IR 05000271/2006011

EA-06-253, Vermont Yankee - Final Significance Determination for a White Finding and Notice of Violation (NRC Inspection Report No. 05000271/2006011)

ML063540037
Person / Time
Site:	Vermont Yankee File:NorthStar Vermont Yankee icon.png
Issue date:	12/20/2006
From:	Collins S Region 1 Administrator
To:	Ted Sullivan Entergy Nuclear Operations
References
EA-06-253, IR-06-011
Download: ML063540037 (6)

Text

ber 20, 2006

SUBJECT:

FINAL SIGNIFICANCE DETERMINATION FOR A WHITE FINDING AND NOTICE OF VIOLATION (NRC Inspection Report No. 05000271/2006011 -

Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station)

Dear Mr. Sullivan:

The purpose of this letter is to provide you with the final results of our significance determination for the preliminary White finding reviewed during our inspection completed on October 6, 2006, and documented in the subject inspection report sent to you with our letter dated November 7, 2006. The inspection finding involved the August 31, 2006, shipment of a package containing radioactive material from the Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. (Entergy)

Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station (Vermont Yankee) facility via an exclusive-use open transport vehicle, and the package did not conform to the applicable Department of Transportation (DOT) regulatory requirements when it arrived at the Susquehanna Nuclear facility in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. Specifically, upon receipt, the external radiation level on the surface of the package exceeded regulatory limits.

The package containing the radioactive material was not designed and prepared to assure, under conditions normally incident to transportation, that the radiation level on any point on the external surface of the package would not exceed 200 millirem per hour. As a result, when the package arrived at the Susquehanna facility, an area on the bottom of the external surface of the package exhibited a radiation level of 820 millirem per hour. The actual condition did not involve an exposure or hazard to the public, but it had the potential to adversely affect personnel who would normally receive the package or respond to an incident involving the package since responders could have a reasonable expectation that the package conformed with DOT radiation limitations. In addition, it was fortuitous that the surface of the package was inaccessible to the public during transport.

As noted in our November 7, 2006 letter, the inspection finding was assessed using the significance determination process and was preliminarily characterized as White (a finding of low to moderate increased importance to safety that may require additional NRC inspections).

Our letter provided you an opportunity to attend a regulatory conference or submit a written response to address the preliminary finding prior to the NRC making a final significance

Mr. determination. In a telephone conversation with Mr. John White of NRC Region I on November 16, 2006, Mr. David Mannai of your staff indicated that Entergy did not contest the characterization of the risk significance of this finding and that Entergy declined the opportunity to discuss this issue in a regulatory conference or to provide a written response.

After considering the information developed during the inspection, the NRC has concluded that the inspection finding is appropriately characterized as White. You have 30 calendar days from the date of this letter to appeal the staffs determination of significance for this White finding.

Such appeals will be considered to have merit only if they meet the criteria given in the NRC Inspection Manual Chapter 0609, Attachment 2.

The NRC has also determined that the August 31, 2006, radioactive material shipment from Vermont Yankee is a violation of 10 CFR 71.5 and DOT regulation 49 CFR 173.441(a) as cited in the attached Notice of Violation (Notice). The circumstances surrounding the violation are also described in detail in the subject inspection report. In accordance with the NRC Enforcement Policy, the Notice is considered an 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 the enclosed Notice when preparing your response.

Because plant performance for this issue has been determined to be in the regulatory response band, we will use the NRC Action Matrix to determine the most appropriate NRC response for this event. We will notify you of that determination by separate correspondence.

In accordance with 10 CFR 2.390 of the NRCs Rules of Practice, a copy of this letter, its enclosure, and your response will be made available electronically for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room or from the NRCs document system (ADAMS) accessible from the NRC Web site 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.

Sincerely,

/RA/

Samuel J. Collins Regional Administrator Docket No. 50-271 License No. DPR-28 Enclosure: Notice of Violation

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