ML032390737

Midcycle Performance Review and Inspection Plan - Cooper Nuclear Station

ML032390737
Person / Time
Site:	Cooper
Issue date:	08/27/2003
From:	Gwynn T Region 4 Administrator
To:	Warren C Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD)
References
Download: ML032390737 (6)

Text

August 27, 2003 Clay C. Warren, Chief Nuclear Officer Nebraska Public Power District P.O. Box 98 Brownville, Nebraska 68321

SUBJECT:

MIDCYCLE PERFORMANCE REVIEW AND INSPECTION PLAN -

COOPER NUCLEAR STATION

Dear Mr. Warren:

On August 7, 2003, the NRC staff completed its midcycle plant performance assessment of Cooper Nuclear Station. The midcycle review for Cooper Nuclear Station involved the participation of all technical divisions in evaluating performance indicators (PIs) for the most recent quarter and inspection results for the first half of the current assessment cycle, January 1 through June 30, 2003. The purpose of this letter is to inform you of our assessment of your safety performance during this period and our plans for future inspections at your facility so that you will have an opportunity to prepare for these inspections and to inform us of any planned inspections that may conflict with your plant activities.

Plant performance for the most recent quarter remains in the Multiple/Repetitive Degraded Cornerstone column of the NRCs Action Matrix based on a degraded Emergency Preparedness Cornerstone that existed for more than four quarters. Cooper Nuclear Station entered the Multiple/Repetitive Degraded Cornerstone column of the NRCs Action Matrix on April 1, 2002. The White findings that contributed to the repetitive degraded cornerstone were identified during the 2000 and 2001 assessment periods and were described in the annual assessment letters dated May 29, 2001, and March 4, 2002.

Upon entry into the Multiple/Repetitive Degraded Cornerstone Column of the Action Matrix, and with oversight by the NRC, the Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD) developed a plan to improve performance at Cooper Nuclear Station. On June 10, 2002, NPPD submitted Revision 1 of The Strategic Improvement Plan to the NRC. On August 22, 2002, the NRC completed a supplemental inspection using Inspection Procedure 95003, Inspection for Repetitive Degraded Cornerstones, Multiple Degraded Cornerstones, Multiple Yellow Inputs, or One Red Input." Following completion of the NRC supplemental inspection, NPPD revised its improvement plan and submitted Revision 2 of the plan to the NRC on November 25, 2002. On January 30, 2003, NRC issued a Confirmatory Action Letter to NPPD. The purpose of the Confirmatory Action Letter was to confirm the commitments made by NPPD regarding completion of those actions in the improvement plan developed to address regulatory performance issues. Licensee actions confirmed in the Confirmatory Action Letter addressed long-standing performance issues in the areas of emergency preparedness, human performance, material condition and equipment reliability, plant modification and configuration

Nebraska Public Power District control, corrective action program, and engineering programs. The NRC is performing periodic inspections to verify completion of these actions and the effectiveness of these actions in addressing the specific performance issues. Two of these inspections were completed during the first two quarters of 2003. Cooper Nuclear Station will remain in the Multiple/Repetitive Degraded Cornerstone Column of the Action Matrix until the satisfactory completion of the actions listed in this Confirmatory Action Letter and NPPD has demonstrated sustained improvements in plant performance.

In our annual assessment letter dated March 4, 2003, we advised you of substantive crosscutting issues in the areas of Problem Identification and Resolution and Human Performance. Performance in these areas continues to be of concern based on the inspection findings identified during the first two quarters of 2003. Your improvement plan provides for specific actions to address these areas. These activities and any changes resulting from these activities will be reviewed during the scheduled quarterly inspections of the actions described in the Confirmatory Action Letter and as part of the baseline inspection program.

The enclosed inspection plan details the inspections scheduled through September 30, 2004.

In addition to the baseline inspections, quarterly inspections to verify the actions taken with respect to the improvement plan and the Confirmatory Action Letter will be conducted as shown. The inspection plan is provided to minimize the resource impact on your staff and to allow for scheduling conflicts and personnel availability to be resolved in advance of inspector arrival onsite. Routine resident inspections are not listed due to their ongoing and continuous nature. The inspections in the last 6 months of the inspection plan are tentative and may be revised at the end-of-cycle review meeting.

In accordance with 10 CFR 2.790 of the NRCs Rules of Practice, a copy of this letter and its enclosure will be made available electronically for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room or from the Publicly Available Records (PARS) component of NRC's document system (ADAMS). ADAMS is accessible from the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html (the Public Electronic Reading Room).

If circumstances arise which cause us to change the inspection plan, we will contact you to discuss the change as soon as possible. Please contact Kriss Kennedy at 817-860-8144 with any questions you may have regarding this letter or the inspection plan.

