NRC to Pilgrim Safety Forum Tuesday

The NRC will hold a public hearing to discuss the agency’s annual assessment of safety performance at Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. The informational session will be held on Tuesday, April 2, 2013 from 5:30 to 7:00 pm in the Mayflower Room at Plymouth Town Hall.

Attendees will have an opportunity to hold one-on-one discussions with NRC staff members about the plant’s 2012 performance and the agency’s oversight of the facility. Amongst the NRC staff on hand will be the inspectors assigned to the plant on a full-time basis and their supervisor.

Immediately following the informational forum, NRC staff will brief the Board of Selectmen on the plans for a dry cask storage facility for spent nuclear fuel at Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station, as well as on the plant’s safety performance in 2012. The meeting will include a public question-and-answer portion to be facilitated by the board.

The NRC reports that, overall, the Pilgrim plant operated safely during 2012. At the conclusion of last year, as assessed by the NRC’s Reactor Oversight Process, there were no performance indicators for the facility 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, Pilgrim will continue to receive the NRC’s normal level of oversight during 2013, barring any changes.

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 the NRC’s web site, www.nrc.gov , each quarter. Following the release of the annual reports every March, the NRC meets with the public in the vicinity of each plant to discuss the results. The sessions are in keeping with the agency’s commitment to transparency with respect to its activities.

The Annual Assessment Letter for the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station is available on the NRC web site here.

Current performance information for Pilgrim is available on the NRC web site here.

From a release from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission

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