IR 05000266/2004013

IR 05000266-04-013 (DRS) & 05000301-04-013 (DRS) on 12/06/2004 - 12/10/2004 for Point Beach Nuclear Plant; Emergency Preparedness Specialist Report

ML043650052
Person / Time
Site:	Point Beach
Issue date:	12/29/2004
From:	Reynolds S Division Reactor Projects III
To:	Koehl D Nuclear Management Co
References
IR-04-013
Download: ML043650052 (16)

Text

ber 29, 2004

SUBJECT:

POINT BEACH NUCLEAR PLANT NRC EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS INSPECTION REPORT NO. 050000266/2004013(DRS) AND 05000301/2004013(DRS)

Dear Mr. Koehl:

On December 10, 2004, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) completed a baseline inspection at your Point Beach Nuclear Plant. The enclosed report documents the inspection findings which were discussed on December 10, 2004, with you and members of your staff.

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

The inspectors reviewed selected procedures and records, observed activities, and interviewed personnel. This inspection focused on emergency preparedness, which included an evaluation of your staffs performance during the exercise on December 7, 2004 and your staffs determinations of performance indicators for the Emergency Preparedness Cornerstone.

On the basis of the results of this inspection, no findings of significance were identified.

On April 21, 2004, the NRC issued a Confirmatory Action Letter (CAL) to the Nuclear Management Company which identified programmatic areas at the Point Beach facility in need of improvement. The Emergency Preparedness program was one of five areas identified as an area of regulatory concern. The Nuclear Management Company developed a comprehensive improvement plan, called the Excellence Plan, which contains, among other items, several action plans to address performance deficiencies in the area of Emergency Preparedness.

Some of the Emergency Preparedness areas included, emergency response organization staff drill performance, Emergency Preparedness staff training, and emergency response organization facility and equipment maintenance. This exercise was identified as an opportunity for you to demonstrate that progress had been made in addressing the Emergency Preparedness CAL area of regulatory concern.

Based on the results of the exercise, we have determined that adequate progress is being made in correcting the Emergency Preparedness programmatic problems which were subject to the CAL. We will continue to monitor your implementation of Emergency Preparedness program improvement items to determine if the actions taken will sustain long term programmatic performance improvement. In accordance with 10 CFR Part 2.390 of the NRC's "Rules of Practice," a copy of this letter and its enclosure 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/

Steven A. Reynolds, Deputy Director Division of Reactor Projects Docket Nos. 50-266; 50-301 License Nos. DPR-24; DPR-27 Enclosure: Inspection Report 05000266/2004013(DRS);

05000301/2004013(DRS)

See Attached Distribution

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

IR 05000266/2004013(DRS); 05000301/2004013(DRS); 12/06/2004 - 12/10/2004; Point Beach

Nuclear Plant; Emergency Preparedness Specialist Report.

The report covers a one-week baseline inspection by two regional emergency preparedness inspectors and a senior resident inspector. The inspection focused on the Emergency Preparedness Cornerstone in the Reactor Safety strategic performance area during the biennial emergency preparedness exercise. This inspection also included a review of records related to the three emergency preparedness performance indicators for the period from October 2003 through September 2004. No findings of significance were identified.

The NRCs program for overseeing the safe operation of commercial nuclear power reactors is described in NUREG-1649, Reactor Oversight Process, Revision 3, dated July 2000.

A. Inspector-Identified and Self-Revealed Findings None.

Licensee-Identified Violations

None.

REPORT DETAILS

1EP1 Exercise Evaluation

a. Inspection Scope

The inspectors reviewed the December 7, 2004, biennial emergency preparedness exercises objectives and scenario to ensure that the exercise would acceptably test major elements of the licensees radiological emergency plan and to determine if the exercises simulated problems provided an acceptable framework to support demonstration of the licensees capability to implement its plan. The inspectors also reviewed samples of records of emergency preparedness drills, which were conducted between October 2003 and October 2004, to determine whether the scenarios used in those drills were sufficiently different from the scenario used in the December 7, 2004, exercise.

