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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-97-78

Contact: Ken Clark or Roger Hannah

Friday, November 14, 1997

NRC STAFF TO HOLD PREDECISIONAL ENFORCEMENT CONFERENCE

WITH TVA ON NOVEMBER 19 TO DISCUSS SEQUOYAH NUCLEAR ISSUE

Meeting In Atlanta Is Open To Public For observation

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has scheduled a predecisional enforcement conference with the Tennessee Valley Authority at 10:30 a.m. (est) in Atlanta on November 19 to discuss NRC concerns related to an event at the Sequoyah nuclear power plant near Chattanooga.

NRC officials said that on July 24, the plant staff apparently failed to align a backup battery to an emergency battery supply and failed to notice the problem for over 30 hours while both units were operating at 100 percent power. According to plant technical specifications, operators must restore such a condition to normal within six hours or shut down the reactors until the condition is corrected.

The NRC staff is concerned that, although three other emergency battery power sources remained available, operating the units with one emergency battery power system unknowingly out of service could complicate the plant's ability during certain postulated accident conditions to supply adequate emergency electrical power to some vital equipment, and that the plant staff failed to identify and correct the adverse condition within the specified time.

The meeting will be held in the NRC's regional office, located on the 24th floor of the Atlanta Federal Center at 61 Forsyth Street, S. W. The meeting is open to observation by the public and the media, and NRC officials will be available at its conclusion to answer questions from interested observers.

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 of the conference is to discuss apparent violations, their causes and safety significance; to provide the licensee an opportunity to point out any errors that may have been made in the NRC inspection report; and to enable the company to outline its proposed corrective actions.

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