NRC Schedules Webinar to Discuss 2019 Safety Performance at Pennsylvania and Maryland Nuclear Power Plants

Nuclear Regulatory Commission - News Release
No: I-20-008 May 27, 2020
Contact: Diane Screnci, 610-337-5330 Neil Sheehan, 610-337-5331
 
NRC Schedules Webinar to Discuss 2019 Safety Performance at Pennsylvania and Maryland Nuclear Power Plants
 
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will hold a public webinar on June 18 to discuss the agency’s annual assessment of safety performance at nuclear power plants in Pennsylvania and Maryland.
 
Beaver Valley 1 & 2, in Shippingport, Pa., are operated by Energy Harbor Nuclear; and Susquehanna 1 & 2, in Salem Township, Pa., are operated by Talen Energy. Limerick 1 & 2, in Limerick, Pa.; Peach Bottom 2 & 3, in Delta, Pa.; and Calvert Cliffs 1 and 2, in Lusby, Md., are operated by Exelon Nuclear.
 
The purpose of the webinar is to provide information regarding the plants’ safety performance in 2019 and the NRC’s oversight activities at the facilities. The online meeting is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. Participants will be able to view slides prepared by NRC staff and ask questions either orally or in writing via a web page established to host the session. Advance online registration is required to participate.
 
Beaver Valley, Calvert Cliffs, Limerick, Peach Bottom and Susquehanna operated safely in 2019, with the inspection findings and performance indicators for each unit assessed as green, or of very low safety significance, at the end of the year. As a result, each plant in 2020 will receive the normal level of oversight, which entails thousands of hours of inspection each year.
 
The NRC Reactor Oversight Process uses color-coded inspection findings and indicators to describe plant performance. The colors start at green and increase to white, yellow or red, commensurate with the safety significance of the issues involved. Inspection findings or performance indicators with more than very low safety significance trigger increased NRC oversight.
 
Inspections are performed by NRC resident inspectors assigned to each of the plants and specialists from the agency’s Region I Office in King of Prussia, Pa.
 
The annual assessment letters for the plants, as well as the webinar notice, are available on the NRC website. Current plant performance indicators for all of the units are also available on the website and are updated on a quarterly basis.