IR 05000254/2006014

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June 29, 2006

EA-06-112Mr. Christopher M. CranePresident and Chief Nuclear Officer Exelon Nuclear Exelon Generation Company, LLC Quad Cities Nuclear Power Station 4300 Winfield Road Warrenville, IL 60555

SUBJECT: FINAL SIGNIFICANCE DETERMINATION FOR A WHITE FINDING ANDNOTICE OF VIOLATION (NRC INSPECTION REPORTNO. 05000254/2006014) QUAD CITIES NUCLEAR POWER STATION UNIT 1

Dear Mr. Crane:

The purpose of this letter is to provide you the final results of our significance determination ofthe preliminary White finding identified in Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) InspectionReport 05000254/2006012; 05000265/2006012, issued May 30, 2006. The inspection findingwas assessed using the Significance Determination Process and was preliminarily characterized as White (i.e., a finding with low to moderate increased importance to safety, which may require additional NRC inspection). The White finding involved the failure toestablish measures to ensure that the Unit 1 electromatic relief valves (ERVs) remained suitable for operation prior to implementing your 2002 extended power uprate (EPU).In a telephone conversation with Mr. Mark Ring of the NRC, Region III, on June 7, 2006,Mr. Wally Beck of your staff indicated that Exelon Nuclear did not contest the characterization of the risk significance of this finding and that you declined your opportunity to discuss this issue in a Regulatory Conference or provide a written response.After considering the information developed during the inspection, the NRC has concluded thatthe inspection finding is appropriately characterized as White (i.e., an issue with low to moderate increased importance to safety). You have 30 calendar days from the date of this letter to appeal the staff's determination ofsignificance for the identified White finding. Such appeals will be considered to have merit onlyif they meet the criteria given in NRC Inspection Manual Chapter 0609, Attachment 2. The NRC has also determined that the failure to establish measures to ensure that theelectromatic relief valve design remained suitable for operation in an extended power uprate environment is a violation of 10 CFR 50, Appendix B, Criterion III, as cited in the attachedNotice of Violation (Notice). The circumstances surrounding the violation are described in detail C. Crane-2-in the May 30, 2006, inspection report. In accordance with the NRC Enforcement Policy, theNotice of Violation is considered escalated enforcement action because it is associated with a White finding.You are required to respond to this letter and should follow the instructions specified in theenclosed Notice when preparing your response.Because plant performance for this issue has been determined to be in the regulatory responseband, we will use the NRC Action Matrix, to determine the most appropriate NRC response forthis event. We will notify you, by separate correspondence, of that determination.For administrative purposes, this letter is issued as a separate NRC Inspection Report,No. 05000254/2006014, and the above violation is identified as VIO 05000254/2006014-01: "Failure to establish measures to ensure that the Unit 1 ERV actuators remained suitable for operation while operating at EPU power levels." Accordingly, Apparent Violation (AV)05000254/2006012-01 is closed. In accordance with 10 CFR 2.390 of the NRC's "Rules of Practice," a copy of this letter and itsenclosure will be available electronically for public inspection in the NRC Public DocumentRoom or from the Publicly Available Records (PARS) component of NRC's document system(ADAMS), accessible from the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html (thePublic Electronic Reading Room). 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. The NRC also includes significant enforcement actions on its Website at www.nrc.gov; select What We Do, Enforcement, then Significant EnforcementActions.

Sincerely,/RA by Geoffrey E. Grant Acting for/James L. CaldwellRegional AdministratorDocket No. 50-254License No. DPR-29

Enclosure:

Notice of Violation DISTRIBUTION:See next page 1 OE concurrence received on 06/28/2006 by D. Solorio per e-mail from D. Starkey