NRC NEWS

 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS -- REGION I

 475 Allendale Road

 King of Prussia, PA 19406

No. I-02-023 March 25, 2002

CONTACT: Diane Screnci, (610) 337-5330 E-mail: opa1@nrc.gov

Neil A. Sheehan, (610) 337-5331

NRC DETERMINES INSPECTION FINDING FOR VERMONT YANKEE NUCLEAR PLANT

TO BE OF SUBSTANTIAL SAFETY SIGNIFICANCE

 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has determined that an inspection finding for the

Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant pertaining to the facilityís security program should be

characterized as ìyellow,î meaning it is an issue of substantial importance to safety. Additional NRC

inspections will be conducted at the plant as a result of the finding. The plant, located in Vernon, Vt.,

is operated by the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp.

 The finding is based on the NRCís assessment of a security exercise conducted at the plant

between Aug. 20 and 23 of last year. During the exercise, known as an Operational Safeguards

Response Evaluation (OSRE), an NRC team evaluated Vermont Yankeeís security program through

table-top drills, assessed tactical training and firearms proficiency, and conducted four challenging

force-on-force drills designed to identify potential vulnerabilities, as well as areas where the program

could be strengthened.

 The NRC team determined through the table-top drills that there were potential vulnerabilities in

the security programís response strategy. The finding was subsequently confirmed by the results of

two of the force-on-force drills. It has been determined by the NRC staff to be ìyellowî because the

weaknesses were generally predictable, repeatable and indicative of a broad programmatic problem.

 Because plant safeguards information is involved, the exact nature of the weaknesses identified

cannot be provided. However, no weaknesses were of such significance that they could not be dealt

with promptly through compensatory measures. Vermont Yankee did establish such measures

immediately, and longer-term improvements, including improved internal and external strategies and

organizational improvements, were also begun. The NRC inspectors determined that the plant's

security program was sound before departing the site. The NRC has also conducted subsequent

reviews of the plantís security and found it to be satisfactory.

 At a closed regulatory conference on Jan. 18 and in a written evaluation, Vermont Yankee

disagreed with the ìyellowî finding, contending that the two failures during the force-on-force
exercises were inconclusive because of various artificialities that adversely affected the outcome of

both drills. However, after carefully considering the contentions, the NRC has determined that the

finding is appropriately characterized within the context of the agencyís Reactor Oversight Process.

 ìIn making this determination, we considered the exercise artificialities and controller decisions

that occurred during the exercises,î NRC Region I Administrator Hubert J. Miller wrote to Vermont

Yankee. ì... We acknowledge that the exercise artificialities and controllerís decisions may have had a

degree of influence in the exercises, however, it would not be practical to rerun the exercises to further

assess the issues. Nonetheless, the scenarios adequately served to confirm the vulnerabilities (i.e.,

response strategy deficiencies) identified during the table-top portion of the OSRE.î

 Vermont Yankee has 10 days to appeal the NRC staffís determination of the significance of the

finding.

 Under the agencyís significance determination process, NRC officials classify certain conditions

at nuclear power plants as being one of four colors which delineate increasing levels of safety

significance. The indicators begin with ìgreen,î which is considered to be the least significant, and

progress to ìwhite,î ìyellowî or ìred,î which is considered to be the most significant. Any finding of

white or above can result in additional inspections.

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