U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Office of Public Affairs, Region IV

611 Ryan Plaza Drive - Suite 400

Arlington, Texas 76011-8064

RIV: 98-33 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Breck Henderson August 26, 1998

OFFICE: 817/860-8128

PAGER: (800) 443-7243 (065477)

COOPER NUCLEAR STATION RATED ‘SUPERIOR’ IN ONE AREA, 'GOOD' IN TWO,

'ACCEPTABLE' IN THE FOURTH IN NRC ASSESSMENT REPORT

Cooper Nuclear Station, a nuclear power plant near Brownville, Nebraska,

received performance ratings of “superior” in plant support, "good" in plant operations

and maintenance, and "acceptable" in engineering in the Nuclear Regulatory

Commission's latest systematic assessment of licensee performance (SALP) for the

facility.

The SALP report was sent August 17 to the Nebraska Public Power District

(NPPD), which operates the plant. The report evaluates the plant's performance from

January 12, 1997, through July 11 of this year.

NRC and NPPD officials will discuss the report during a meeting set for 2 p.m.

Thursday, September 3, at Cooper Nuclear Station. The meeting will be open for public

observation. NRC officials will be available afterwards to speak with reporters, state

and local officials, and members of the public.

NRC systematic assessment reports rate licensees in four functional areas --

plant operations, maintenance, engineering, and plant support -- and assign ratings of

Category 1, 2, or 3 depending on whether their performance in those areas was

superior, good or acceptable. Cooper was given the following scores on the current

SALP and the previous SALP in January, 1997:

Functional areas & ratings Current Previous

Plant Operations 2 2

Maintenance 2 2

Engineering 3 3

Plant Support 1 2

In his cover letter to the report, NRC Regional Administrator Ellis W. Merschoff

said, "Overall, safety performance at the Cooper Nuclear Station continued to improve.

There are, however, still areas of concern, especially in engineering."
"Performance in the operations area improved noticeably over the assessment

period,” Mr. Merschoff said. Both management and staff demonstrated a conservative

operating philosophy and established performance expectations that produced positive

results throughout the site.

In the maintenance area, craft personnel continued their strong performance and

the establishment of improved work control processes was especially notable. A

number of hardware problems indicated some weakness in performance monitoring

and maintenance implementation.

"While performing acceptably overall, the engineering functional area continued

to demonstrate substantive weaknesses,” Mr. Merschoff said. Engineering did not

provide consistently timely, effective and comprehensive support to operations and

maintenance activities. Weaknesses in maintaining the design and licensing basis of

the plant challenged engineering’s ability to effectively support the operation and

maintenance of plant systems and components. Late in the SALP period Cooper

initiated a strategy for achieving engineering excellence. Implementation of this

strategy will be a focal point of future NRC inspection.

Performance in Plant Support areas improved to a superior level. This was

characterized by an excellent physical security program, effective implementation of the

“As Low as Reasonably Achievable” program for personnel exposure, and good

performance in emergency preparedness. Housekeeping and fire protection were

noted to have improved during the period.

“Corrective action effectiveness was noted as a continuing problem throughout

the Cooper Organization,” Mr. Merschoff said. An improvement plan was implemented

during the SALP period and resulted in some progress; however, the full benefits have

yet to be realized.

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EDITORS/NEWS DIRECTORS: A copy of the full SALP report is available from this

office. It is also available in electronic format on the NRC Office of Public Affairs

Internet home page at http://www.nrc.gov/OPA.