IR 05000313/1990036

Insp Repts 50-313/90-36 & 50-368/90-36 on 901022-26.No Violations Noted.Major Areas inspected:self-assessment Capabilities

ML20058K043
Person / Time
Site:	Arkansas Nuclear
Issue date:	11/28/1990
From:	Gagliardo J, Vickrey R NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION IV)
To:
Shared Package
ML20058K042	List: IR 05000313/1990036 ML20058K038
References
50-313-90-36, 50-368-90-36, NUDOCS 9012070030
Download: ML20058K043 (6)

Text

' '

. . -

L,.

k APPENDIX U.S NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

REGION IV

NRC Inspection Report: 50-313/90-36 Operating Licenses: DPR-51 50-368/90-36 NPF-6 Dockets: 50-313 50-368 Licensee: Entergy Operations, In Route 3, Box 137G Russellville, Arkansas 72801 Facility Name: ArkansasNuclearOne(ANO), Units 1and2 Inspection At: ANO, Russellville, Arkansas Inspection Conducted: October 22-26, 1990 t inspectars: / ,. ///#'//D

. B. Mckrey, ReactorJ'JHipector. Operational Date Progra u Section, Division si R ctOr Safety

L

- ' Approved:

aglia c -7 p

, Chief, pperationa F Programs h!'2)

Da te --

ion, ision of Reactor Safety Inspection Suninary-

, Inspection Conducted October 22-26, 1990 (Report 50-313/90-36; 50-368/90-36)

^

-

Areas Inspected: Routine, unannounced inspection of the evaluation of Ticensee's self-assessment capabilities.

!

Results: Within the area inspected, no violations or deviations were identifie The inspection results indicats) that the licensee's approach to self-assessment was comprehensive. An. increasing offectiveness in the prevention of problem recurrence was found. Managernent support for critical self-assessment was evident.

!

9012070030 PDR /sDOCK h b$13 PNV O

!

l

.. . . --. -_ . ..

[ ,. ' ,

-

-2-DETAILS PERSONS CONTACTED

• W. T. Craddock, General Manager, Support

,

• D. W. Boyd, Licensing Specialist

.

• D. A. Daniels, Manager Plant Assessments

+R, A. Fenech, Plant Manager, Unit 2 E, *C, B. Tite, Supervisor In-House Events Analysis . .

C. Gaines, Manager, Industry Events Analysis t

• S. M. Garchow, Manager, Safety Assessment

>

'*L.' W. Humphrey, General Manager, Quality R. Howerton, Manager, Engineering Support R. King, Supervisor-Licensing-o *R. A. Sessions, Plant Manager Central J. Taylor-Brown,QualityControl(QC)/QualityEngineering(QE) Manager

• J. D. Vandergrift, Plant Manager Unit 1 ( *J. W._Yelverton, Director Operations The inspe tor also contacted other licensee personnel during the course of the inspection,

,

=* Denotes attendance at exit3 interview conducted October 26, 1990, EVALUATION OF LICENSEE SELF-ASSESSMENT-CAPABILITY (,40500)

+ .The. licensee's self-ass'essment process was' inspected with the focus on determining whether the overall process contributed to.the prevention of problems. The inspector's evaluations were made in the areas of mcni+oring and ;

evaluating plant performance, providing assessments and_ findings, ano communicating and following 'up on corrective, action recomendation ' Inspection. activities included: ,

"

Observation of licensees meetings;

1. ~C

Interviews with selected personnel; and y' * ' Review of previous activitie ,

2 .1' Observations of Licensees Meeting Activities 1The1 1 nspector observed the interactions of the various site organizations and-supervisors during three different types of meetings. The meetings attended L

'

' were those of the Plant Safety Comittee (PSC), the Corrective Action Review

!' Board (CARB),and.themorningmanagersmeeting.. In each instance, the- ,

chairperson of the meeting continually-probed to generate constructive discussions and to seek'out safety significant concerns. In addition,to the

!- technical issues addressed, buman factors improvements were also identified and l

resolved. During the PSC and CARB' meetings, appropriate technical f' representatives were present= to make the presentations and lead the discussions L> on the agenda issues. The licensee's plant assessment department staff was active as participants during the meetings. When issues were raised that

, - -. - v- ,

~.

