NRC NEWS

 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

 2443 Warrenville Road

 Lisle IL 60532

 Web Site: http://www.nrc.gov E-mail: opa3@nrc.gov

No. III-06-028 July 3, 2006

CONTACT: Jan Strasma (630) 829-9663 

Viktoria Mitlyng (630) 829-9662 

NRC TO DISCUSS 2005 PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT

FOR D. C. COOK NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with representatives of Indiana Michigan

Power Co. on Thursday, July 6, to discuss the agency’s assessment of safety performance for last year

at the D. C. Cook Nuclear Power Plant. The plant is located near Bridgman, Mich.

The meeting, which is open to the public, is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. at the Lake Charter

Township Hall, 3220 Shawnee Road, in Bridgman. The NRC will respond to questions or comments

from the public before the close of the meeting.

“The NRC continually reviews the performance of the D. C. Cook plant and the nation’s other

commercial nuclear power facilities,” NRC Region III Administrator James Caldwell said. “This

meeting will provide an opportunity for a discussion of our annual assessment of safety performance

with the company and with local officials and residents who live near the plant. Our goal is to explain

the NRC oversight process and make as much information as possible available to the public regarding

our regulation of these facilities.”

A letter sent from the NRC Region III Office to plant officials addresses the performance of the

plant during the period and will serve as the basis for the meeting’s discussion. It is available on the

NRC web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/cook_2005q4.pdf .

The NRC’s assessment concluded that the D. C. Cook plant operated safely during the period. 

The NRC uses color-coded inspection findings and performance indicators to assess nuclear plant

performance. The colors start with “green” and then increase to “white,” “yellow” or “red,”

commensurate with the safety significance of the issues involved. 

All of the inspection findings and performance indicators for D. C. Cook during 2005 were

determined to be “green.” As a result of this performance, the NRC will conduct the normal, baseline

level of inspections during the upcoming year.

In addition, the NRC will conduct additional inspections related to corrective actions for

violations issued to the utility in November 2005. The violations were associated with providing

incomplete and inaccurate information with regard to applications for new, renewed, or amended

reactor operator licenses; providing incomplete and inaccurate information in a letter describing
corrective actions for a previous violation; and the failure to provide timely information with regard to

a change in medical status of licensed reactor operators.

The NRC will also conduct additional oversight activities for the reactor vessel head

replacement to be performed during the Fall 2006 refueling outage.

Routine inspections are performed by two NRC Resident Inspectors assigned to the plant and

by inspection specialists from the Region III Office in Lisle, Ill. Among the areas of plant operations

to be inspected this year by NRC specialists are emergency preparedness, problem identification and

resolution, maintenance effectiveness, and radioactive material processing and transportation.

Current performance information for D. C. Cook is available on the NRC’s web site at: 

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/COOK1/cook1_chart.html for Unit 1

 and

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/COOK2/cook2_chart.html for Unit 2.

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