Open house set on Davis-Besse review

6/10/2013

OAK HARBOR, Ohio — The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s annual performance review for the Davis-Besse nuclear power plant will be the subject of an open-house meeting Tuesday evening in Carroll Township.

Officials attending the meeting and available for one-on-one discussions will include the NRC’s on-site plant inspectors, agency staff from its regional office in Lisle, Ill., and staff who will oversee a steam-generator replacement planned at Davis-Besse next year.

“When the NRC evaluates Davis-Besse’s performance for the previous year, we look at any and all issues that might be of concern,” said Charles Casto, the agency’s regional administrator. “Then we map out our inspection plans for that specific facility, issue inspection reports, and hold public meetings near the plant in order to discuss our oversight and answer questions from local residents.”

The open house will run from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the Carroll Township Service Complex, 11080 W. Toussaint Rd.

An NRC statement said that overall, Davis-Besse operated safely during 2012, with just one security-related inspection finding that will result in increased agency oversight this year.

“NRC security inspectors made sure the issue was corrected before they left the site,” according to an agency statement.

Plant inspections scheduled this year will cover areas including emergency preparedness, radiological safety, plant operators' requalification, and the steam-generator replacement.

FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Corp.’s plans to replace the plant’s two steam generators during a maintenance shutdown next year are the subject of an on-going appeal by a coalition of anti-nuclear groups that say the utility should be required to obtain a license amendment because the new generators planned for installation will be significantly different from the original equipment still in use.

FENOC also is in the midst of seeking a 20-year renewal of the plant’s license, which expires in 2017.