NRC staff to discuss Browns Ferry Nuclear power plant safety performance

Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff will discuss Tennessee Authority’s Browns Ferry Nuclear power plant 2016 safety performance during an open house planned on May 3, in Tanner Ala.

The open house will be held from 6-7 p.m. in the Aerospace Center at Calhoun Community College, Tanner. Inspectors and managers responsible for NRC oversight of the plant, including the site-based resident inspectors, will be on hand to discuss the plant’s regulatory performance and NRC inspections. The Browns Ferry plant operated safely during 2016 and met NRC requirements. At the end of 2016, the plant had no inspection findings or performance indicators outside the normal band. As a result, it is currently under the NRC’s baseline level of oversight, which entails thousands of hours of inspection each year.

NRC’s Reactor Oversight

Under his Process the agency gauges plant performance through the use of color-coded inspection findings and performance indicators, which are statistical measurements of plant performance. Any inspection findings or performance indicators that are greater than green trigger increased NRC oversight. Day-to-day inspections are performed by two resident inspectors assigned to the plant. Reviews are also carried out at the sites by specialist inspectors assigned to the agency’s region Office.

Image: Browns Ferry Nuclear power plant (Source: TVA)