IR 05000219/2019002

NRC Inspection Report 05000219/2019002

ML19206A782
Person / Time
Site:	Oyster Creek
Issue date:	07/24/2019
From:	Anthony Dimitriadis NRC/RGN-I/DNMS/CRDB
To:	Bryan Hanson Exelon Nuclear, Exelon Nuclear Generation Corp
References
IR 2019002
Download: ML19206A782 (11)

Text

UNITED STATES uly 24, 2019

SUBJECT:

NRC INSPECTION REPORT NO. 05000219/2019002, OYSTER CREEK NUCLEAR GENERATING STATION

Dear Mr. Hanson:

On June 30, 2019, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) completed its quarterly inspection under Inspection Manual Chapter 2561, Decommissioning Power Reactor Inspection Program, at the permanently shut down Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station (Oyster Creek). On-site inspections were performed on May 13 - 16. In-office reviews of information supplied by Exelon Generation Co., LLC were also performed during the inspection period.

The inspection examined activities conducted under your license as they relate to safety and compliance with the Commissions rules and regulations and the conditions of your license.

The inspection consisted of on-site observations by the inspector, interviews with personnel, and a review of procedures and records. The results of this inspection were discussed with Mr. David Helker, Exelon Regulatory Assurance Manager and Ms. Pamela Cowan, Holtec Decommissioning International Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer and other members of the current licensed decommissioning operator staff on July 15, 2019, and are described in the enclosed report. No violations of safety significance were identified.

In accordance with 10 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 2.390 of the NRC's "Rules of Practice," a copy of this letter and its enclosure, and your response (if any) will be made available electronically for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room or from the NRC document system (ADAMS), accessible from the NRC website at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To the extent possible, your response should not include any personal privacy, proprietary, or safeguards information so that it can be made available to the Public without redaction.

Current NRC regulations and guidance are included on the NRC's website at www.nrc.gov; select Radioactive Waste; Decommissioning of Nuclear Facilities; then Regulations, Guidance and Communications. The current Enforcement Policy is included on the NRC's website at www.nrc.gov; select About NRC, Organizations & Functions; Office of Enforcement; Enforcement documents; then Enforcement Policy (Under 'Related Information'). You may also obtain these documents by contacting the Government Printing Office (GPO) toll-free at 1-866-512-1800. The GPO is open from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. EST, Monday through Friday (except Federal holidays). No reply to this letter is required. Please contact Briana DeBoer at 610-337-5370 if you have any questions regarding this matter.

Sincerely,

/RA/

Anthony Dimitriadis, Chief Decommissioning, ISFSI, and Reactor Health Physics Branch Division of Nuclear Materials Safety Docket No: 50-219 License No: DPR-16 Enclosure:

Inspection Report 05000219/2019002 w/Attachment cc w/encl: Distribution via ListServ

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Exelon Generation Co., LLC

Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station NRC Inspection Report No. 05000219/2019002 An announced quarterly inspection was completed at Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station (Oyster Creek) on June 30, 2019. On-site inspections and in-office reviews of information supplied by Exelon were performed during the inspection period from April 1 to June 30. The inspection included a review of organization and management at the site; safety reviews, design changes and modifications; self-assessments, audits and corrective actions; spent fuel pool safety; maintenance and surveillance activities; and emergency preparedness exercise evaluation.

The inspection consisted of observations by the inspector, interviews with Exelon personnel, a review of procedures and records, and plant walk-downs. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commissions (NRC's) program for overseeing the safe operation of a shut-down nuclear power reactor is described in Inspection Manual Chapter (IMC) 2561, Decommissioning Power Reactor Inspection Program."

Based on the results of this inspection, no violations of safety significance were identified.

ii

REPORT DETAILS

1.0 Background On September 25, 2018, Oyster Creek certified the permanent removal of fuel from the reactor vessel (Agencywide Documents and Access Management System (ADAMS)

Accession No. ML18268A258). This met the requirements of 10 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 50.82(a)(1)(i) and 50.82(a)(1)(ii). On October 1, 2018, the NRC notified Oyster Creek that the Operating Reactor Assessment Program had ceased and that implementation of the Decommissioning Power Reactor Inspection Program would begin on October 1, 2018 (ADAMS Accession No. ML18274A221). Oyster Creek is currently in the Post Operation Transition Phase of decommissioning as described in IMC 2561.

2.0 Post Operation Transition Phase Performance and Status Review

a. Inspection Scope

[Inspection Procedures 36801, 37801, 40801, 60801, 62801, 82401]

In-office reviews of information supplied by Exelon were performed during the inspection period. The inspector performed on-site inspections on May 13 - 16. The inspection consisted of observations by the inspector, interviews with Exelon personnel, a review of procedures and records, and plant walk-downs.

