NRC: News Release - Region II - 2004-052 - NRC Cites Oconee Nuclear Plant for Inspection Finding of Low to Moderate Safety Significance


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NRC NEWS
U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Office of Public Affairs, Region II
61 Forsyth Street SW, Atlanta, GA 30303
www.nrc.gov

No. II-04-052		September 28, 2004
CONTACT:	Ken Clark (404) 562-4416 Roger D. Hannah (404) 562-4417 Joey Ledford (404) 562-4487	E-mail: opa2@nrc.gov
NRC CITES OCONEE NUCLEAR PLANT FOR INSPECTION FINDING OF LOW TO MODERATE SAFETY SIGNIFICANCE Printable Version
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has determined that Duke Energy’s fire response procedures at the Oconee nuclear power plant, located near Seneca, S.C., were not consistent with the plant’s licensing basis for manning of the Standby Shutdown Facility. The Standby Shutdown Facility provides alternative controls for some of the plant’s systems should those functions be lost in the main control room. The NRC found that in some scenarios there may be a delay in the transfer of control to the alternate facility and resulting problems meeting NRC fire protection regulations. The NRC evaluates commercial nuclear power plants with a color-coded process which classifies inspection findings as either green, white, yellow or red, in order of increasing safety significance. The NRC staff’s preliminary assessment concluded that the Oconee finding was greater than green, or greater than very low safety significance, because it could affect fire protection defense in depth. After a September 13^th meeting with Duke Energy in Atlanta and further review, the NRC staff classified the finding as white (low to moderate safety significance) and issued a violation. The inspection finding does not represent a current safety concern because Duke has modified plant procedures to address the issue. Additional details are available from the NRC Region II public affairs office or through the agency’s document management system at www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. Help in using that system is available through the NRC Public Document Room at 301-415-4737 or 1-800-397-4209.
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