U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Office of Public Affairs, Region IV

Walnut Creek Field Office

1450 Maria Lane, Walnut Creek, CA 94596-5378

CONTACT: Mark Hammond FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Office: (510) 975-0254 September 18, 1996

Pager: (800) 916-4952 RIV-96-53

e-mail: mfh2@nrc.gov

NRC RATES DIABLO CANYON NUCLEAR PLANT

`GOOD' AND `SUPERIOR' IN REPORT

The Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant has received

performance ratings of ``good'' in plant operations, engineering

and maintenance and ``superior'' in plant support in the Nuclear

Regulatory Commission's latest Systematic Assessment of Licensee

Performance.

The SALP report was issued on Sept. 13 to the Pacific Gas

and Electric Co., operator of the twin-reactor facility near

Avila Beach, Calif. It evaluates the plant's performance for the

period from Sept. 1, 1994, through Aug. 17 of this year.

NRC and PG&E officials will discuss the report at a meeting

at 9 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 10, at the PG&E Community Center in San

Luis Obispo. The meeting will be open to the public for

observation; NRC officials will be available afterwards for

questions.

SALP reports rate nuclear plants in four functional areas --

plant operations, maintenance, engineering and plant support, and

assign ratings of Category 1, 2 or 3, reflecting superior, good

or adequate performance, respectively.

In the previous SALP report, in September 1994, all four

functional areas at Diablo Canyon had received Category 1 ratings

of ``superior.''

In a letter to PG&E, L. Joe Callan, Regional Administrator

of NRC Region IV in Arlington, Texas, said that the most

pronounced decline in performance occurred in the areas of

operations and engineering. As a result, greater management

attention will be required to regain superior performance in

those two of the three areas in which ratings declined to

``good.''

Mr. Callan said that Diablo Canyon continued to have strong
programs and a well qualified, capable staff. However, he said

that the three-member SALP Board observed that a common

contributor to the decline in performance was Diablo management's

``loss of focus on the initiatives and high expectations

essential for sustaining the superior performance that Diablo

Canyon has achieved so frequently in the past.''

``In our view, this common contributor was manifested by the

inconsistent understanding and implementation of plant

management's expectations by supervision and plant personnel,''

Mr. Callan said in his letter. ``This adversely affected

consistency of performance during this SALP performance.''

In the operations area, operators continued to perform well

when challenged by significant plant events. However, a decline

in performance during routine operations resulted in various

problems, including adherence to procedures and configuration

control (the control of systems and equipment as they operate at

a given time).

Engineering demonstrated excellent performance in its

ability to identify problems, but did not always promptly and

effectively resolve the problems. In maintenance, performance in

maintaining the material condition of safety-related equipment

was excellent. However, maintenance activities affecting nonnuclear equipment resulted in challenges to both units.

The area of plant support retained its rating of superior,

although some problems with security access control were noted.

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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.