ML20128Q317
| ML20128Q317 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | LaSalle  |
| Issue date: | 10/18/1996 |
| From: | NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION III) |
| To: | |
| References | |
| PR-III-96-064, PR-III-96-64, NUDOCS 9610210028 | |
| Download: ML20128Q317 (2) | |
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l U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Region III Office of Public Affairs 801 Warrenville Road, Lisle IL 60532-4351 NEWS ANNOUNCEMENT:
RIII-96-64 October 18, 1996 CONTACT:
Jan Strasma 630/829-9663 Angela Dauginas 630/821-9662 E-mail:
opa3@nrc. gov LASALLE NUCLEAR STATION RATED " ACCEPTABLE" IN THREE AREAS,
" GOOD" IN FOURTH AREA IN LATEST NRC ASSESSMENT REPORT The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has rated the LaSalle Nuclear Power Station " acceptable" in plant operations, maintenance, and engineering and " good" in plant support in the latest Systematic Assessment of Licensee Performance (SALP) report.
The report was issued October 15 to Commonwealth Edison Co.,
operator of the plant.
The LaSalle Station is located near Seneca, Illinois.
The report covers the period November 27, 1994, through August 3 of this year.
NRC officials will meet Tuesday, October 29, with representatives of the utility to discuss the SALP findings.
The meeting, which is open to public observation, will be at 1 p.m.
at the Marseilles Lions Club, 511 Commercial Street, Marseilles, IL.
NRC staff members will be available after the meeting for questions and comments from the public.
NRC SALP reports rate utilities 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 acceptable.
The report on LaSalle gives the plant a " Category 3" rating in plant operations, maintenance, and engineering, indicating acceptable performance.
It assigns a rating of " Category 2" to plant support, indicating good performance.
Plant support includes radiation protection, security, emergency preparedness, and fire protection.
NRC Regional Administrator A.
Bill Beach, in a letter to the utility, said: "It is my view that the conduct of nuclear activities in connection with the LaSalle facility was adequate, and the facility was operated conservatively through most of the assessment period."
The evaluation of LaSalle's performance was significantly influenced by an incident which led to the shutdown June 28 of both reactors because of the fouling of the plant equipment cooling system with a foam sealant material.
The sealant material was_ injected into the service water intake tunnel by a 9610210029 961018 PDR PRESS R PVOl RQ-III-96-064 PDR
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e contractor seeking to seal cracks in the concrete structure.
Mr. Beach noted:
"That event showed that work controls had broken down, revealed previously unidentified materiel condition problems, and disclosed significant engineering weaknesses in support to plant operations.
Thus, the actions during the service water event weighed heavily into NRC's assessment of the station's performance in the maintenance and engineering areas, and, particularly in the operations area."
He continued, "While some performance improvement in the operations area was noted during the assessment period, plant management and staff focus on operational safety through this
[ service water system] event was unsatisfactory, reaulting in considerable NRC intervention to assure proper actions were implemented."
The ratings for each functional area of this report and the previous report were:
Functional Area Current Period Previous Period Operations 3
2 Maintenance 3
3 Engineering 3
2 Plant Support 2
3 Note: The full text of the SALP report is available on the NRC's internet web site along with the current SALP reports for all operating nuclear plants.
The report may be accessed at <http://www.nrc. gov /OPA>.
SALP reports are also available as they are issued through an internet e-mail subscription.
To subscribe, send an e-mail message to listproc@nrc. gov with no subject and with the messages subscribe salp yourfirstname yourlastname.
.