IR 05000280/1998099
| ML18152B792 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Surry  |
| Issue date: | 04/27/1998 |
| From: | NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION II) |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML18152B791 | List: |
| References | |
| 50-280-98-99, 50-281-98-99, NUDOCS 9805050328 | |
| Download: ML18152B792 (5) | |
Text
- *1
SYSTEMATIC ASSESSMENT OF LICENSEE PERFORMANCE REPORT SURRY POWER STATION 50-280/98-99 AND 50-281/98-99 I.
BACKGROUND The SALP board convened on April 1. 1998. to assess the nuclear safety performance of the Surry Power Station for the period September 2. through March 21. 199 The board was conducted in accordance with Management Directive 8.6. "Systematic Assessment of Licensee Performance." Board Members were Charles A. Casto. Deputy Directo Division of Reactor Projects (Board Chairperson). Bruce S. Mallet Deputy Director. Division of Reactor Safety. and Pao-Tsin Kuo. Acting Director. Project Directorate II-1. Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. This assessment was reviewed and approved by the Regional Administrato I I.
PLANT OPERATIONS This functional area addresses the control and execution of activities directly related to operating the facility. It includes activities such as startup. power operation. plant shutdown( and response to transient It also includes initial and requalification training programs for licensed operators. *.
Overall performance in the area of Plant Operations remained superior during this assessment period. Management involvement in all aspects of plant operations was evident with decision making focused on safet Conservative decision making was noted during both routine and reactive operat:4fons: an exception involved monitoring fuel pool temperatur The Management Safety Review Committee provided thorough oversight of regulatory compliance and matters affecting plant operations including industry issues. Self-assessment and corrective action. programs were effective at identifying and resolving problem Reactivity training provided to operators was an excellent review of fundamental operating practices. This training was exemplary of management's close attention to basic nuclear safety issue Operator response to plant transients and equipment failures was excellent. * Conservative decision making by Operations *was noted on numerous occasions during the period. Shifts focused on plant safety and demonstrated careful and deliberate manipulations of control procedural adherence. and excellent communication Procedure adherence problems during schedule-intensive activities. which occurred in the previous assessment period. did not continue into this assessment
-
period. Reactor startups and shutdowns were well controlled. Shift briefings prior to criticality were excellen Command and control by shift managers were noteworthy on many occasion PDR ADOCK 05000280 G
. PDff Enclosure
..,
Operator performance during normal operations was strong. Control room professionalism was excellent. While most plant system and component operation was conducted accurately. some errors in control of plant configuration were noted. Several of these errors involved use of the equipment clearance process. specifically on the Alternate Alternating Current Diesel Generator control Some procedural flaws also contributed to a few of these configuration control error Howeve throughout the period. operators performed equipment clearances and system manipulations without significant incidents. There were very few operator-induced plant or system transient Operator performance was noteworth On several occasions operator inquisitiveness led to identification of equipment problems including conditions that necessitated plant shut dow Also. when equipment failures occurred that challenged plant operations. operators methodically determined their course of action and carried out these plans with diligenc License.a operator training has been effectiv Improvements were noted since the previous assessment period in the requalification training program. This program met or exceeded standards: Training has provided effective support for plant operations. including simulator training in preparation for outages. Early in the period operator knowledge of the maintenance rule was* mixe The Plant Operations area is rated Category III. MAINTENANCE This functional area addresses activities associated with diagnosti predictive. preventive. and corrective maintenance of plant structure systems. and components.. It also includes all surveillance testing. in-service inspection. and other testing associated with equipment and system operabilit Management involvement and commitment were evident in efforts to improve maintenance performance and to upgrade the material condition of the plan Some improvements were directed at resolving a number of longstanding equipment problem Management oversight and control oJ work were consistently stron Support to Operations was strong. Systems were well maintained with a good balance of reliability and unavailability. Surveillance testing was highly effective in ensuring systems were meeting design requirement Good job planning facilitated effective maintenance work. There were numerous examples of corrective maintenance in which procedures were followed and work was completed without significant problems. Craft workers were deliberate and professional during troubleshooting activities. While most maintenance work was conducted adequately, exceptions did occu In some instances. better communications and
coordination between departments could have avoided problem Work instructions and procedures were thorough, comprehensive and appropriate to the task Few notable exceptions occurred in the adequacy of maintenance procedure The Foreign Material Exclusion program was very effectiv Trending of station deviations and corrective action for adverse trends was a strength during most of the period. Especially in the latter half of the assessment period. trending indicated maintenance was effective in implementing corrective action As indicated in the Engineeririg area. self-assessments prior to 1997 were not effective in correcting Maintenance Rule implementation problems. subsequent Maintenance Rule self-assessments were generally thorough, with some very noteworth Surveillance testing was accomplished with few performance errors and was implemented throughout the period in a controlled manner with few complications. There were numerous examples of surveillance testing in which procedures were followed and work was completed without signifi~ant problem Personnel errors were noted in the use of measuring and test equipment.* Some post-maintenance testing did not reveal ineffective maintenanc A strong in-service inspection program permitted timely*replacement of pipin An excellent flow accelerated corrosion inspection program was used to predict pipe wall thinning so that timely preventive maintenance could be don Steam generator eddy current testing was highly effectiv Installation of plant modifications was very goo Maintenance implementation of work orders associated with modifications was very profe~ional. Technicians utilized good work practices and solved problems during installation activitie The Maintenance area is rated Category I ENGINEERING This functional area addresses the adequacy. of technical and engineering support for plant activities. It includes activities associated with the d~sign and testing of plant modifications; engineering and technical support for operations. maintenance: outages. testing. surveillance and procurement: configuration management: training of the engineering staff: and support for licensing activitie Support to day-to-day operations of the facility was good throughout the assessment perio Management and staff monitored work backlogs and focused efforts to prevent increases in the backlogs when necessar There was a continued effort to maintain temporary modifications. which could contribute to operator workarounds. at a low level. Safety evaluations for operability of plant temporary modifications continued to be thorough and comprehensiv *~-.
