PNO-III-98-037, on 980724,Region III Issued Ltr to Util Indicating Sufficient Improvements Made to Support Unit 1 Restart.Unit 2 Will Remain Shut Down for Continuing Mods & Performance Improvement Activities

PNO-III-98-037:on 980724,Region III Issued Ltr to Util Indicating Sufficient Improvements Made to Support Unit 1 Restart.Unit 2 Will Remain Shut Down for Continuing Mods & Performance Improvement Activities

ML20199F146
Person / Time
Site:	LaSalle
Issue date:	07/24/1998
From:	Dave Hills, Lanksbury R NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION III)
To:
References
PNO-III-98-037, PNO-III-98-37, NUDOCS 9901210222
Download: ML20199F146 (2)

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July 24,1998 PRELIMINARY NOTIFICATION OF EVENT OR UNUSUAL OCCURRENCE PNO-III-98-037 This preliminary notification constitutes EARLY notice of events of POSSIBLE safety or public interest significance. The information is as initially received without verification or evaluation, and is basically all that is known by Region III staff (Lisle, Illinois) on this date.

Facility Licensee Emergency Classification Commonwealth Edison Co. Notification of Unusual Event La Salle 12 Alert Marseilles, Illinois Site Area Emergency Dockets: 50-373,50-374 General Emergency X Not Applicable i

Subject:

NRC STAFF FINDS SUFFICIENT IMPROVEMENT FOR LASALLE 1 RESTART On July 24,1998, NRC Region III (Chicago) issued a letter to Commonwealth Edison Company indicating that sufficient improvements had been made at Unit 1 of the LaSalle Station to support its restart. The utility plans to begin restart next week, Unit 2 will remain shut down for continuing modifications and performance improvement activities.

The units were shut down in September 1996 for refueling and maintenance. Comed voluntarily maintained the units shut down in an extended outage in order to address material condition, human

performance, corrective action process, and engineering support and design deficiencies. l On April 14,1997, Region III issued a Confirmatory Action Letter to the utility, documenting its l l agreement to develop a performance improvement plan and to meet periodically with the NRC staff to l review plant status. The final meeting in the review process was held July 24.

Region III performed numerous inspections at the LaSalle plant, including a review by a 12-person team

to assess the readiness of the plant for restart. This review was completed on July 21 and, along with  ;

other recent inspections, provided the basis for the NRC's conclusion that the plant was ready for restart. 1 i

The July 24 letter to the company closed the Confirmatory Action Letter and stated that the current NRC Oversight Panel, convened under Manual Chapter 0350, would be disbanded once Unit I resumed operation.

Region III intends to maintain enhanced oversight during the Unit I restart to ensure continued implementation oflong term improvement initiatives. Additionally, Region III plans to maintain enhanced oversight of the licensee's progress toward Unit 2 startup.

i The State ofIllinois will be informed.

9901210222 980724 -

PDR I&E A l PNO-III-98-037 PDR1 7

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, Region III will issue a news release on the agency's action. .

This information is current as of 3:30 p.m. on July 24,1998.  !

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Contact:

DAVE HILLS ROGER LANKSBURY i

(630)829-9733 (630)829-9631 l .

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