Waterford nuclear power plant in Louisiana. (Photo: Entergy)
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has released its 2025 annual performance assessments of the country’s 95 operating commercial nuclear reactors. And of the 95 reactors, all but five earned the highest marks.
Nuclear power plant assessments can fall under one of five categories: Licensee Response, Regulatory Response, Degraded Cornerstone, Degraded Performance, and Unacceptable Performance. Ninety reactors fell under Licensee Response, the highest performance category in safety and security. Plants that achieve this level of performance are subject to a Reactor Oversight Process (ROP) baseline inspection.
Among the facilities now in Licensee Response is Entergy’s Waterford nuclear power plant in Killona, La., which resolved issues of low safety significance during the year.
The findings: Five reactors fell under the second performance category, Regulatory Response, which requires an ROP baseline inspection and a supplemental IP 95001 inspection. No reactors fell under the other three categories, which trigger additional NRC oversight—or, in the case of the fifth performance category, a reactor shutdown.
The reactors in the second performance category are subject to additional oversight for the following reasons:
- Hope Creek-1 (PSEG Nuclear; Hancocks Bridge, N.J.), for inadequate identification and correction of water intrusion into an emergency diesel generator lube oil system. This was reported in the third quarter of 2025.
- South Texas Project-2 (STP Nuclear Operating Co.; Bay City, Texas), for failing to establish adequate preventative maintenance instructions leading to multiple component failures. This was reported in the fourth quarter of 2024.
- Summer-1 (Dominion Energy; Jenkinsville, S.C.), for inadequate refurbishment of a circuit breaker resulting in inoperability of a service water booster pump. This was reported in the third quarter of 2025.
- Watts Bar-1 (TVA Nuclear; Spring City, Tenn.), for failing to maintain its public address system. This was reported in the third quarter of 2025.
- Watts Bar-2 (TVA Nuclear; Spring City, Tenn.), for failing to maintain its public address system. This was reported in the third quarter of 2025.
2024 Comparisons: The overall results marked an improvement from 2024, when 85 of 94 operating commercial reactors reached the highest performance category. The remaining nine reactors were placed in the second performance category because of one or two items of low safety significance that needed resolution.
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