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NRC NEWS
U. S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, REGION III
801 Warrenville Road, Lisle IL 60532 |
| CONTACT: |
Jan Strasma (630) 829-9663/e-mail: rjs2@nrc.gov |
|
Angela Greenman (630) 829-9662/e-mail: opa3@nrc.gov |
NEWS ANNOUNCEMENT: RIII-96-40 July 12, 1996
CONTACT: Jan Strasma 708/829-9663
Angela Dauginas 708/829-9662
E-mail: opa3@nrc.gov
D.C. COOK PLANT RATED "SUPERIOR" IN ONE AREA
"GOOD" IN THREE AREAS IN LATEST SYSTEMATIC ASSESSMENT REPORT
The D.C. Cook Nuclear Power Plant has received
performance ratings of "superior" in plant support and "good"
in operations, maintenance, and engineering in the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff's latest Systematic
Assessment of Licensee Performance (SALP) report for the
facility.
The report was sent July 8 to American Electric Power
Company, which operates the facility near Benton Harbor,
Michigan. It evaluates the plant's performance from October
30, 1994, through May 25 of this year.
NRC and American Electric Power Company officials will
discuss the assessment during a meeting at 1 p.m., July 25,
at the Donald C. Cook Visitors Center on the plant site. NRC
officials will be available afterwards to speak with
reporters, state and local officials, and members of the
public.
NRC systematic assessment reports rate licensees in four
functional areas - plant operations, maintenance,
engineering, and plant support - and assign ratings of
Category 1, 2 or 3 depending on whether their performance in
those areas was superior, good or adequate. The report on
D.C. Cook gives the plant a "Category 1" rating in plant
support, indicating superior performance. It assigns a
"Category 2" rating in operations, maintenance, and
engineering, indicating good performance.
NRC Regional Administrator Hubert J. Miller, in a letter
to the utility, said: "It is my view that conduct of
activities at the D.C. Cook nuclear plant, while good
overall, declined in operations and maintenance when compared
to the last SALP period. This was primarily due to
operational and maintenance errors leading to several plant
trips, transients, and operability concerns."
He observed that the decline in performance was partly
driven by poor communications between departments, personnel
errors and ineffective work planning.
Mr. Miller noted that the strengths of the facility
included the experience and professionalism of the operators,
continued low personnel exposure, and the maintenance of
security systems.
"Early this year, during a management meeting with the
NRC staff, you outlined the initiatives you had implemented
to improve plant performance. We view these as positive
plans which should arrest the decline in performance and
encourage you to continue with these efforts," he added.
The ratings for each functional area of this report and
the previous report were:
| Functional Area |
Current Period |
Previous Period |
| Operations |
2 |
2 |
| Maintenance |
2 |
2 |
| Engineering |
2 |
2 |
| Plant Support |
1 |
1 |
# # # #
NOTE: A copy of the full report may be obtained from the
Region III Office of Public Affairs at the telephone numbers
or e-mail address above.
These assessment reports are now available on the
internet at: http://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/organization/opafuncdesc.html.
Reports for all plants in the U.S. may be obtained when they are issued
through an internet e-mail subscription. Send an e-mail addressed to
listproc@nrc.gov with the following message: subscribe salp yourfirstname
yourlastname.
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