Event Notification Report for April 11, 2002

                         
                    U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
                              Operations Center

                              Event Reports For
                           04/10/2002 - 04/11/2002

                              ** EVENT NUMBERS **

38845  

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|Power Reactor                                    |Event Number:   38845       |
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| FACILITY: SALEM                    REGION:  1  |NOTIFICATION DATE: 04/10/2002|
|    UNIT:  [1] [2] []                STATE:  NJ |NOTIFICATION TIME: 20:44[EDT]|
|   RXTYPE: [1] W-4-LP,[2] W-4-LP                |EVENT DATE:        04/10/2002|
+------------------------------------------------+EVENT TIME:        18:30[EDT]|
| NRC NOTIFIED BY:  TIM SHETRONE                 |LAST UPDATE DATE:  04/10/2002|
|  HQ OPS OFFICER:  GERRY WAIG                   +-----------------------------+
+------------------------------------------------+PERSON          ORGANIZATION |
|EMERGENCY CLASS:          NON EMERGENCY         |J. BRADLEY FEWELL    R1      |
|10 CFR SECTION:                                 |TAD MARSH            NRR     |
|APRE 50.72(b)(2)(xi)     OFFSITE NOTIFICATION   |TIM MCGINTY          IRO     |
|                                                |HUB MILLER           RA      |
|                                                |                             |
|                                                |                             |
+-----+----------+-------+--------+-----------------+--------+-----------------+
|UNIT |SCRAM CODE|RX CRIT|INIT PWR|   INIT RX MODE  |CURR PWR|  CURR RX MODE  
|
+-----+----------+-------+--------+-----------------+--------+-----------------+
|1     N          Y       100      Power Operation  |100      Power Operation  |
|2     N          N       0        Refueling        |0        Refueling        |
|                                                   |                          |
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                                   EVENT TEXT                                   
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| OFFSITE NOTIFICATION OF ADEQUACY OF SECURITY QUESTIONED IN PRESS
RELEASE     |
|                                                                              |
| "On April 10, 2002 Representative Edward Markey, (D-MA), issued a press      |
| release alleging that security clearance practices for temporary access in   |
| vital areas at US nuclear plants is not sufficient. Representative Markey    |
| within the body of a letter to NRC Chairman Meserve states that a senior     |
| security officer at Salem raised concerns about the adequacy of the NRC's    |
| security background check requirements and that temporary workers with less  |
| than a complete background check were allowed in vital areas without being   |
| escorted by security officers.                                               |
|                                                                              |
| "The NRC issued an order on February 25 directing specific activities to     |
| increase security at all commercial nuclear power plants. The information    |
| and specifics of the order is confidential and cannot be shared. The order   |
| also gave each nuclear utility until August 31, 2002 to come into compliance |
| with the specifics of the order.                                             |
|                                                                              |
| "One component of the order issued, referred to vital area access control    |
| for workers with temporary security clearance. PSEG Nuclear developed a      |
| program to come into compliance with this particular element of the order,   |
| and implemented the program prior to the start of the current  refueling     |
| outage. We are confident that our program, as designed, is in compliance     |
| with the NRC order, and that we have fully implemented the stringent         |
| requirements of our own security program.                                    |
|                                                                              |
| "Since media interest may be generated by Representative Markey's press      |
| release, PSEG Nuclear is making a 4-hour report in accordance with           |
| 10CFR50.72(b) (2) (xi)."                                                     |
|                                                                              |
| The licensee made state (NJ & DE) and local (LAC township) notifications of  |
| this event.                                                                  |
|                                                                              |
| The NRC Resident Inspector was notified of this event by the licensee.       |
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