NRC Meets with Plymouth Residents To Discuss Pilgrim's Performance

The NRC may not be attending the upcoming forum on the referendum, but the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will be sending representatives to Plymouth in two weeks.

The NRC will meet with the public to discuss its assessment of safety performance at Pilgrim in the past year from 5 to 6:30 p.m., March 29 at . The NRC will respond to questions on specific performance issues at the plant and our role in ensuring safe plant operations.

Over the past year, Pilgrim has been shutdown three times due to safety issues. In , the plant went through an emergency shutdown during a start-up procedure. That violation was graded as being of "low to moderate significance" by the NRC, but federal nuclear regulators placed the plant under additinoal oversight after the shutdown.

The plant was shutdown again in when a leaking feedwater valve was identified and could not be isolated, and once more in , after a leaky safety valve was found and repaired. The plant was shut down for nearly three days to make the repairs.

The plant reported no problems after a in August, nor after knocked out power to much of Plymouth for nearly a week.

NRC staff will be available, in an informational setting, to answer questions from members of the public and discuss issues or concerns related to Pilgrim.

The NRC’s annual assessment letter regarding Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station’s performance during 2011 can be found in the NRC’s Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) with Accession Number ML12061A235. ADAMS is accessible from the NRC website at: nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html.

Additional information relative to the NRC’s annual assessment process and the safety performance of Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station can be found on the NRC’s website here.