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United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Office of Public Affairs, Region I

475 Allendale Road King of Prussia, PA 19401

Phone: 610/337-5330 Fax: 610/337-5241

Internet: dps@nrc.gov or nas@nrc.gov

I-97-2 January 10, 1997

Contact: Diane Screnci FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Neil A. Sheehan

OYSTER CREEK NUCLEAR PLANT RATED "GOOD" IN THREE AREAS,

"SUPERIOR" IN FOURTH AREA OF NRC ASSESSMENT REPORT

The Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station received

performance ratings of "good" in three areas and "superior" in

the fourth area of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's latest

systematic assessment of licensee performance (SALP) of the

facility.

The SALP report was sent yesterday (January 9) to GPU

Nuclear Corporation (BG&E), which operates the facility in Lacy

Township, NJ. It evaluates the plant's performance from June 25,

1995, through November 30, 1996.

The NRC staff will meet with officials of GPU to discuss the

SALP at 1 p.m. on January 27 in the Oyster Creek Nuclear

Generating Station Training Building, at the site. It will be

open for public observation.

NRC SALP reports rate licensees in four functional areas ˇ plant operations, maintenance, engineering, and plant support ˇ

and assign ratings of Category 1, 2 or 3 depending on whether

performance in those areas was superior, good or adequate. This

report gives Oyster Creek a Category 2 (good) rating in

operations, maintenance and plant support, and a Category 1

rating in engineering, indicating "suprior" performance.

In a letter to GPU, NRC Regional Administrator Hubert J.

Miller said the NRC noted continued, generally good safety

performance during the SALP period.

He continued, "The problem identification and corrective

action processes generally have been good; however, corrective

actions for personnel errors, particularly in the operations

area, have not been fully effective. The operations rating

decreased due to continuing human performance errors that

resulted in challenges to the plant and a significant plant

configuration control event."

Mr. Miller had these comments on the specific categories:

OPERATIONS

Overall operations performance was good, and operators generally

responded well to off-normal and transient conditions. However
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where routine activities are concerned, inconsistent

implementation of the self-checking (STAR) program contributed to

continuing human performance problems. This was particularly

evident in the unplanned release of 133,000 gallons of slightly

radioactive water to the discharge canal. The NRC also observed

that a number of human performance errors involved elements of

inadequate supervisory oversight and weaknesses in configuration

controls.

MAINTENANCE

Similarly, human performance weaknesses detracted from otherwise

strong performance in the maintenance area. Errors involving

poor work practices and inattention to detail continued to be

observed during the period. The material condition of the plant,

though, was generally good. The lack of significant repetitive

equipment failures indicated that maintenance was effectively

addressing degraded conditions. Maintenance planning, the

corrective maintenance backlog, and self-assessment efforts were

all well-managed. The NRC determined that overall performance in

maintenance had improved.

ENGINEERING

Engineering support to the plant was of high quality and

consistent with performance in the previous SALP period.

Engineering management oversight and involvement in emerging

issues was a strength. Systems engineers provided strong

continuous support to plant operations. Engineering evaluations

were generally very good with thorough root-cause analyses and

good corrective actions. However, examples were noted where

design documents were not used constructively and revisions not

made to them after plant modifications. Higher sensitivity is

needed regarding the maintenance and use of design documents and

the licensing basis in the Updated Final Safety Analysis Report.

Self-assessments were effective, and experience from efforts at

Three Mile Island (which also is operated by GPU), such as in the

service water system review and the motor-operated valve program,

was applied to Oyster Creek.

PLANT SUPPORT

The Radiation Protection Program was generally effective in

protecting the public and workers from radiation. The ALARA

Program reduced radiation exposure to workers, but worker

exposure reduction remains a significant challenge for the

facility. Good effluent controls and environmental monitoring

programs were maintained. In the plant security area, management

supported enhancements to hardware and equipment; however, some

personnel performance lapses occurred. In Emergency Preparedness

(EP), the licensee maintained a good EP program with good

management oversight; however, there were some deficiencies in

program administration. The last exercise was assessed as good.

Fire Protection measures were very good during the period.
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EDITORS: A copy of the SALP report is available from this

office, or on the NRC's Internet web site (www.nrc.gov/OPA), or

by e-mail subscription. To receive SALP reports by e-mail, send

an e-mail to listproc@nrc.gov with the following message:

subscribe salp yourfirstname yourlastname.

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