ML26036A149
| ML26036A149 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Cooper  |
| Issue date: | 02/05/2026 |
| From: | Patricia Vossmar NRC/RGN-IV/DORS, NRC/RGN-IV/DORS/PBC |
| To: | Dia K Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD) |
| References | |
| EPID L-2026-LLD-0001, EAF-RIV-2026-0013 | |
| Download: ML26036A149 (0) | |
Text
February 05, 2026 EAF-RIV-2026-0013 Khalil Dia, Site Vice President Nebraska Public Power District Cooper Nuclear Station 72676 648A Avenue P.O. Box 98 Brownville, NE 68321
SUBJECT:
NOTICE OF ENFORCEMENT DISCRETION FOR COOPER NUCLEAR STATION (EPID L-2026-LLD-0001)
Dear Khalil Dia:
By letter (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System [ADAMS] Accession No. ML26035A350) dated February 4, 2026, Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD) requested that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) exercise discretion to not enforce compliance with the actions required in Cooper Nuclear Station (CNS) Technical Specification (TS) Limiting Condition for Operation (LCO) 3.8.1, AC Sources - Operating, Condition B, for one diesel generator (DG) being inoperable. The letter documented information previously discussed with the NRC in a telephone conference on February 2, 2026, at 3:00 p.m. Central Standard Time (CST). The principal NRC staff members who participated in that telephone conference are listed in the Enclosure.
NPPD stated that on February 3, 2026, at 10:30 a.m. CST that CNS would not be in compliance with TS LCO 3.8.1, AC Sources - Operating, Condition B, One DG inoperable, which requires restoring the inoperable diesel within 7 days and within 14 days from discovery of failure to meet the LCO. Without enforcement discretion or restoration of the inoperable DG, CNS would have been required to enter Condition F, which requires entry into Mode 3 within 12 hours1.388889e-4 days <br />0.00333 hours <br />1.984127e-5 weeks <br />4.566e-6 months <br /> and Mode 4 within 36 hours4.166667e-4 days <br />0.01 hours <br />5.952381e-5 weeks <br />1.3698e-5 months <br />. NPPD requested that a Notice of Enforcement Discretion (NOED) be granted pursuant to the NRCs policy regarding exercise of discretion for an operating power reactor, set out in Section 3.8 of the NRC Enforcement Policy and the NRC Enforcement Manual, Appendix F, Notices of Enforcement Discretion, and be effective for 10 days past the LCO 3.8.1 Condition B expiration date or until 10:30 a.m. CST on February 13, 2026. The NRC orally granted this request at 4:09 p.m. on February 2, 2026. The NRC staff determined that the information contained in your letter requesting the NOED was consistent with your oral request.
K. Dia 2
The NRC first became aware of the potential for this NOED request on February 1, 2026, at approximately 11:20 a.m. CST through communication with the NRC senior resident inspector stationed at CNS and Branch Chief. On January 27, 2026, CNS declared one emergency DG inoperable due to planned maintenance. TS LCO 3.8.1 Condition B was entered, which permits operation for 7 days with one DG inoperable. On January 30, 2026, CNS discovered a jacket water leak on DG cylinder 7R that needed repair prior to restoring the DG to an operable status.
CNS determined that the required repair activities would exceed the remaining time available, that there was insufficient time to pursue a license amendment before the end of the allowed outage time, and that a plan to repair the cylinder could be implemented by February 13.
Therefore, NPPD requested enforcement discretion to extend the completion time for Condition B to allow sufficient time to restore the DG to operable status without performing a shutdown.
The NRC reviewed the information provided during the conference call on February 2, 2026, and the letter dated February 4, 2026, following the guidance in the NRC Enforcement Manual, Appendix F. The NRC staff evaluated the information against the criteria contained in Section 2.5 of that appendix and concluded that NPPD had adequately addressed the criteria.
Based on the NRC staffs evaluation of the licensees request, we determined that granting this NOED was consistent with the NRCs Enforcement Policy and staff guidance. The NOED request met the criteria specified in NRCs Enforcement Manual, Appendix F, Notices of Enforcement Discretion, Sections 2.2 and 2.5. The NRC determined that it was appropriate to exercise discretion to avoid an unnecessary shutdown of a reactor without a corresponding health and safety benefit. Therefore, it is our intention to exercise discretion to not enforce compliance with the actions required in TS LCO 3.8.1, AC Sources - Operating, Condition B, for the period from 10:30 a.m. on February 3, 2026, until 10:30 a.m. on February 13, 2026.
As stated in the NRC Enforcement Policy, enforcement action may be taken to the extent that violations were involved for the root cause that led to the noncompliance for which this NOED was necessary.
This letter and its enclosure will be made available for public inspection and copying at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html and at the NRC Public Document Room in accordance with Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations 2.390, Public Inspections, Exemptions, Requests for Withholding.
Sincerely, Patricia Vossmar, Acting Director Division of Operating Reactor Safety Docket No. 05000298 License No. DPR-46
Enclosure:
As stated cc w/ encl: GovDelivery Subscriber Signed by Vossmar, Patricia on 02/05/26
SUNSI Review By: RJK
Non-Sensitive
Sensitive
Publicly Available
Non-Publicly Available OFFICE RIV:DORS/PBC RIV:DORS/PBC NRR:D/DORL D:DORS NAME RKumana DDodson ARivera-Varona PVossmar SIGNATURE
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DATE 02/05/26 02/05/26 02/05/26 02/05/26
Enclosure LIST OF KEY NRC PERSONNEL NRC Region IV Patricia Vossmar, Acting Director, Division of Operating Reactor Safety Doug Dodson, Branch Chief, Reactor Projects Branch C Rick Deese, Senior Reactor Analyst Greg Kolcum, Senior Resident Inspector Geoff Birkmeier, Resident Inspector Rayo Kumana, Senior Project Engineer Wes Cullum, Acting Branch Chief, Engineering Branch Jim Drake, Senior Reactor Inspector, Engineering Branch NRC Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Hipo Gonzales, Acting Deputy Director, Division of Operating Reactor Licensing (DORL)
Ed Miller, Senior Project Manager, DORL NOED Process Owner Michael Mahoney, Acting Branch Chief, DORL Plant Licensing Branch 4 (LPL4)
Thomas Byrd, Project Manager, DORL LPL4 Lundy Pressley, Reliability and Risk Analyst, Division of Risk Assessment Khoi Nguyen, Electrical Engineer, Electrical Engineering Branch (EEEB)
Sheila Ray, Senior Electrical Engineer, EEEB Wendell Morton, Branch Chief, EEEB Nicholas Hansing, Mechanical Engineer, Mechanical Engineering and Inservice Testing Branch (EMIB)
Thomas Scarbrough, Acting Branch Chief, EMIB