Of 104 commercial reactors in the United States, the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission has given 98 its top two safety ratings in annual assessment letters.
According to an NRC release, 89 reactors performed at the
highest level within the agency’s inspection program during 2010. Reactor sites
are inspected daily by NRC personnel, and overall assessments are given
quarterly, yearly and at mid-year. Public meetings will be held near each plant
this spring to discuss the annual results.
An additional nine reactors were ranked at the next highest
safety level, indicating they need to resolve only one or
two items of low significance. Those plants are Brunswick units 1 and 2,
Calvert Cliffs 2, Farley 1, Ginna; North Anna 2, Susquehanna 1 and Turkey Point
units 3 and 4.
The 2010 performance of the remaining six reactors resulted
in a third-level rating (out of five levels) and additional NRC scrutiny in the
coming year at each site for having a single “degraded safety cornerstone.”
Those reactors are Oconee units 1, 2 and 3, H.B. Robinson 2, Fort Calhoun and
Wolf Creek 1.
While the tenor of NRC’s assessment announcement was upbeat,
the agency consistently reiterates its focus on improving safety at nuclear
plants. In a speech Tuesday to NRC’s Regulatory Information Conference, agency
chairman Gregory B. Jaczko noted:
"In 2010, we saw an increase in the number of automatic
scrams for a second consecutive year, and at the end of the year, six plants
still remain in Column 3 of the ROP Action Matrix.
"We also have seen challenges with human
performance and material degradation – incidents that have been more
significant than have been seen in some time. For example, one of the most
significant inspection findings last year identified fire protection, safety
culture, and poor operator performance as major contributors to a significant
plant event. Recent events serve as a vivid reminder to the industry and to the
agency that we have not encountered all the different types of equipment
failures and human performance deficiencies that can undermine safety.”