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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 )

No: II-97-52

July 3, 1997

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will hold a predecisional enforcement conference with Carolina Power & Light Company on Tuesday, July 8, to discuss an apparent violation of NRC regulations involving a maintenance procedure revision.

That revision allowed the plant staff to remove the containment missile shields while the temperature and pressure of the reactor system were still at operating levels although the reactor was shut down. The missile shields are large concrete structures placed in front of openings in the plant's containment building during outages. The shields are designed to prevent objects from being blown into containment during high winds and damaging equipment. Those openings are closed when the plant is producing power.

The meeting will be held in the NRC Atlanta office, located at 61 Forsyth Street, Room 24T20, at 1:00 p.m. It will be open to observation by the public.

Although the apparent violation was identified by the plant's staff and corrected, the NRC is concerned that CP&L failed to recognize that the procedure change would require a change to the plant's technical specifications.

NRC officials said the decision to hold a predecisional enforcement conference does not mean that a determination has been made that a violation has occurred or that enforcement action will be taken. The purpose is to discuss apparent violations, their causes, and safety significance; to provide the licensee with an opportunity to point out any errors that may have been made in NRC inspection reports; and to enable the company to outline its proposed corrective actions.

No decision on the apparent violation or any contemplated enforcement action, such as a civil penalty, will be made at the conference. Those decisions will be made by NRC officials at a later time.