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NRC NEWS
U. S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, REGION I
475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pa. 19406 | | CONTACT: |
Diane Screnci (610)337-5330/ e-mail: dps@nrc.gov
Neil A. Sheehan (610)337-5331/e-mail: nas@nrc.gov |
or vld@nrc.gov
I-96-48
Contact: Diane Screnci FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Victor Dricks July 25, 1996
NINE MILE POINT RATED "GOOD" IN THREE CATEGORIES,
"SUPERIOR" IN FOURTH IN NRC ASSESSMENT REPORT
The Nine Mile Point Nuclear Power Station received
performance ratings of "good" in engineering, maintenance and
plant support, and "superior" in plant operations in the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission's latest systematic assessment
of licensee performance (SALP) of the facility.
The SALP report was sent July 24 to Niagara Mohawk Power
Corporation (NMPC), which operates the plant near Oswego, New
York. It evaluates the plant's performance from January 29,
1995, through June 1 of this year.
NRC and NMPC officials will discuss the report during a
meeting set for 2:30 p.m. on August 8, at the Joint News
Center in Volney, N.Y. The meeting will be open for public
observation and NRC officials will be available afterwards to
speak with reporters, state and local officials and members
of the public.
NRC assessment reports rate licensees in four functional
areas - plant operations, engineering, maintenance and plant
support -and assign Category 1, 2 or 3 depending on whether
their performance in those areas was superior, good or
adequate. There was no change in any of the plant's ratings
from the previous SALP period in this most recent assessment.
In a letter to the licensee, NRC Region I Administrator
Thomas T. Martin said: "Overall, the NRC staff continued to
observe good performance at Nine Mile Point. Management
oversight and involvement in all functional areas were
evident and effective. All areas exhibited instances of high
levels of performance during the assessment period, with
superior performance again obtained in the operations area
during the latter part of the assessment period. Although
the deviation/event report (DER) program was successful in
that staff throughout the site identified problems, the
program was less successful in the areas of analysis,
evaluation, tracking, and corrective action determination."
"These weaknesses allowed longstanding problems to go
uncorrected, for instance, the problem with the design of the
blowout panels for the Unit 1 reactor and turbine buildings.
In addition, issues of procedural adequacy, inattention to
detail, and equipment problems continued to hamper efforts to
maintain a consistently high level of performance."
Mr. Martin has these comments on Nine Mile Point's
performance in the four rated categories:
PLANT OPERATIONS
Operations management provided effective oversight of
activities. Operations personnel demonstrated a clear safety
perspective and a questioning attitude. Response to events
was appropriate and well controlled. Operations personnel
generally performed well and exhibited superior performance
in the latter part of the SALP period. The decline in
operator performance that was noted early in the period
reflected a weakness in the organization determining the
underlying causes of personnel performance errors. In
addition, sporadic problems with procedure adequacy
unnecessarily challenged the operators during routine
evolutions.
ENGINEERING
Engineering performance with respect to both units was
good. Engineering management provided appropriate oversight
of activities and implemented effective actions to reduce the
backlog of engineering work activities. In general, the
quality of engineering design and analysis activities was
good, but the NRC staff noted several instances of weak or
untimely performance. Performance of engineering programs
varied; for example, the emergency diesel generator
operational trending program was effectively implemented, but
the implementation of the motor-operated valve program was
weak. The DER program was effectively used to document
problems, but the results of the program were not trended
well or consistently shared between units. Engineering
personnel were technically knowledgeable and system engineers
effectively monitored their assigned systems.
PLANT SUPPORT
Good performance continued in the radiological
protection program. Programs to maintain radiological
exposures as low as is reasonably achievable (ALARA) were
effective. The radiological effluents, environmental
monitoring, and chemistry programs remained strong. Security
program performance was good, although the NRC staff noted
some instances of inattention to detail. The emergency
preparedness program was well established and maintained.
The NRC staff noted recurring problems with event
classification during most of the period, but the licensee
showed improvement during the latest exercise. Fire
protection and housekeeping were generally very good.
MAINTENANCE
Maintenance management was generally involved in day-
to-day maintenance work and also directed a particularly
noteworthy level of attention to maintenance activities
during outages to ensure good performance. The NRC staff
observed that a strong focus on maintaining safety system
readiness at both units was evident in the reduced corrective
maintenance backlog. Personnel performance in this area
improved as compared with the previous period, but some
performance problems continued to arise. The licensee
effectively used the corrective action process to identify
problems, but tracking and followup of corrective actions
were weak in ensuring corrective action effectiveness.
Revised programs and procedures resulted in an overall
improvement in performing maintenance at the end of the SALP
period. The licensee's efforts to properly maintain the
material condition of the plants were generally effective;
however, the NRC staff continued to observe deficiencies.
***
SALP reports are available on the NRC's Internet web
site (http://www/nrc.gov/OPA) and by e-mail subscription. To
receive SALP reports by e-mail as they are issued, send an
e-mail to listproc@nrc.gov with the following message:
subscribe salp yourfirstname yourlastname.
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