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NRC NEWS U. S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, REGION III 801 Warrenville Road, Lisle IL 60532

NRC STAFF CONCLUDES D. C. COOK IMPROVEMENTS SUFFICIENT FOR STARTUP OF UNIT 2

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has determined that the performance improvements and plant modifications at the D. C. Cook Nuclear Power Station are sufficient for Unit 2 at the plant to resume operations. The two-reactor facility, operated by American Electric Power Co., is at Bridgman, Michigan.

The utility is completing its final preparations for restart. NRC inspectors will be monitoring the Unit 2 startup on a round-the-clock basis until the plant is operating routinely.

Both units at the plant were shut down in September 1997 as a result of NRC inspection findings which questioned the capabilities of key plant emergency systems to meet their design requirements. Since then, the utility has completed major reviews of plant safety systems and corrected problems which were identified.

Work is continuing on Unit 1 at D. C. Cook, and the utility expects it to be ready to resume operation later this year.

Since the September 1997 shutdown, numerous inspections have been performed by the NRC resident inspectors and by inspectors based in the regional offices and NRC headquarters in Rockville, Maryland. These inspections have focused on the improvements being made at the plant and on the readiness of plant safety systems and the plant staff to resume operation.

An NRC Restart Oversight Panel, composed of managers and staff members from the regional and headquarters offices, will continue to monitor the performance of Unit 2 as it resumes operations and the utility's ongoing work to prepare Unit 1 for restart. This panel will continue to hold periodic meetings, open to the public, to review the status of activities at the plant.

The letter from NRC Regional Administrator James Dyer to American Electric Power Co. on the NRC's restart determination has been posted on the NRC's web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/OPA/reports

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