRC Plans Open House for May 29 to Discuss

Performance of Peach Bottom Nuclear Power Plant

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hold an open house on Thursday, May 29, to discuss 

the agency’s annual review of safety performance at the Peach Bottom nuclear power plant. Exelon 

Generation Co. LLC operates the twin-reactor plant, which is located in Delta (York County), Pa.

The open house is scheduled for 5:30-7 p.m. at the Peach Bottom Inn, at 6085 Delta Road in 

Delta. During the session, members of the public will have an opportunity 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. The NRC Resident Inspectors assigned to the plant on a fulltime basis, as well as their supervisor, will be on hand.

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 Peach Bottom plant 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 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, Peach Bottom 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 6,485 hours of inspection at Peach Bottom.

“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. “Peach 

Bottom, 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 Peach Bottom. 

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 Peach Bottom are emergency 

preparedness, radiological safety and the implementation of an industry initiative to monitor the 

condition of underground piping.

The Annual Assessment letter for Peach Bottom, as well as the meeting notice for the May 29th

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

Peach Bottom Unit 2 and Peach Bottom Unit 3.