NRC to discuss Areva’s safety record at public meeting

By Bryan Gentry

Published: July 7, 2008

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hold a public meeting in Lynchburg on July 24 to discuss Areva NP’s safety record.

The meeting will begin at 10:30 a.m. at Areva’s headquarters at 3315 Old Forest Road.

According to a letter posted on the commission’s Web site, the public meeting will focus on a performance review that occurred at Areva’s Mt. Athos Road plant in April.

That report resulted in no citations or concerns. However, the inspection report said Areva had a program challenge: how to train employees for finding discrete radioactive particles.

That training received attention earlier this year when a radioactive particle was found on equipment Areva had shipped from Campbell County to Tennessee. The NRC concluded last month that the incident was a violation, but did not fine Areva.

Susan Hess, spokeswoman for Areva, said last week that company officials hope to learn more about what the commission means by calling the training a
program challenge.

The NRC asks for members of the public to register for the meeting by calling Al Gooden at (404) 562-4716 by July 18.