The inspector conducted plant walk-downs to evaluate, in part, the housekeeping and the material condition of structures and components that support decommissioning. The inspector met with Oyster Creek engineering staff to discuss the current engineering workload and changes during planned active decommissioning activities. The inspector also reviewed the evaluation report for the permanently defueled emergency plan (PDEP)drill conducted on June 18, 2019.

The inspector reviewed Exelons programs for the safe wet-storage of spent fuel and performed a walk-down of the spent fuel pool (SFP) and associated support systems to assess material condition, configuration control, and system operation. The inspector toured the control room and interviewed certified fuel handlers to verify SFP system instrumentation, alarms, and leakage detection monitoring is adequate to assure the safe storage of spent fuel. The inspector observed the chemistry technician preparing, collecting, and analyzing SFP chemistry samples. The inspector also reviewed SFP chemistry sample analysis performed between October 2018 and May 2019 in order to determine if chemistry parameters were within the limits of Exelons license commitments.

The inspector conducted document reviews and interviews with plant personnel to verify Exelon procedures and processes followed the regulations and guidance associated with 10 CFR 50.59. The inspector reviewed the modification to consolidate the main control room annunciator panels. The inspector also reviewed the screening criteria and determined that a 10 CFR 50.59 screening was not required for this modification.

The inspector reviewed documents and interviewed Oyster Creek personnel to verify Exelon management performed audits and self-assessments, and ensured issues were identified and corrected in accordance with the sites corrective action program (CAP).

The inspector reviewed a representative selection of CAP documents to determine if a sufficiently low threshold for problem identification existed, follow-up evaluations were of sufficient quality, and Exelon assigned timely and appropriate prioritization for issue resolution commensurate with the significance of the issue.

b. Observations The inspectors determined that Exelon had safely stored spent fuel in wet storage. The inspector verified SFP chemistry and cleanliness controls had been adequately implemented. The inspector verified surveillance requirements for water level and temperature of the SFP were adequate and procedures provided guidance to restore SFP water level if required.

The inspector verified that all systems that supported spent fuel safety continued to be appropriately scoped in to the maintenance rule and that the performance criteria established were acceptable. The inspector verified that the maintenance and surveillance program for systems and components had been conducted in accordance with the technical specification requirements and established procedures. The inspector noted during the plant walk-down that housekeeping and plant material condition standards were being maintained. The inspector observed the chemistry technician perform sample analysis of the high purity tank prior to an overboard discharge to verify compliance with the technical specification and offsite dose calculation manual.

The inspector determined that 10 CFR 50.59 screenings and evaluations were performed and that Exelon had trained and qualified individuals to perform the evaluations. The inspector determined that changes under 10 CFR 50.59 did not require prior NRC approval and safety reviews were performed for design changes and modifications. The inspector verified that the licensee correctly determined that a 10 CFR 50.59 screening was not required for the modification to consolidate the main control room annunciator panels.

The inspector noted that the PDEP drill scenario developed by Exelon was reasonable based on current plant conditions and that the timeliness and accuracy of classifications and notifications were in accordance with the NRC approved PDEP.

The inspector determined that issues had been identified and entered into the CAP and evaluated commensurate with their safety significance. The inspector verified the independent nuclear oversight organization had performed audits and surveillances of decommissioning activities.

c. Conclusions

Based on the results of this inspection, no violations of safety significance were identified.

3.0 Exit Meeting On July 15, 2019, the inspector presented the inspection results to Mr. David Helker, Exelon Regulatory Assurance Manager and Ms. Pamela Cowan, Holtec Decommissioning International Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer and other members of the current licensed decommissioning operator staff who acknowledged the inspection results. The inspector verified that no proprietary information was retained by the inspectors or documented in this report.

ATTACHMENT:

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION

KEY POINTS OF CONTACT

Oyster Creek Personnel

P. Cowan, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer

J. Dostal, Site Decommissioning Director

M. Carlson, Site Engineer

J. Chrisman, Radiation Protection Technical Services Manager

R. Csillag, Site DC Engineering Lead

J. Frank, Site DC Regulatory Assurance Lead

D. Helker, Regulatory Assurance Manager

S. Johnson, Site DO Operations Lead

A. Krukowski, Site DO Operations Lead

G. Test, Chemistry Technician

T. Trettle, Site Engineer

H. Tritt, Site DC Engineering Lead

ITEMS OPENED, CLOSED, AND DISCUSSED

None Attachment