Sincerely,

/RA/

Thomas P. Gwynn Acting Regional Administrator Docket: 50-298 License: DPR-46

Enclosure:

Cooper Nuclear Station Inspection/Activity Plan

Nebraska Public Power District cc:

Site Vice President Nebraska Public Power District P.O. Box 98 Brownville, Nebraska 68321 John R. McPhail, General Counsel Nebraska Public Power District P.O. Box 499 Columbus, Nebraska 68602-0499 P. V. Fleming, Licensing Manager Nebraska Public Power District P.O. Box 98 Brownville, Nebraska 68321 Michael J. Linder, Director Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality P.O. Box 98922 Lincoln, Nebraska 68509-8922 Chairman Nemaha County Board of Commissioners Nemaha County Courthouse 1824 N Street Auburn, Nebraska 68305 Sue Semerena, Section Administrator Nebraska Health and Human Services System Division of Public Health Assurance Consumer Services Section 301 Centennial Mall, South P.O. Box 95007 Lincoln, Nebraska 68509-5007 Ronald A. Kucera, Deputy Director for Public Policy Department of Natural Resources 205 Jefferson Street Jefferson City, Missouri 65101 Jerry Uhlmann, Director State Emergency Management Agency P.O. Box 116 Jefferson City, Missouri 65102-0116

Nebraska Public Power District Chief, Radiation and Asbestos Control Section Kansas Department of Health and Environment Bureau of Air and Radiation 1000 SW Jackson, Suite 310 Topeka, Kansas 66612-1366 Daniel K. McGhee Bureau of Radiological Health Iowa Department of Public Health 401 SW 7th Street, Suite D Des Moines, Iowa 50309 William J. Fehrman, President and Chief Executive Officer Nebraska Public Power District 1414 15th Street Columbus, Nebraska 68601 Marlin Logan Presiding Commissioner Atchison County P.O. Box 280 Rock Port, Missouri 64482 Dennis Martin, Sheriff Atchison County Sheriff's Office 511 West Clay Rock Port, Missouri 64482 Brent Lottman, Sheriff 1805 N Street Auburn, Nebraska 68305 Dick Hainje, Regional Director Federal Emergency Management Agency Region VII 2323 Grand Blvd., Suite 900 Kansas City, Missouri 64108-2670 Gary McNutt, Director, Radiation Control Program Section for Environmental Public Health P.O. Box 570 Jefferson City, Missouri 65102-0570

Nebraska Public Power District Robert Leopold, State Liaison Officer Nebraska Health and Human Services Department of Regulation and Licensure Assurance 301 Centennial Mall, South P.O. Box 95007 Lincoln, Nebraska 68509-5007 Al Berndt, Assistant Director Emergency Management Agency 1300 Military Road Lincoln, Nebraska 68508 Scott Clardy, Director Section for Environmental Public Health P.O. Box 570 Jefferson City, Missouri 65102-0570

Page 1 of 1 Cooper 08/13/2003 12:58:08 Inspection / Activity Plan Report 22 08/01/2003 - 09/30/2004 Unit No. of Staff Planned Dates Inspection Number Inspection Activity Title on Site Start End Type PSBS1-GP - SECURITY INSPECTION PROGRAM 2 1 IP 7113002 Access Control (Search of Personnel, Packages, and Vehicles: Identification and Authorizati 08/11/2003 08/13/2003 Baseline Inspections 1 IP 7113003 Response to Contingency Events (Protective Strategy and Implementation of Protective Stra 08/11/2003 08/13/2003 Baseline Inspections 1 IP 71151 Performance Indicator Verification 08/11/2003 08/13/2003 Baseline Inspections CNS CAL - CAL QUARTERLY INSPECTION 3 1 IP 71152 Identification and Resolution of Problems 09/01/2003 11/15/2003 Other Routine OB-PIR - CNS PIR INSPECTION 6 1 IP 71152B Identification and Resolution of Problems 09/15/2003 09/26/2003 Baseline Inspections OB-RQ - REQUALIFICATION INSPECTION 2 1 IP 7111111B Licensed Operator Requalification 11/17/2003 11/21/2003 Baseline Inspections CNS CAL - CAL QUARTERLY INSPECTION 4 1 IP 71152 Identification and Resolution of Problems 12/08/2003 12/12/2003 Other Routine CNS CAL - CAL QUARTERLY INSPECTION 4 1 IP 71152 Identification and Resolution of Problems 02/23/2004 02/27/2004 Other Routine EMB - MAINTENANCE EFFECTIVENESS 1 1 IP 7111112B Maintenance Effectiveness 03/15/2004 03/19/2004 Baseline Inspections EMB - TRIENNIAL FIRE PROTECTION 3 1 IP 7111105T Fire Protection 04/05/2004 04/09/2004 Baseline Inspections 1 IP 7111105T Fire Protection 04/19/2004 04/23/2004 Baseline Inspections EMB - PERM. PLANT MODIFICATIONS 2 1 IP 7111117B Permanent Plant Modifications 04/05/2004 04/09/2004 Baseline Inspections CNS CAL - CAL QUARTERLY INSPECTION 4 1 IP 71152 Identification and Resolution of Problems 04/19/2004 04/24/2004 Other Routine 2004041 - HX & HEAT SINK PERFORMANCE TESTING 1 1 IP 7111107B Heat Sink Performance 09/13/2004 09/17/2004 Baseline Inspections ALARA1 - ALARA PLANNING AND CONTROLS 1 1 IP 7112102 ALARA Planning and Controls 09/13/2004 09/17/2004 Baseline Inspections PSB-EP2 - EP EXERCISE 3 1 IP 7111401 Exercise Evaluation 09/20/2004 09/24/2004 Baseline Inspections 1 IP 7111404 Emergency Action Level and Emergency Plan Changes 09/20/2004 09/24/2004 Baseline Inspections 1 IP 71151 Performance Indicator Verification 09/20/2004 09/24/2004 Baseline Inspections This report does not include INPO and OUTAGE activities.

This report shows only on-site and announced inspection procedures.