IR 05000266/2001017

IR 05000266/2001-017 (Drs), 05000301/2001-017 (Drs), on 12/03/2001-02/28/2002, Nuclear Management Company, LLC, Point Beach Nuclear Plant. Special Inspection. Violations Identified

ML020950889
Person / Time
Site:	Point Beach
Issue date:	04/03/2002
From:	Dyer J NRC/RGN-III
To:	Warner M Nuclear Management Co
References
EA-02-031 IR-01-017
Download: ML020950889 (25)

Text

ril 3, 2002

SUBJECT:

POINT BEACH SPECIAL INSPECTION - NRC INSPECTION REPORT 50-266/01-17(DRS); 50-301/01-17(DRS), PRELIMINARY RED FINDING

Dear Mr. Warner:

Your staff notified the NRC of a potential common mode failure, discovered by the Nuclear Management Company, of auxiliary feedwater pumps at the Point Beach Nuclear Plant. In response to the notification, the NRC conducted a Special Inspection at the facility. The reported potential common mode failure met the NRC Management Directive 8.3, NRC Incident Investigation Program, threshold for a Special Inspection in that the potential common mode failure could have led to a loss of safety function. The Special Inspection was conducted December 3, 2001, through February 28, 2002, in accordance with Inspection Procedure 93812, Special Inspection. On February 28, 2002, the NRC discussed with you and members of your staff, by telephone, the results of the Special Inspection. The enclosed report presents the results of that inspection.

This report discusses an issue that appears to have high safety significance. As described in Section 4OA3.1 of this report, your staff identified a potential common mode failure of the auxiliary feedwater pumps due to inadequate operator actions in response to a loss of instrument air. Although your staff identified this issue in November 2001, the inspection identified that inadequate procedure guidance had existed for many years and that there were seven prior opportunities to identify the issue. The failures to provide adequate procedural guidance and to take appropriate corrective actions were both apparent violations of 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix B, Criteria V and XVI. This issue was assessed using the applicable Significance Determination Process and was preliminarily determined to be Red, an issue with high safety significance that may result in additional NRC inspection. This issue is of high safety significance because a common mode failure of auxiliary feedwater pumps would result in substantially reduced mitigation capability for safely shutting down the plant in response to certain transients. Your staff took prompt corrective actions to revise procedures and train operators to address the immediate safety concerns associated with the issue. Additionally, you recently installed backup pneumatic supplies for the recirculation valves to improve the safety of the auxiliary feedwater system design. Two apparent violations of NRC requirements were identified during the inspection and are being considered for escalated enforcement action in accordance with the "General Statement of Policy and Procedure for NRC Enforcement Actions" (Enforcement Policy), NUREG-1600.

The current Enforcement Policy is included on the NRCs website at www.nrc.gov.

Before the NRC makes a final decision on these matters, we are providing you an opportunity to request a Regulatory Conference where you would be able to provide your perspectives on the significance of the findings, the bases for your position, and whether you agree with the apparent violations. If you choose to request a conference, we encourage you to submit your evaluation and any differences with the NRC evaluations at least one week prior to the conference in an effort to make the conference more efficient and effective. If a conference is held, it will be open for public observation. The NRC will also issue a press release to announce the conference.

Please contact Mr. John M. Jacobson at (630) 829-9736 within seven days of the date of this letter to notify the NRC of your intentions. If we have not heard from you within 10 days, we will continue with our significance determination and enforcement decision and you will be advised by separate correspondence of the results of our deliberations on these matters.

Since the NRC has not made a final determination in this matter, no Notice of Violation is being issued for these inspection findings at this time. In addition, please be advised that the number and characterization of apparent violations described in the enclosed inspection report may change as a result of further NRC review.

In accordance with 10 CFR 2.790 of the NRC's "Rules of Practice," a copy of this letter, its enclosure, and your responses will be available electronically for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room or from the Publicly Available Records (PARS) component of NRC's document system (ADAMS). ADAMS is accessible from the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html (the Public Electronic Reading Room).

Sincerely,

/RA/

J. E. Dyer Regional Administrator Docket Nos. 50-266; 50-301 License Nos. DPR-24; DPR-27 Enclosure: Special Inspection Report 50-266/01-17(DRS);

50-301/01-17 (DRS)

See Attached Distribution