No: I-18-004 March 19, 2018

Contact: Diane Screnci, 610-337-5330 Neil Sheehan, 610-337-5331

Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will discuss the 2017 safety performance of the Beaver Valley nuclear power plant, operated by FirstEnergy, during an open house on March 27 in Shippingport, Pa.

The open house, which will be held at the Shippingport Community and Municipal Building, 163 State Road 3016, Shippingport, Pa., will begin at 4:30 p.m. and conclude at 6 p.m. NRC staff responsible for inspections, including the two resident inspectors assigned to Beaver Valley on a full- time basis, will be available to discuss its performance.

At the conclusion of 2017, all inspection findings and performance indicators for the plant were in the green, or baseline, range. As a result, Beaver Valley will receive the normal level of oversight in 2018. This oversight 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 two NRC resident inspectors and inspection specialists from the agency’s Region I Office in King of Prussia, Pa.

The annual assessment letter for Beaver Valley, as well as the notice for the open house, are available on the NRC website. Current plant performance information for Beaver Valley Unit 1 and Unit 2 is also available.