Regulators Offer Praise for Cooper Nuclear Plant

By Nancy Gaarder

BROWNVILLE, Neb. — Cooper Nuclear Station appears to be breaking an old habit — and for the better.

The nuclear plant, Nebraska’s largest, has a history of getting into trouble, launching an improvement program and solving its problems, only to backslide.

Kriss Kennedy of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Monday that early indications are that Cooper is breaking from that pattern — although it’s still too early to be certain.

“We haven’t seen them backslide,” he said.

The commission has worked for several years with the Nebraska Public Power District, which owns and operates the plant, on solving management problems at Cooper.

In January, the commission determined that the plant had made enough progress to close a period of intensive oversight.

Monday, the commission met with NPPD to discuss findings from inspections since January.

Kennedy said the plant continues to improve but has more work to do. Federal regulators will continue to inspect and oversee the plant to be sure that it stays on the right path, he said.

Randy Edington, vice president and chief nuclear officer for NPPD, said workers are focused on making Cooper one of the best in the industry.

Among the positive signs that Edington cited:

The number of problems found at the plant has dropped by about half since early 2004.

The number of days that the plant operates without an incident has steadily grown. The average is now 73 days, up from 52 about a year ago.

Cooper has been named the most improved nuclear plant in the country for 2004 by the American Nuclear Society.