U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Region III Office of Public Affairs

801 Warrenville Road, Lisle, IL 60532-4351

NEWS ANNOUNCEMENT: RIII-98-52 October 15, 1998

CONTACT: Jan Strasma 630/829-9663

Angela Greenman 630/829-9662

E-mail: opa3@nrc.gov

NRC STAFF PROPOSES $500,000 FINE AGAINST D.C. COOK PLANT

FOR MULTIPLE VIOLATIONS OF NRC SAFETY REQUIREMENTS

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has proposed a

$500,000 fine against Indiana Michigan Electric Company for

violations of NRC requirements that led to extensive degradation

of safety systems at the D. C. Cook Nuclear Power Station.

The two-unit station is located at Bridgman, Michigan.

The violations were found in five extensive inspections from

August of last year through April. These inspections identified

violations at D. C. Cook with how plant design requirements were

maintained, how problems were corrected, and how plant changes

were evaluated for their effect on safety.

Specific violations were also identified with the inspection

and maintenance of an important safety system, the ice condenser

system, and with the control of debris and other foreign material

in the containment that might affect plant safety systems. (The

ice condenser system is designed to prevent excessive pressure

that might damage the reactor containment during a possible

accident.)

In all, the utility was cited for 37 violations.

In notifying the utility of the proposed fine, NRC Acting

Regional Administrator James L. Caldwell, said that the breadth

and number of the violations, taken in total, resulted in “a lack

of reasonable assurance” that principal plant safety systems

would function following a possible major reactor accident.

These affected safety systems included the Emergency Core

Cooling System (ECCS), which is intended to pump water into the

reactor following an accident, and the reactor containment,

including the ice condensers. The containment, the structure

surrounding each reactor, is designed to prevent any large

release of radioactive material from the plant.

Mr. Caldwell added that the amount of the fine “reflects the

consideration of the particularly poor licensee performance, the

duration of the problems, the impact on the ECCS and containment,

and the NRC’s concerns regarding the violations.”
Indiana Michigan Electric shut down both D. C. Cook units in

September of last year after an NRC design inspection raised

questions about how past plant modifications had been controlled

and reviewed. The other violations were identified during

subsequent NRC inspections.

The units have remained shut down while the utility

performed extensive reviews and modifications of the plant.

Inspections and repairs of the ice condensers are still under

way.

The plant will not resume operation until deficiencies are

corrected. Further NRC inspections will be conducted to assure

that problems are corrected and that the facility is ready for

restart.

An oversight panel of NRC regional and headquarters staff

members is monitoring the utility’s corrective actions and

performance improvement activities. This panel meets

periodically with the utility to review the status of work at the

plant. The meetings are open to the public.

The utility has until November 12 to pay the fine or to

protest it. If the fine is protested and subsequently imposed by

the NRC staff, the utility may request a hearing.

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Note: The letter notifying the utility and the Notice of

Violation are available on the NRC’s web site at:

http://www.nrc.gov/OPA/reports.