Press Release-IV-04-016, NRC Cites Cooper Nuclear Plant for Inspection Finding of Low to Moderate Safety Significance

Press Release-IV-04-016: NRC Cites Cooper Nuclear Plant for Inspection Finding of Low to Moderate Safety Significance

ML040850062
Person / Time
Site:	Cooper
Issue date:	03/25/2004
From:	Office of Public Affairs Region IV
To:
Category:Press Release
References
Press Release-IV-04-016
Download: ML040850062 (2)

Text

U. S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Region IV 611 Ryan Plaza Drive - Suite 400 Arlington, TX 76011-4005 No. IV-04-016 March 25, 2004

Contact:

Victor Dricks E-Mail: opa4@nrc.gov Phone: 817-860-8128 NRC CITES COOPER NUCLEAR PLANT FOR INSPECTION FINDING OF LOW TO MODERATE SAFETY SIGNIFICANCE The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has determined that the failure rate on a recent operator licensing written re-qualification exam at the Cooper Nuclear Station near Brownville, Nebraska, should be characterized as white, meaning that it has low to moderate importance to safety.

NRC requires written re-qualification examinations every two years for operators in the control room of nuclear power plants. Nebraska Public Power District said it insured safe plant operation by retraining and retesting each operator prior to returning them to their duties in the plant control room. The NRC is monitoring steps taken by the licensee to address the issue.

Under its safety significance determination process, NRC officials classify certain conditions at nuclear power plants as being one of four colors which delineate increasing levels of safety significance, beginning with green and progressing to white, yellow or red.

Additional details on the white finding are available from the NRC's Region IV Office of Public Affairs at the above address or on the NRCs web site at:

http://www.nrc.gov/what-we-do/regulatory/enforcement/current.html#reactor . Information also is available in the NRC's electronic reading room in the agency's ADAMS document system, accessible at: www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html . Help in using ADAMS is available by contacting the NRC Public Document Room at 301- 415-4737 or 1-800-397-4209.

The company has 30 days from receipt of the letter to appeal the significance determination of this finding.