The Nuclear Regulatory Commission Friday cited nine PJM plants for additional scrutiny in its mid-year gradings of the nation’s nuclear fleet.

The NRC grades each reactor based on data submitted quarterly by plant operators (“performance indicators”) and inspections by resident inspectors and regional staff. Its mid-year assessment places all operating units within one of four levels, with the agency’s scrutiny increasing as plant performance declines.  (See sidebar: NRC Plant Rating Methodology.)

Eight PJM reactors were named among 17 nationwide in the second highest category and will undergo additional inspections because of items of low safety significance: FirstEnergy’s Beaver Valley 1 and 2 (Pa.) and Davis Besse (Ohio); PPL’s Susquehanna 2 (Pa.), and Exelon’s Three Mile Island 1 (Pa.), Dresden 2 and 3 (Ill.) and LaSalle 2 (Ill.).

In addition, FirstEnergy’s Perry 1 plant in Ohio was among eight reactors cited for a “degraded level of performance,” the third performance level.

The agency said the Perry plant and the Beaver Valley units resolved their issues after the close of the mid-year review and are now in the highest performing level, which are subject to only “baseline” inspections. The agency gave top grades to 75 reactors in the mid-year assessment for the period ending June 30.

One reactor, Browns Ferry 1 in Alabama, is in the fourth category because of a “high significance” safety finding.

In addition, the NRC has shut down the Fort Calhoun plant in Nebraska due to significant performance issues. It is in a special NRC oversight program and did not receive a mid-cycle assessment.

Two other plants, Crystal River 3 and Kewaunee, entered decommissioning during the first half of the year and are no longer considered operating reactors.