Press Release-IV-08-034, NRC Finalizes White Finding for Cooper Nuclear Plant

Press Release-IV-08-034: NRC Finalizes White Finding for Cooper Nuclear Plant

ML082170522
Person / Time
Site:	Cooper
Issue date:	08/04/2008
From:	NRC Region 4
To:
Category:Press Release
References
Press Release-IV-08-034
Download: ML082170522 (1)

Text

NRC NEWS U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Region IV 612 E. Lamar Blvd., Suite 400 Arlington, TX 76011-4125 Telephone: (817) 860-8128 No. IV-08-034

Contact:

Victor Dricks August 4, 2008 Phone: (817) 860-8128 E-Mail: opa4@nrc.gov NRC FINALIZES WHITE FINDING FOR COOPER NUCLEAR PLANT The Cooper nuclear plant will continue to receive additional oversight from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission based on a violation that adversely affected the reliability of one of the plants emergency diesel generators. The plant, located near Brownville, Neb., is operated by the Nebraska Public Power District.

The NRC uses a color-coded system to categorize inspection findings. They range from green, for an issue of very low safety significance, to red, for a highly significant issue. In this case, the violation has been determined to be white, indicating it is of low to moderate safety significance.

The finding is based on an NRC inspection described in a report issued on May 6. The inspection identified a violation involving improper electrical maintenance of an emergency diesel generator which resulted in failure during testing on January 15. The diesel generators supply power to plant safety systems during emergencies in the event of a loss of off-site power.

The licensee has taken corrective action to prevent recurrence, but the failure was significant.

The NRC offered the licensee the opportunity to take part in a regulatory conference, at which additional details on an issue can be brought forward, or to respond in writing to the proposed action. The licensee provided additional information in writing which was taken into consideration by the NRC staff in reaching a final determination of the safety significance of the violation. The licensee has 30 days to appeal the decision.

Cooper has been receiving additional oversight from the NRC since early 2008.

NRC news releases are available through a free list serve subscription at the following Web address:

http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/listserver.html . The NRC homepage at www.nrc.gov also offers a SUBSCRIBE link. E-mail notifications are sent to subscribers when news releases are posted to NRC's Web site.