Ken Clark (404) 562-4416
Roger D. Hannah (404) 562-4417
Joey Ledford (404) 562-4487

NRC TO DISCUSS 2004 PERFORMANCE AT SURRY NUCLEAR POWER PLANT
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The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with Virginia Electric and Power Company officials on March 30 to discuss the NRC’s annual assessment of safety performance at the Surry nuclear power plant, located near Surry, Va. The period covered is the calendar year 2004.

The meeting will begin at 2:00 p.m. (EST) at the Surry Government Center, located at 45 School Street in Surry. It is open to public observation. Before the end of the meeting, the NRC staff will be available to answer questions from interested observers related to the plant’s safety performance, as well as the NRC’s role in ensuring safe operation of the facility.

Dr. William Travers, Administrator of the NRC’s Region II office in Atlanta, said "the NRC staff rates the performance of each of the nation’s licensed, commercial nuclear power plants each year." He said the public meeting with the company "gives the NRC a chance to discuss the assessment with company and local officials and interested residents living near the plant." He said NRC officials will answer any questions people may have related to the agency’s oversight of safety and operations at Surry.

A letter sent from the NRC Region II office in Atlanta to plant officials addresses the plant’s performance during 2004 and will serve as the basis for the meeting discussion. It is available on the NRC web site at www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/sur_2004q4.pdf .

The NRC uses color coded inspection findings and performance indicators to assess nuclear power plant performance. The colors start with "green" and increase to "white," "yellow," or "red," commensurate with the safety significance of the issues involved.

Surry Units 1 and 2 operated safely during 2004, the NRC report said. One inspection finding and one Performance Indicator, both designated as "white," (of low to moderate safety significance), occurred during the review period. A subsequent NRC inspection found that the company’s corrective actions were adequate to address the issues. Based on these results and overall performance, the NRC will conduct only normal reactor oversight safety inspections during the next evaluation period.

Routine Inspections are performed by NRC Resident Inspectors assigned to the plant and by inspection specialists from the Region II office in Atlanta and the agency’s headquarters in Rockville, Md. In addition to the baseline inspections in 2005, the NRC plans inspections of Surry’s Independent Spent Fuel (Dry Cask) Storage Installation.

Current information for the Surry plant is available on the NRC web site at: www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/SUR1/sur1_chart.html and www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/SUR2/sur2_chart.html.

NRC news releases are available through a free listserv subscription at the following Web address: http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/listserver.html. The NRC Home Page at www.nrc.gov also offers a Subscribe to News link in the News & Information menu. E-mail notifications are sent to subscribers when news releases are posted to NRC's Web Site.

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Thursday, December 11, 2008