A violation of
10 CFR 50.54(q) was identified involving changes made to the NRC-approved
emergency plan emergency action level (
EAL) scheme between 1996 and 2001. The
EAL changes involved a decrease in effectiveness of the
emergency plan and were made without prior Commission approval. Specifically, the licensee made six changes to its
EALs which limited the conditions under which the
EAL applied. As a result, some initiating conditions that had been assumed in the NRC-approved
EALs would not have resulted in emergency classification at the appropriate level. In November 2007, Constellation restored the Ginna
EALs to the original configuration and conducted training for the staff. The failure to obtain NRC approval for the changes to the
EALs had the potential for impacting the NRCs ability to perform its regulatory function; therefore, this violation was considered under traditional enforcement. The violation was safety significant due to the potential for an incorrect event classification or an untimely notification to offsite authorities during an event such as a site area emergency. The revised
EALs could have adversely impacted Ginnas ability to assess and classify an event. The disposition of this violation, in accordance with the
Enforcement Policy, is addressed in a separate letter dated April 7, 2008. (Section 03.b)
