Federal regulators plan to discuss the safety of two controversial nuclear power plants in meetings this week.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is holding the meetings ahead of a safety review of the country's 104 nuclear reactors ordered last week by President Obama in the wake of a massive March 11 earthquake and tsunami that crippled reactors in northeast Japan on March 11 (E&ENews PM, March 17).

At issue for NRC this week: Entergy Corp.'s Indian Point Power Plant, which is on the Hudson River about 25 miles north of New York City, and Progress Energy Inc.'s H.B. Robinson Nuclear Plant, near Hartsville, S.C.

"After watching the events in Japan and having previously opposed the Indian Point plant, this past Tuesday, I requested the White House schedule a meeting between my staff and senior members of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission," New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said in his March 19 online statement. Cuomo said the meeting is scheduled for tomorrow.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman (D) last week called for NRC to take into account seismic activity in the region before relicensing the 40-year-old Indian River plant (E&ENews PM, March 18).

Entergy is asking NRC to renew licenses for Indian Point's Unit 2 and Unit 3 for an another 20 years. Current licenses expire in 2013 and 2015, respectively.

NRC is holding a separate meeting in South Carolina on Thursday to discuss the Robinson nuclear plant. The agency says the single-unit 710-megawatt pressurized-water reactor operated safely last year, but the NRC staff is increasing its oversight and inspection there because the facility exceeded the threshold for unplanned shutdowns in the third quarter.

Inspections also generated three findings of "low to moderate safety significance," including Progress Energy's failure to correct a problem with an emergency diesel generator and failure to adequately design and start operator training associated with reactor coolant pump seals.

"The NRC evaluates nuclear power plants in a systematic and detailed way each year," NRC Region II Administrator Victor McCree said in a notice posted on the agency's website. "These reviews and the additional inspections and oversight at Robinson will ensure that the plant is operated in a way that protects people near the plant and the environment."

The nonprofit Union of Concerned Scientists released a review of U.S. power plant safety concerns Thursday that pointed to fires and equipment malfunctions at the Robinson and Indian Point plants (ClimateWire, March 18).

The report highlights 14 significant safety-related events at the plants that it said occurred because reactor owners and regulators "tolerated known safety problems."