6 Mar (NucNet): All but three of the 99 commercial nuclear reactors operating in the US were in the two highest performance categories in 2016, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has said after issuing annual letters to the plants regarding their performance throughout the year. Of the 96 highest-performing reactors, 83 fully met all safety and security performance objectives. Thirteen reactors were assessed as needing to resolve one or two items of low safety significance. For these reactors, regulatory oversight includes additional inspection and follow-up of corrective actions. Plants in this category are: Davis Besse (Ohio); Diablo Canyon-2 (California); Dresden-3 (Illinois); Ginna (New York); Grand Gulf (Mississippi); Hope Creek-1 (New Jersey); Monticello (Minnesota); Oyster Creek (New Jersey); Salem-2 (New Jersey); South Texas-1 and -2 (Texas); and Vogtle-1 and -2 (Georgia). Oyster Creek and Vogtle-1 and -2 have resolved their issues since the reporting period ended and have moved to the highest performing level, the NRC said. There were no reactors in the third performance category with a degraded level of performance. Three reactors are in the fourth performance category. Ano- 1 and -2 in Arkansas require increased oversight because of two safety findings of substantial significance. Those findings stem from a heavy equipment incident in 2013 and degraded flood protection at the site. Pilgrim in Massachusetts is in the fourth performance category because of long-standing issues of low-to-moderate safety significance. Reactors in this category receive additional inspections to confirm the performance issues are being addressed. Pilgrim has been under increased NRC oversight after owner and operator Entergy did not adequately evaluate the causes of unplanned shutdowns in 2013. Pilgrim is scheduled to close permanently on 31 May 2019 with Entergy blaming the closure on a number of financial factors.