Engineering and technical support to maintenance. in general. provided products and information that aided good performance. There were deficiencies in engineering support. which contributed to inadequate maintenance work and testing. Early in the period. significant Maintenance Rule programmatic problems were identified. Focused actions by management caused significant improvements in the Maintenance Rule program by the end of the perio Performance in the area of identification and corrective action of problems reflected proper attention and focus in most case *
Engineering management and staff identified a number of problems for which the resolution improved plant safety performanc However. both the NRC and licensee identified inconsistencies in corrective action for deficiency reports. Corrective actions were not always effective in addressing problems. including several long-standing problems. some of which created problems for operation As indicated in the previous assessment period. there was a long-standing problem with leakage from the letdown line piping. While final resolution of this problem was achieved. several attempts at correcting the problem during this assessment *period were not effectiv Design basis documentation reviews as a part of the configuration management program continued to surface issues which were resolved promptl Late in the assessment period. NRC identified some instances where the plant design had not been controlled by engineering due to errors in past calculations and.past incomplete engineering analyse Management and the staff had not always followed through on resolution of problems they identified*in calculation Engine~ring staff had considerable knowledge and experience on plant systenls' although early in the period their knowledge and use of risk information was not consistent with Maintenance Rule expectation Quality of products and supporting evaluations submitted for changes to the license and licensing basis was goo Licensee Event Reports were adequate with inaccuracies note The Engineering area is rated Category PLANT SUPPORT This functional area addresses all activities related to the plant support function. including radiological controls. radioactive effluents. chemistry. emergency preparedness. security. fire protectio and housekeepin The program for controlling radiation doses and source terms continued to be managed well to reduce collective and individual doses to as low as is reasonably achievabl Chemical decontamination during outages contributed to low radiation sources from pipin Management and staff continued to be proactive in controlling the spread of radioactive contamination by making most areas accessible to personne The number of personnel contamination events represented a good level of
performanc Improvements in radiation work permit procedure adherence were noted since the previous assessment period. Radiological effluents were maintained at levels well below regulatory limits through processes which reduced radioactive material releases and generatio Management and chemistry staff aggressively monitored and controlled key water chemistry parameters. which resulted in superior performance as compared to the technical specification limits. Equipment problems were corrected promptly to maintain the ability to detect primary and secondary water system problems at their inception:
Physical security day-to-day operations continued to provide a high level of performance. Security equipment and facilities operated well due to continued management and staff attention throughout the assessment perio The program for training and qualifications of the security force was extremely effective in providing a knowledgeable and experienced staf Emergeijcy preparedness performance during exercises and in response to events was good and demonstrated the ability to safely control the facility. Exercise scenarios were challenging and contributed to a well-trained staff. Event classification was prompt and notifications to appropriate offsite regulatory agencies were timely. There was some lack of attention noted in the accuracy of information provided in exercise news releases. Exercise critiques were thorough and most corrective actions fully addressed the identified problem Overall. the fire protection program was managed with a good level of performance. Attention to maintaining a high standard for equipment performance continued from the last assessment perio Compensatory measures- -for i denti fi ed fire control problems were. for the most par timely and thoroug Measures to compensate for a problem with isolation between a vital bus and shutdown panels were an exception to this performanc Self-assessments were thorough in all areas of plant support and were comprehensive in looking for areas of improvemen Corrective actions to prevent recurring problems supported strong performance in the radiological controls. security and-chemistry area Housekeeping was good in accessible area Focused attention by management and staff resulted in excellence in this area for the radwaste facility and inside the radiation controlled area during the Unit 2 refueling outag The Plant Support area is rated Category 1.