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	NRC NEWS U. S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, REGION II 61 Forsyth Street, Suite 23T85, Atlanta, GA 30303
	CONTACT:	Ken Clark (Phone: 404-562-4416, E-mail: kmc2@nrc.gov )
		Roger Hannah (Phone 404-562-4417, E-mail: rdh1@nrc.gov )

June 5, 1997

The Catawba nuclear power plant received performance ratings of "superior" in three areas and "good" in the one remaining area of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's latest systematic assessment of licensee performance (SALP) of the facility.

The SALP report was sent June 4 to Duke Power Company, which operates the facility near York, South Carolina. It evaluates the plant's performance from October 8, 1995 through April 26 of this year.

NRC and Duke officials will discuss the report during a meeting set for 1:00 p.m. Monday, June 23, at the Catawba site. The meeting will be open for public observation. NRC officials will be available after the meeting to speak with reporters, state and local officials, and members of the public.

The NRC SALP process rates licensees in four functional areas -- plant operations, maintenance, engineering, and plant support -- and assigns ratings of Category 1, 2 or 3 depending on whether their performance in those areas was superior, good or adequate.

The report on Catawba gives the plant a Category 1 rating in plant operations, engineering and plant support indicating "superior" performance, and a Category 2 rating in maintenance, indicating "good" performance. The ratings in the plant's previous SALP report, issued in November 1995, were Category 2's in all four areas assessed.

In his cover letter to the report, NRC Regional Administrator Luis Reyes said the plant staff was "effective in addressing the challenges discussed in the previous SALP report." Reyes said the "contributors to this achievement were improved program implementation by your staff, effective self-assessment and management involvement."

While the performance in the maintenance area remained good, Reyes said maintenance also benefited from improved self-assessment and management involvement. However, he pointed to "equipment reliability, procedure inadequacies and problems in the welding program" which he said prevented the plant from obtaining a higher rating in the maintenance area.

EDITORS: A copy of the full SALP report is available from this office. SALP reports are also available on the NRC's Internet web site (www.nrc.gov/OPA) and by e-mail subscription. To receive SALP reports by e-mail as they are issued, send an e-mail to listproc@nrc.gov with the following message: subscribe salp yourfirstname yourlastname.