NRC: News Release - Region II - 2009-021 - NRC to Present Results of Licensee Performance Review at Westinghouse Nuclear Fuel Plant in Columbia, S.C.


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U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Office of Public Affairs, Region II
61 Forsyth Street SW, Atlanta, GA 30303
www.nrc.gov

No. II-09-021		April 21, 2009
CONTACT:	Roger D. Hannah (404) 562-4417 Joey Ledford (404) 562-4416	E-mail: opa2@nrc.gov
NRC TO PRESENT RESULTS OF LICENSEE PERFORMANCE REVIEW AT WESTINGHOUSE NUCLEAR FUEL PLANT IN COLUMBIA, S.C. Printable Version
The U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with Westinghouse management in Columbia, S.C., on Tuesday, April 28 to discuss the results of a regulatory safety performance review at the company’s commercial nuclear fuel fabrication plant. The meeting will be held at 10 a.m. in the Red Room of the S.C. State Museum, 301 Gervais St. in Columbia. The meeting will be open to the public and media, and NRC officials will be available after the formal presentation to answer questions. The NRC staff assessed performance at Westinghouse during a period beginning Feb. 13, 2007 and ending Feb. 13, 2009 in the areas of safety operations, safeguards, radiological controls, facility support and special topics (licensing). The review showed Westinghouse continued to operate in a manner that protected public health and safety, but the NRC identified violations that highlighted two areas for improvement – safety operations and facility support. The NRC staff expects Westinghouse management to evaluate any common causes underlying the violations during this review period and take appropriate action. The NRC has reduced the evaluation period for Westinghouse from two year to 18 months, and the agency will perform additional inspections in the areas needing improvement. “The NRC continually reviews regulatory safety performance at Westinghouse and at each of the nation’s other licensed nuclear facilities,” said Luis Reyes, regional administrator of the NRC office in Atlanta. The meeting, he added, “is an opportunity for us to discuss safety performance with the company and with residents living near the plant who might be interested.” A copy of the NRC letter to the company regarding the review is publicly available online in the NRC’s Agencywide Document Access and Management System (ADAMS), http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. The number to access the document is ML090900320.
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