McGuire Operating License condition 2.C.(4) for Units 1 & 2, state, in part, that Duke Energy Carolinas,
LLC shall implement and maintain in effect all provisions of the approved
fire protection program as approved in the NRC
SER (
NUREG - 0422) Supplement 5, dated April 1981.
SER Supplement 5 stated, in part, that, in a letter dated January 9, 1981, the licensee committed to meet the requirements of
10 CFR 50, Appendix R, Section III.G.
10 CFR 50, Appendix R, Section III.G.1 stated, in part, that fire protection features shall be provided for structures, systems, and components important to
safe shutdown. These features shall be capable of limiting fire damage so that systems necessary to achieve and maintain cold shutdown from either the control room or emergency control station(s) can be repaired within
72 hours8.333333e-4 days <br />0.02 hours <br />1.190476e-4 weeks <br />2.7396e-5 months <br />. Contrary to the above, from initial plant operation through March 22, 2012, the licensee failed to implement all provisions of the McGuire approved
FPP in that features were not provided that were capable of limiting fire damage such that systems necessary to achieve and maintain cold shutdown could be repaired within
72 hours8.333333e-4 days <br />0.02 hours <br />1.190476e-4 weeks <br />2.7396e-5 months <br />. Specifically, the licensee discovered that since initial plant operation, for fires in
FA 16-18 and 15-17, circuits for the
SG PORV block valves were not adequately protected, and as a result, postulated spurious actuation of the valves could cause valve damage. These valves would be unable to be repaired within
72 hours8.333333e-4 days <br />0.02 hours <br />1.190476e-4 weeks <br />2.7396e-5 months <br />. The licensee entered this finding into the corrective action program (CR 12-02194) and the licensee has taken appropriate compensatory measures. Because the licensee committed to adopt
NFPA 805 and change their fire protection licensing bases to comply with
10 CFR 50.48(c), the NRC is exercising enforcement and reactor oversight process (
ROP) discretion for this issue in accordance with the
NRC Enforcement Policy, Section 9.1,
Enforcement Discretion for Certain Fire Protection Issues (
10 CFR 50.48) and
Inspection Manual Chapter 0305. Specifically, this issue was identified and will be addressed during the licensees transition to
NFPA 805, was entered into the licensees corrective action program, immediate corrective action and compensatory measures were taken, was not likely to have been previously identified by routine licensee efforts, was not willful, and it was not associated with a finding of high safety significance.
