United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Office of Public Affairs, Region I

475 Allendale Road King of Prussia, PA 19406

Fax: 610/337-5241

Internet: dps@nrc.gov or nas@nrc.gov

I-98-1 January 2, 1998

Contact: Diane Screnci (610/337-5330) FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Neil A. Sheehan (610/337-5331)

NRC STAFF FINDS DECLINE IN TWO AREAS OF PERFORMANCE

IN LATEST EVALUATION OF NINE MILE POINT NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS

Two areas of performance, operations and engineering,

have received reduced ratings in the Nuclear Regulatory

Commission staff’s latest periodic evaluation of the Nine Mile

Point Units 1 and 2 nuclear power plants. Located in Oswego,

N.Y., the plants are owned and operated by Niagara Mohawk Power

Corp.

While operations declined from a “superior” to a “good”

rating, and engineering saw a drop from “good” to “acceptable,”

the other two areas of performance reviewed, maintenance and

plant support, retained grades of “good.”

The NRC issues Systematic Assessment of Licensee

Performance, or SALP, reports for the nation’s commercial nuclear

power plants about once every 18 months. Three levels of ratings

are used in SALP reports: Category 1 (“superior”), Category 2

(“good”) and Category 3 (“acceptable.”)

The latest SALP for Nine Mile Point covers the period

from June 2, 1996, through November 8.

NRC staff and Niagara Mohawk will discuss the report

during a meeting scheduled for noon on Friday, January 9, at the

Nine Mile Point site’s Nuclear Learning Center. The meeting will

be open to the public for observation. Afterwards, NRC staff

will be available to speak with reporters, state and local

officials, and members of the public.

In a letter to Niagara Mohawk accompanying the report,

NRC Region 1 Administrator Hubert J. Miller wrote that the

plants’ performance was “generally good,” but continued

management attention is needed to address issues in several

areas.

“The Unit 1 plant trip and reactor vessel overfill event
(in November 1996) revealed weaknesses in the management

oversight of operations and engineering support activities,” Mr.

Miller stated. “Lapses in management oversight also resulted in

weak performance in other areas, such as maintenance rule program

development, and implementation of the radioactive waste and

transportation program. Personnel performance errors occurred in

all functional areas. ... There was a lack of consistent

performance and improvement.”

NRC staff found that in the area of operations,

operators generally performed well during plant startups and

shutdowns, as well as in response to events. Further, there was

conservative decision-making evident in the operation of both

units. However, personnel errors were noted throughout the

period, and several weaknesses were identified in the licensed

operator initial and requalification training programs.

Performance in the area of maintenance was characterized

by management involvement and oversight in the planning and

execution of activities, particularly during outages. Also well

performed was significant corrective maintenance in response to

emergent issues. Although personnel errors occurred throughout

the period, their frequency and severity decreased during the

latter half.

Regarding engineering, management oversight for some

important activities was ineffective early in the period and the

quality of engineering work varied significantly. In an effort

to address those issues, management, organizational and program

changes were instituted, and some improvements were noted later

in the period. A number of equipment problems challenged the

operating organization throughout the period, as did staff

attrition and turnover.

Finally, in the area of plant support, the radiological

protection program was effectively implemented, with exposures

maintained as low as reasonably achievable. What’s more, the

radiological effluents, environmental monitoring and chemistry

programs remained strong. One aspect where problems were noted

was in the handling of radiological waste and transportation.

The full SALP report may be viewed on the NRC’s Internet

web site at <http://www.nrc.gov/OPA>. The reports for all plants

also may be obtained by e-mail, as they are issued. Send an email to listproc@nrc.gov with no subject and the following

message: subscribe SALP yourfirstname yourlastname.

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