Nuclear Regulatory Commission inspectors maintain round-the-clock observations at the Donald C. Cook Nuclear Power Plant operated by Indiana Michigan Power Company, but even they, themselves, have to undergo scrutiny from time to time and one of those times will happen next week.
Authorities tell us that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will discuss 2017 safety performance of the Cook Plant during an open house next Tuesday, August 21st.
The open house, which will be at the Silver Beach Center located at 415 Lake Boulevard in St. Joseph, will be held from 3-4:30pm. NRC agency employees responsible for plant inspections, including the resident inspectors based full-time at the site, will be available to discuss the plant’s safety performance.
The NRC tells us that the Cook Plant Units 1 and 2 operated safely during 2017. They note that at the end of the year, all inspection findings and performance indicators were green or of very low safety significance. As a result, Donald C. Cook remains under the NRC’s normal level of oversight. That oversight entails thousands of hours of inspection each year.
The NRC Reactor Oversight Process uses color-coded inspection findings and indicators to measure plant performance. The colors start at green and increase to white, yellow or red, commensurate with the safety significance of the issues involved. Inspection findings or performance indicators with more than very low safety significance trigger increased NRC oversight.
Inspections are performed by two NRC resident inspectors and inspection specialists from the agency’s Region III office in Lisle, Illinois.
The annual assessment letter for Donald C. Cook, as well as the notice for the open house, are available on the NRC website. Current performance information is also available for Unit 1 and Unit 2. The public is invited to the Silver Beach Center to take part in the open house next Tuesday.
