"Six U.S. Nuclear Plants Undergo Intensive Review: NRC"

"The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is conducting a 'more intensive review' of several U.S. plants as part of its 'very conservative' safety review system, its chairman told lawmakers at a hearing on Thursday.

'Right now there are approximately six plants that are in one of the areas of more intensive review from a safety perspective, and those are the plants that right now we are most concerned about,' Gregory Jaczko said at a House Appropriations Committee hearing.

The NRC determined that six U.S. plants were in need of more oversight at the end of last year. The plants included three units at the Oconee plant operated by Duke Energy in South Carolina; the Fort Calhoun operated by Omaha Public Power District in Nebraska; the H. B. Robinson 2 operated by Progress Energy in South Carolina; and Wolf Creek 1 operated by Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corp. in Kansas.

An NRC spokesman said the Oconee units have been removed from the list for increased oversight since that time."

Roberta Rampton reports for Reuters April 1, 2011.