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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-99-29

April 27, 1999

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has determined that improvements at the Clinton Nuclear Power Station are sufficient for the plant to resume operations. The plant, operated by Illinois Power Company, is near Clinton, Illinois.

The Clinton plant has been shut down since September 1996 for repairs, modification of safety systems, and performance improvement activities.

The NRC has performed extensive inspections over the past several months to assess the performance improvement initiatives and equipment maintenance and modifications undertaken by the utility.

James Dyer, NRC Regional Administrator, in a letter to the utility said, "Illinois Power's performance improvement initiatives have been sufficiently implemented to support restart of the Clinton Nuclear Power Station."

The NRC will monitor the startup activities at Clinton on a round-the-clock basis for about two weeks. This in-depth inspection will involve the resident inspectors, region-based inspectors, and inspectors from other regions.

Following the startup inspection, the NRC will meet with Illinois Power officials to discuss the inspection findings and the utility's continuing performance improvement activities.

The NRC has also issued two other letters to the utility:

-- Closing the utility's commitments in response to a Confirmatory Action Letter regarding the investigation of an electrical circuit breaker failure in August 1997 and subsequent corrective actions. NRC inspections showed that the utility's corrective actions provided reasonable assurance that "all safety related [circuit] breakers will function when called upon."

-- Indicating that the utility had satisfactorily responded to an NRC Demand for Information, issued in September 1997, on the utility's corrective action program. The agency concluded that the planned and completed measures "established a basis for reasonable assurance that the corrective action program was effective."

The three letters to the utility are available on the NRC's internet web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/OPA/reports/clinton.htm