|
Crews work at the North Anna Power Station facility located in Louisa County. |
BY RUSTY DENNEN
North Anna Power Station's two nuclear reactors performed safely during 2009.
That's according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which has released its annual safety review of the Louisa County plant.
The full report will be discussed in a public meeting Monday from 5 to 7 p.m. at Louisa County Library.
NRC staff will review results of the assessment and answer questions.
"Every year, the NRC evaluates the safety performance of nuclear plants in a systematic and detailed way," NRC Region II Administrator Luis Reyes said in a press release. "These reviews allow us to respond to ongoing issues, if needed, and to plan our future inspections. This open house gives local officials and citizens near the North Anna plant an opportunity to learn more about our oversight "
Inspectors look at key plant systems and procedures to compile the report. Among them: reactor and radiation safety, performance on test drills, the plant's alert and notification system and radiation control effectiveness regarding plant workers.
The agency uses color-coded inspection findings and performance indicators to assess nuclear plant operations. They use green, then white, yellow and red, to signify the safety level of the plant's performance.
The NRC concluded that North Anna operated safely with all inspection findings in the green category. That means there was very low safety significance, and at levels requiring no additional NRC oversight.
As a result, the NRC plans to conduct only routine baseline inspections at the plant for the rest of this year.
Safety is an issue at North Anna because Dominion has applied for an NRC permit that could lead to the construction of a third reactor at the site.
North Anna is one of two nuclear power plants owned by Dominion power in Virginia. The other is Surry Power Station along the James River.
Dominion owns and operates two other nuclear power plants, in Connecticut and Wisconsin.
The 13,000-acre Lake Anna was built in the early 1970s to cool the plant's reactors. Unit 1 went online in 1978, and Unit 2 in 1980.
Rusty Dennen: 540/374-5431
Email: rdennen@freelancestar.com
Read the Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff's performance review of North Anna Power Station's two reactors online:
UNIT 1: nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/NA1/na1_chart.html UNIT 2: nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/NA2/na2_chart.html