Washington (Platts)--6Mar2009

Palo Verde-3 still requires NRC's highest level of attention, the agency
said in a March 6 announcement on the issuance of annual assessment letters to
all 104 operating reactors in the US. The Arizona Public Service Co. unit has
been in Column 4 of the action matrix under NRC's reactor oversight process
since fourth-quarter 2006. The column reflects multiple or repetitive problems
with one of seven safety areas of plant operations. If performance slips into
the Column 5 threshold, the reactor would have to shut down until the NRC
gives approval to restart.

The other two Palo Verde units remained in Column
3, which indicates deficiencies in a performance area, but they have been
treated as if they also were in the fourth column. Nebraska Public Power
District's Cooper remained in Column 3, where it has been since first-quarter
2008. Fourteen other units are in Column 2, which means they require some
additional attention: Byron-1 and -2; Comanche Peak-1; Farley-1; Grand Gulf,
Hatch-2; Kewaunee; McGuire-1 and -2; Nine Mile Point-2; Oconee-1; Palisades;
Prairie Island-1; and San Onofre-2. The other reactors require only baseline
inspection. Eric Leeds, director of the NRC's Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation, said in a statement that the 2008 results "show that about 83
percent of the plants are performing strongly enough that we?re satisfied with
our basic level of inspections at those sites."