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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-97-53

July 9, 1997

Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials will meet with Duke Power Company managers at the Oconee nuclear power plant near Seneca South Carolina at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, July 10 to discuss preliminary results of a team inspection the agency conducted at the plant following failures involving the plant's emergency electrical supply system last month.

The NRC formed a special Augmented Inspection Team (AIT) which arrived at the plant June 30 to review the company's actions in response to failure of an emergency electrical supply to properly respond during a loss of offsite power test on June 20 and failure of electrical breakers during testing restoration on June 23.

The AIT will establish a sequence of events, assess the adequacy of Duke's response during the event and during recovery, determine whether the company met regulatory reportability requirements, determine causes and licensee corrective actions, and examine possible generic aspects of the problem with respect to possible applicability elsewhere.

The team's mission is to establish facts associated with this event. A report will be issued within 30 days, and NRC officials will then determine whether additional regulatory action is required.

Editors: This meeting is between the NRC and Duke Power Company officials. It is open to public observation, and NRC officials will be available at its conclusion to answer questions from interested observers.