The inspectors evaluated the licensees exercise performance, focusing on the risk-significant activities of emergency classification, notification, and protective action decision making, as well as implementation of accident mitigation strategies in the following emergency response facilities:

• Control Room Simulator;

• Technical Support Center (TSC);

• Operations Support Center (OSC); and

• Emergency Operations Facility (EOF).

The inspectors also assessed the licensees recognition of abnormal plant conditions, transfer of responsibilities between facilities, internal communications, interfaces with offsite officials, readiness of emergency facilities and related equipment, and overall implementation of the licensees emergency plan.

The inspectors attended post-exercise critiques in the TSC, OSC, and EOF to evaluate the licensees initial self-assessment of its exercise performance. The inspectors later met with the licensees lead exercise evaluators, staff, and managers to obtain the licensees refined assessments of its exercise participants performances. These self-assessments were then compared with the inspectors independent observations and assessments to determine the licensees ability to adequately critique its exercise performance.

b. Findings

No findings of significance were identified.

4OA1 Performance Indicator (PI) Verification

a. Inspection Scope

The inspectors reviewed the licensees records associated with each of the three emergency preparedness PIs to determine if the licensees program was implemented consistent with the industry guidelines in Nuclear Energy Institute publication No. 99-02, Regulatory Assessment Performance Indicator Guideline, Revision 2, and related licensee procedures. Specifically, licensee records related to the performance of the Alert and Notification System (ANS), key Emergency Response Organization (ERO) members drill participation, and Drill and Exercise Performance (DEP) were reviewed to ascertain the accuracy and completeness of the PI data submitted to NRC for the period from October 2003 through September 2004.

The following PIs were reviewed:

• ANS;

• ERO Drill Participation; and

• DEP.

b. Findings

No findings of significance were identified.

4OA2 Identification and Resolution of Problems

The following performance concerns, which were identified in the critique of the December 2004 exercise, could have adversely impacted response activities if scenario events had been real:

• Continuous communications with remotely located NRC responders should have been established and maintained sooner using the Emergency Notification System.

• The EOF staff took several minutes longer than expected to develop a revised offsite protective action recommendation.

The licensee acknowledged the concerns and entered the items into the corrective action process as CAP 060765, Suggested Improvement to Staffing the Emergency Notification System Communicator Position, and CAP 060986, Untimely Development of a Revised Protective Action Recommendation During the December 2004 Exercise.

4OA6 Meetings

.1 Exit Meeting

An exit meeting was conducted for Emergency Preparedness with Mr. D. Koehl and other members of licensee management and staff at the conclusion of the inspection on December 10, 2004. The licensee acknowledged the information presented. No proprietary information was identified.

.2 Public and Media Briefing

On December 10, 2004, an inspector summarized the NRCs preliminary conclusions on the licensees exercise and critique performances at a public and media briefing hosted by Federal Emergency Management Agency, Region V staff in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

ATTACHMENT:

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION

KEY POINTS OF CONTACT

Licensee

D. Koehl, Site Vice President

A. Capristo, Regulatory Affairs Manager

G. Casadonte, Fire Protection Coordinator

R. Davenport, Production Planning Manager

Z. Dent, Emergency Planning Specialist

M. Fencl, Security Manager

T. Gemskie, Emergency Planning Supervisor

W. Herrman, Senior Technical Advisor

D. Hettick, Performance Improvement Manager

R. Johnson, Emergency Planning Coordinator

J. Knorr, License Renewal Manager

M. Ray, Emergency Preparedness Manager

S. Ruesch, Procedures Manager

W. Smith, Performance Assessment Manager

J. Schwalbe, Security Operations Officer

J. Schweitzer, Engineering Director

D. Shannon, Acting Radiation Protection Manager

J. Strharsky, Planning and Scheduling Manager

M. Vonk, Corporate Emergency Preparedness Specialist

LIST OF ITEMS

Opened and Closed

None.

Discussed

None.

Attachment