U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Office of Public Affairs, Region IV

611 Ryan Plaza Drive - Suite 400

Arlington, Texas 76011-8064

RIV: 98-03 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Breck Henderson January 8, 1998

OFFICE: 817/860-8128

PAGER: (800) 443-7243 (065477)

E-MAIL: bwh@nrc.gov

SOUTH TEXAS PROJECT RATED 'SUPERIOR' IN THREE AREAS,

'GOOD' IN ANOTHER, IN LATEST NRC SYSTEMATIC ASSESSMENT REPORT

South Texas Project, a two-unit nuclear power plant near Bay City, Texas, has

received an evaluation of "superior" in three functional areas and "good" in the fourth in

the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's latest systematic assessment of licensee

performance (SALP) report.

The report was sent December 22 to STP Nuclear Operating Co. (STPNOC),

which operates the plant. It evaluates the plant's performance between March 24,

1996, and November 15, 1997. The ratings indicate an overall improvement in

performance since the previous SALP assessment period.

NRC and STPNOC officials will discuss the report during a meeting set for

1 p.m. on Monday, January 12, in the Nuclear Support Center auditorium at South

Texas Project. The meeting will be open for public observation. NRC officials will be

available afterward 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 which characterize performance as superior, good or adequate.

South Texas Project was given the following scores on the current SALP and previous

SALP in 1996:

Functional areas & ratings Current Previous

Plant Operations 1 2

Maintenance 1 1

Engineering 2 2

Plant Support 1 1
In his cover letter to the report, NRC Regional Administrator Ellis W. Merschoff

commented on each of the four areas evaluated:

“Overall performance in the Plant Operations area improved and attained the

superior rating of Category 1,” Mr. Merschoff said. He noted teamwork, supervision,

communication, and implementation of emergency procedures as strengths in the

operations department.

Successful outage planning and execution, along with effective routine

maintenance, characterized the Maintenance area. Mr. Merchoff said maintenance

programs have resulted in “superior material condition at the plant.”

In Engineering, Mr. Merschoff characterized performance as “very good,” and

said “Engineering support to other organizations was generally of high quality, with

continued strong performance of systems engineering in support of operations and

maintenance.” Problems noted in an earlier enforcement action led the NRC to

conclude that management attention was needed to obtain timely corrective action for

setpoint problems, to focus attention on control of calculations, and to assure that

design engineering condition reports related to calculation deficiencies were correctly

classified.

Continued superior performance in emergency preparedness and upgrading of

security programs led to a Category 1 rating in Plant Support, Mr. Mershoff said.

Mr. Merschoff also noted that the NRC found STPNOC has a strong corrective

action program in place and functioning well, which has resulted in the plant finding and

correcting many of its own problems.

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EDITORS: A copy of the full SALP report is available from this office on request, or on

internet at www.nrc.gov/OPA.