Latest NRC Assessment Rates Dresden "Acceptable" in Engineering and "Good" inOperations, Maintenance, and Plant Support

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	NRC NEWS U. S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, REGION III 801 Warrenville Road, Lisle IL 60532
	CONTACT:	Jan Strasma (630) 829-9663/e-mail: rjs2@nrc.gov
		Angela Greenman (630) 829-9662/e-mail: opa3@nrc.gov

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NEWS ANNOUNCEMENT: RIII-98-02

January 6, 1998

LATEST NRC ASSESSMENT RATES DRESDEN "ACCEPTABLE" IN ENGINEERING
AND "GOOD" IN OPERATIONS, MAINTENANCE, AND PLANT SUPPORT

In its latest assessment of plant performance, the NRC staff noted improved performance at the Dresden Nuclear Power Station with an improved rating of "good" in maintenance, continued "good" ratings in operations and plant support, and a continued "acceptable" rating in engineering.

The NRC staff will discuss the review, called the Systematic Assessment of Licensee Performance (SALP), in a meeting at 1 p.m., January 16, in the Training Building at the Dresden plant. The plant is located north of Lorenzo Road in Grundy County, Illinois. The meeting will be open to public observation.

NRC SALP reports evaluate utilities in four functional areas -- plant operations, maintenance, engineering, and plant support -- and assign ratings of Category 1,2, or 3 depending on whether their performance in those areas is superior, good or acceptable. The report on Dresden gives the plant a "Category 2" rating -- indicating good performance -- in operations, maintenance, and plant support and a "Category 3" rating -- indicating acceptable performance -- in engineering.

The report covers the period December 29, 1996, through November 22 of last year.

In notifying the utility of the SALP findings, Regional Administrator A. Bill Beach stated, "Good performance in the conduct of plant operations and strong management support of a conservative operating philosophy were evident throughout this operating period."

"We noted that substantial improvement was made in the material condition of the plant," he continued. "This was significant because during past rating periods operators were frequently challenged by equipment problems that unexpectedly affected plant performance."

Beach added, "Although performance in the area of engineering continued to improve, sustained improvement remains to be demonstrated." The utility was directed to provide the NRC with its plans to improve performance in the engineering area.

SALP Report Results:

SALP Category	Current Period	Previous Period
Operations	2	2
Maintenance	2	3
Engineering	3	3
Plant Support	2	2

Note: SALP reports are available for review on the NRC's internet web site at http://www.nrc.gov/OPA.