All but three of the 99 operating U.S. nuclear power plants are in the highest two safety categories according to the NRC. Seven have issues of low significance that require attention, while three have more significant concerns to resolve. There were no plants listed in the third category which includes plants with more significant issues to address.
The following plants were listed as having low level concerns that still require attention:
• Clinton and Dresden 2 in Illinois
• Davis Besse in Ohio
• Indian Point 3 in New York
• Prairie Island 2 in Minnesota
• River Bend in Louisiana
• Sequoyah 1 in Tennessee
Arkansas Nuclear One Units 1 and 2 and Pilgrim in Massachusetts are in category four, one category away from a mandatory shutdown.
Arkansas Nuclear One Units 1 and 2 have two concerns that are deemed “substantial significance,” the NRC said. Pilgrim, on the other hand, is in category four “because of long-standing issues of low-to-moderate safety significance,” the agency said.
Every six months operators are sent letters advising them of their most recent assessment. The letters include the NRC’s inspection plan for that plant.
“These assessment letters are the result of a holistic review of operating performance at each domestic power reactor facility,” said Bill Dean, director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
Each plant’s assessment letter is available on the NRC Web site, as is the agency’s assessment of the nuclear power construction projects in Georgia and South Carolina and the Watts Bar Unit 2 reactor in Tennessee.
