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-99-33 April 13, 1999

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

Neil A. Sheehan (610/337-5331)

NRC ISSUES PERFORMANCE REVIEW FOR MILLSTONE NUCLEAR PLANT

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff, in its latest review of performance at the

Millstone nuclear power plant, has found the safety performance for Unit 3 to be acceptable.

Millstone, located in Waterford, Conn., is operated by Northeast Utilities.

Covered in the review was the period from April 1998 through Jan. 15, 1999. Unit 3

resumed power production last July, following a shutdown of more than two years. The

Commission must still approve the restart of Unit 2, the other operational reactor at the site; it

has been out of service since early 1996. A Commission briefing on the subject is scheduled

for Wednesday, April 14. Unit 1 has been permanently shut down.

In a letter to the company outlining the results of the review, Wayne Lanning, Director of

the Millstone Inspection Directorate in the NRC Region I office, wrote that Unit 3's operators

have “characteristically made safe, conservative decisions regarding plant operations and have

worked to raise the standards for operations.” The unit experienced a number of plant trips and

shutdowns shortly after startup as a result of equipment and procedural problems, challenging

operators. But when events and equipment problems have surfaced, Unit 3's operators have

responded well, taking appropriate safety actions in each case.

Maintenance and testing activities, including troubleshooting and repair work, continued to

be generally well controlled, particularly in the area of procedural controls. Engineering was

acceptable. The plant continues to be faced with a large workload associated with restart of

Unit 2, preparations for an upcoming Unit 3 refueling outage and emergent work. Management

has prioritized work as needed to support the safe operation of Unit 3. The performance of

plant support organizations continued to be good.

Based on this performance, the NRC staff will conduct normal inspections during the next

evaluation period, with supplemental inspections planned for the following areas: operations --

an assessment of operational performance during the startup of Unit 2 and the shutdown for

Unit 3 refueling outage, scheduled for May; maintenance -- an assessment of the effectiveness

of the new work control process in reducing the corrective action backlog; and plant support --

an assessment of the air sampling and bioassay program and of the Unit 1 radioactive waste

processing and liquid radioactive waste storage tank barriers to prevent releases.

The text of the plant performance review (PPR) letter is available from the NRC Region I

Office of Public Affairs and on the NRC web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/OPA/ppr.
NRC reviews safety performance twice a year at every licensed nuclear power plant in the

nation. These reviews give the agency staff an integrated assessment of plant performance

and provide a basis for planning inspection activities.

PPRs are being used by the NRC as an interim measure to monitor nuclear power plant

safety. The agency began using it for this purpose after suspending the Systematic

Assessment of Licensee Performance (SALP) process until a new assessment program is

developed. Previously, SALP reports were issued every 12 to 24 months.

The new reactor oversight and assessment program being developed will provide

quarterly performance reports, based on a number of performance indicators and on inspection

findings. This program will be tested at eight sites beginning in June and will be extended to all

plants next January. A full description of the new program is available on the NRC web site at:

http://www.nrc.gov/OPA/primer.htm.

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