Press Release-IV-03-013, NRC to Meet with Nebraska Public Power District to Discuss Performance of Cooper Nuclear Station

Press Release-IV-03-013: NRC to Meet with Nebraska Public Power District to Discuss Performance of Cooper Nuclear Station

ML030900670
Person / Time
Site:	Cooper
Issue date:	03/31/2003
From:	Office of Public Affairs Region IV
To:
Category:Press Release
References
Press Release-IV-03-013
Download: ML030900670 (2)

Text

NRC NEWS U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs, Region IV 611 Ryan Plaza Drive - Suite 400 Arlington TX 76011-4005 No. IV-03-013 March 31, 2003 CONTACT: Victor Dricks E-mail: opa4@nrc.gov Phone: 817-860-8128 NRC TO MEET WITH NEBRASKA PUBLIC POWER DISTRICT TO DISCUSS PERFORMANCE OF COOPER NUCLEAR STATION Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with representatives of Nebraska Public Power District on Tuesday, April 8, to discuss the results of the agencys annual assessment of safety performance at the Cooper Nuclear Station. The facility is located near Brownville, Neb., and operated by Nebraska Public Power District.

The meeting, which will be open to the public for observation, is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. at the Brownville Concert Hall, Atlantic Avenue & Second Street, Brownville, Neb.

Before the session is adjourned, NRC staff will be available to answer questions from the public on the safety performance of the plant, as well as the role of the NRC in ensuring safe plant operation.

The performance period to be discussed is January 1 to December 31, 2002. In addition, NRC staff will provide an overview of how the agencys Reactor Oversight Process works.

A letter sent from the NRC Region IV Office to representatives of Nebaska Public Power District addresses the performance of the plant during the period and will serve as the basis for the meeting discussion. It is available on the NRC web site at:

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/cns_2002q4.pdf Overall, the Cooper Nuclear Station operated in a manner that preserved public health and safety, the letter says. While Cooper Nuclear Station met all cornerstone objectives, plant performance was within the Multiple/Repetitive Degraded Cornerstone column of the Action Matrix based on multiple White findings in the Emergency Preparedness Cornerstone for more than four quarters.

On August 22, 2002, the NRC completed a supplemental inspection and found that a number of longstanding performance problems existed at the plant. Of greatest concern was the failure to correct recurring performance issues, including problems with the reliability of safety systems, personnel

errors, implementation of the emergency plan, and the quality of engineering, training, and maintenance activities.

On January 30, 2003, NRC issued a Confirmatory Action Letter to Nebraska Public Power District to confirm commitments made by the company to address long-standing regulatory performance deficiencies. NRC will conduct periodic inspections to verify completion of these actions and the effectiveness of these actions in addressing the specific performance issues, the letter states.

In addition, the letter notes: As you are aware, since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the NRC has issued several Orders and threat advisories to enhance security capabilities and improve guard force readiness. We have conducted inspections to review your implementation of these requirements and have monitored your actions in response to changing threat conditions. For calendar year 2003, we plan to continue these inspections and conduct portions of the security baseline inspection program, as well as perform additional inspections to evaluate your compliance with new requirements that may be ordered.

Current performance information for Cooper Nuclear Station is available at:

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/CNS/cns_chart.html