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UNITED STATESNUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSIONOFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATIONWASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001

April 14, 1997

**Addressees**

All holders of operating licenses, construction permits, and decommissioning-stage licenses for nuclear power reactors.

**Purpose**

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing this information notice to alert addressees to the problemsidentified during the 10 CFR 50.65 (maintenance rule) baseline inspections performed from July 1996 through February1997. It is expected that recipients will review the information for applicability to their facilities and consider actions, asappropriate, to avoid similar problems. In addition, recipients are reminded that they are required to take industry-wideoperating experience (including NRC Information Notices) into consideration, where practical, when setting goals andperforming periodic evaluations under the maintenance rule. Since suggestions contained in this information notice are notNRC requirements, no specific action (other than those required by the maintenance rule) or written response is required.

**Background**

The NRC published the maintenance rule on July 10, 1991, as Section 50.65, "Requirements for monitoring theeffectiveness of maintenance at nuclear power plants," of 10 CFR Part 50. The rule became effective, after a five yearimplementation period, on July 10, 1996. The rule requires licensees to monitor the effectiveness of maintenance activitiesfor safety-significant plant equipment in order to minimize the likelihood of failures and other events caused by lack ofeffective maintenance.

The nuclear industry developed a guideline for implementing the maintenance   rule, formerly Nuclear Management and Resources Council now known as Nuclear   Energy Institute (NUMARC) 93-01, "Industry Guidance for Monitoring the Effectiveness   of Maintenance at Nuclear Power Plants (May 1993)." Revision 2 to NUMARC   93-01   was issued in April 1996 to address lessons learned from pilot inspections performed   at nine nuclear power plants. In March 1997, the NRC issued Revision 2 to Regulatory   Guide (RG) 1.160 , "Monitoring the Effectiveness of Maintenance at Nuclear Power   Plants," which endorsed, with clarifications, NUMARC 93-01, Revision 2, as providing   methods acceptable for complying with the provisions of the rule.

**Description of Circumstances**

To ensure the effective implementation of the maintenance rule, the NRC staff is in the process of performing a baselineinspection at each licensed facility. These inspections began in July 1996 and are expected to be completed in July 1998.Inspection findings from the first 20 baseline inspections are discussed below; a list of the inspection reports that have beenissued to date is provided in Attachment 1.

**Discussion**

In order to ensure industry-wide understanding, the staff has clarified these issues and others in Revision 2 to RG 1.160. Inaddition, as part of its efforts to maintain effective communication with the industry and the public regarding themaintenance rule, the NRC staff has developed a "Home Page" for the World Wide Web. The intent of the home page is toprovide a comprehensive, up to date, resource of maintenance rule-related regulatory documents, guidance documents,inspection procedures, and inspection reports in a searchable format. The NRC staff will make the Home Page publiclyaccessible after prototype testing is complete.

This information notice requires no specific action or written response. If you have any questions about the information inthis notice, please contact one of the technical contacts listed below or the appropriate Office of Nuclear ReactorRegulation (NRR) project manager.

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ATTACHMENT 1

IN 97-18April 14, 1997

LIST OF MAINTENANCE BASELINE INSPECTION REPORTS

* As of the date of this information notice, the inspection report had not been entered into the NRC NUDOCS system.

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