BROWNVILLE, Neb. -- Sep 1 - McClatchy-Tribune Business News Formerly Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News - Jimmy Myers St. Joseph News-Press, Mo.

Five, inch-long nuclear fuel pellets can power the average household for an entire year -- unfortunately, you have to really, really be careful with it.

Cooper Nuclear Station officials opened its doors to the media Thursday touting their knowledge in handling the fuel source through their added security, plant renovations, and improved safety measures.

Finding itself under the microscope last year after some apparent performance issues, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission seems to have loosened its grip on Cooper. A performance review and inspection plan released by the NRC Thursday says that performance is at a level requiring "no additional NRC oversight."

"We noted improved performance as demonstrated by a reduction in the number of repetitive problems that impacted plant operations," the report read.

David Montgomery, Cooper's human performance coordinator, said incident reduction over the past two years is at 75 percent. He said mistakes and near mistakes once totaled three per month. The station is now at less than one mistake or near mistake (none of which involved injury to workers) per month.

Cooper, which employs 720, including Missouri residents living in Atchison County, finished construction in 1974. It generates nearly 800 megawatts of electricity using uranium as its fuel source.

Plant Manager Stu Minahan said their "No. 1" obligation and lifetime commitment is to the health and safety of the public. Comforting words considering the plant uses more than 300,000 gallons of Missouri River water per minute as a coolant before being filtered back into the river, which winds its way south to St. Joseph. Cooper officials test the water daily for radiation leakage.

Aerial pictures of the plant that date older than five years lack the blast-proof security nests that now cover the perimeter from every corner, or the razor wire that nestles every inch of the high-fence boundaries to the plant. About $16 million in security measures were installed as a result of Sept. 11, said Kym Haynes, Cooper's security administrator.