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NRC NEWS U. S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, REGION I 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pa. 19406

NRC OFFICIALS, INDIAN POINT 2 MANAGERS TO DISCUSS PERFORMANCE ISSUES

Two high-ranking Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials will meet with senior managers of the Indian Point 2 nuclear power plant on September 11 to discuss performance issues at the Buchanan, N.Y., facility. The meeting of Hubert J. Miller, the NRC's Region I administrator, and Roy Zimmerman, deputy director of the agency's Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, with Consolidated Edison Company of New York managers follows a decision by NRC senior managers in May to classify the plant as one that warrants "agency focus," or heightened scrutiny.

The meeting, which will be open for public observation, will begin at 7 p.m. at the plant's Energy Education Center, at Broadway and Bleakley Avenue in Buchanan. NRC officials will remain afterward to answer questions and receive comments from members of the public.

In announcing the classification decision in May, NRC senior managers said the increased level of attention was needed in light of deficiencies in Consolidated Edison's efforts to improve plant performance. Additionally, two risk-significant events have occurred at the plant: a reactor shutdown with electrical system complications that occurred in August 1999 and a February 2000 steam generator tube failure. Both events, the managers determined, illustrated a number of longstanding performance issues, such as engineering support shortcomings, equipment reliability problems and large corrective action backlogs. Also, recurrent emergency preparedness weaknesses have been exhibited.

At the meeting on September 11, the NRC will try to gain a better understanding of Consolidated Edison's assessments of the performance issues, actions taken to address them and performance measures being used to monitor progress. Based on that and other information, the NRC will subsequently decide what additional NRC actions, such as inspections, might be needed.

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