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	NRC NEWS U. S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
	Office of Public Affairs	Telephone: 301/415-8200
	Washington, DC 20555-001	E-mail: opa@nrc.gov

No. 99-249

November 22, 1999

NRC to Hold Workshop January 10-13 on Results of its Pilot Plant Evaluation

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hold a public workshop January 10-13 in Washington, D.C. to evaluate the results of its new reactor oversight process pilot program.

Interested parties can pre-register through December 20 via the NRC web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/workshop.html

The workshop will be held at the Renaissance Hotel, 999 Ninth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. Meeting times are from 12:00 noon to 5:00 p.m. on Monday, January 10; 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday, January 11 and 12; and 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon on Thursday, January 13.

Members of the public, and representatives from states, industry and public interest groups are invited to meet with the NRC to discuss and provide views on the prioritization and resolution of issues identified during a pilot program which began June 1, the purpose of which was to test and adjust a new oversight process at 13 nuclear power plants, and to determine if program revisions are needed prior to full implementation. The process is expected to be fully implemented next year for all 103 commercial nuclear power plants.

The NRC's new reactor oversight process, which includes inspection and assessment activities, is intended to maintain safety, improve public confidence, increase efficiency and effectiveness, and reduce unnecessary regulatory burden. The changes reflect, in part, improvements in nuclear power plant safety performance over the past 20 years. Plants that perform well generally will have less regulatory oversight than plants that have problems.

The pilot plant sites are: (1) Salem 1 and 2, near Wilmington, Delaware, operated by Public Service Electric & Gas; (2) Hope Creek near Wilmington, Delaware, operated by Public Service Electric & Gas; (3) Fitzpatrick, near Oswego, New York, operated by the Power Authority of the State of New York; (4) Shearon Harris, near Raleigh, North Carolina, operated by Carolina Power & Light Co.; (5) Sequoyah 1 and 2, near Chattanooga, Tennessee, operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority; (6) Prairie Island 1 and 2, near Minneapolis, Minnesota, operated by Northern States Power Co.; (7) Quad Cities 1 and 2, near Moline, Illinois, operated y Commonwealth Edison Co.; (8) Ft. Calhoun, near Omaha, Nebraska, operated by the Omaha Public Power District; and (9) Cooper, near Nebraska City, Nebraska, operated by the Nebraska Public Power District.

Workshop participants are asked to familiarize themselves with details of the new oversight process. Any questions about the workshop should be directed to August Spector at (301) 415- 2140. Information about the oversight process can be found on the NRC's website at: http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/index.html. Registration confirmation notices and the workshop final agenda will be sent out by December 27.

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