U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Region III Office of Public Affairs

801 Warrenville Road, Lisle, IL 60532-4351

NEWS ANNOUNCEMENT: RIII-98-05 January 15, 1998

CONTACT: Jan Strasma 630/829-9663

Angela Greenman 630/829-9662

E-mail: opa3@nrc.gov

LATEST NRC ASSESSMENT RATES POINT BEACH "GOOD" IN OPERATIONS,

MAINTENANCE, AND PLANT SUPPORT AND "ACCEPTABLE" IN ENGINEERING

In its latest assessment of plant performance, the NRC staff

noted improved performance at the Point Beach Nuclear Power

Station with ratings of "good" in plant operations, maintenance,

and plant support and an "acceptable" rating in engineering. The

plant, which is operated by Wisconsin Elecric Power Co., is

located near Two Rivers, Wisconsin.

The report, called the Systematic Assessment of Licensee

Performance (SALP), cited improvements at Point Beach even though

some ratings declined from the previous report, issued in June

1996.

NRC Regional Administrator A. Bill Beach stated that the

previous report did not, in retrospect, "accurately reflect the

actual performance at Point Beach in operations, maintenance, and

engineering." The 1996 SALP report rated the plant "good" in

those three categories and "superior" in plant support.

Subsequent to the issuance of the previous SALP report, both

units at Point Beach were shut down for extended periods for

modifications and for performance improvement activities in

maintenance, engineering, and plant operations.

Beach noted, "During this assessment period, the root causes

of many identified issues were directly related to longstanding

weaknesses in these areas."

The NRC staff will discuss the SALP review in a meeting at

10 a.m., January 28, at the Holiday Inn in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

The meeting will be open to public observation.

NRC SALP reports evaluate utilities 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 is superior, good or acceptable.

The report covers the period April 28, 1996, through

November 29 of last year.
Beach said, "The improvement initiatives undertaken over the

last year have resulted in generally good conduct of nuclear

activities at the Point Beach plant." He continued, "Much of the

improvement can be attributed to the resolve and focused

attention of Wisconsin Electric senior management."

He attributed the improvements in plant operations to "a

strong management commitment to improve performance and to

implement improved standards."

"High quality workmanship by maintenance staff is a strength

at Point Beach," Beach said. He added, "Performance in

engineering improved during the latter portion of the assessment

period and was acceptable overall."

Summary of SALP Results:

Previous SALP Period Current SALP Period

Plant Operations 2 2

Maintenance 2 2

Engineering 2 3

Plant Support 1 2

Note: Plant support includes such plant activities as emergency

planning, security, and radiation protection.

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Note: The full SALP report is available from the NRC Region III

Office of Public Affairs or on the NRC's internet web page:

http://www.nrc.gov/OPA