8 4-3-could not be resolved, the chairperson postponed the action on the issue and assigned responsibility and a due date for resolution. During the discussions of procedure changes and modifications, such items as post-ntodification testing, test methods, and as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA) considerations were assessed by the pSC member The CARB meeting presentations and discussions focused on the event analysis, the root cause determinations and justifications, and the suggested corrective actions. The assigned evaluator ma n a well-documerited presentation which b d uced:

A brief description of the events including additunal test results and engineering analysis / calculations;

Postulated root causes and a brief description of the basis for their determinations;

Recommended system modifications in areas that need to be improved; and

Short-term and long-term corrective action recommendation The CARD members actively discussed the evaluations and identified areas that might need further technical analysis and evaluation. The CARB chairman assigned responsibility and a due date for completion of a package with an overall plan for closure which included short- and long-range goals supportive of economic need During the morning managers meeting, discussions centered around the establishment of the significance of the issues discussed and the assignmen; of appropri-te and timely responsibilities for resolutio In general, the observed meetings were conducted with a professional approach toward identifying significant needs and in taking responsible actions as I

necessary. Operational safety concerns were appropriately addressed, and objective due dates were established and tracke .2 Interviews With Selected Personnel l

l' The inspector conducted interviews with several of the managers in the i engineering support department and the plant assessment department. These l interviews were conducted to determine their activities in regard to the i self-assessment function. The plant assessment department consists of three l branches, the safety assessment, industry event analysis, and in-house event analysis branc Based on the interviews and the subsequent review of the activities of the engineering support department and the plant assessment department, the inspector concluded that:

. _ ._ _

. c ,

- ,

,

-4-1) Management's support of the resource needs of the engineering department has been good. Management's decisions have been responsive to these needs and have accepted the costs associated with those decisions that made a contribution to the safety of the plant and to the efficiency of plant operation ) Management's response to plant problems had m yided a more comprehensive approach to the resolution of the problems, *.:.~luding the determination of root causes'and generic implications, which contrasted the licensee's previous approach of generally focusing on the fix for the specific issu '3) The CARB meetings had been instrumental in promoting engineering involvement and management's attention in root cause determination and technical assessmen ) Management cor.eunications had improved to the point where engineering was

becoming involved in issues before a formal request was made for their involvement.

!' 5) The Business Plan had been effectively used as the vthicle to document and l track programmatic improvement .

6)- There appeared to be strong management sup) ort for assistance from the l

safety assessment branch. Plant managers 1ad routinely requested assistance from the safety assessment branc ,

7) The plant. assessment department was involved in safety assessments, industry _ event analyses, and in-house event analyses. The plant assessment department.was also a regular participant in the meetings of the management l review comittee, CARB, and the PSC. They had also provided input to the plant. assessment report of the Safety Review Consnittee (SRC).

~The licensee was in the process of making improvements to the tracking systems that would enhance and flag due date iequirements and priorities. The various

,

= assessment branches were also in the process of revising procedures which would l enhance their effectiveness and reduce their involvement in items that could be

'

handled at a~ level of attention below the condition report. The inspector

.

reviewed a sample of completed analyses from each plant assessment branch. The t completed analyses were well documented and demonstrated that in-depth approaches

'had been made to determine root causes and appropriate corrective actions had been recomended. In discussions with the plant assessment department manager, the inspector found that the manager was well aware of the activities within the assessment brarches. The manager felt that although the assessment branches were heavily burdened.at the time, they were in the process of gai Lig experience

. and developing improved methods to streamline the condition report . ocess and to reduce the unnecessary hlays. The manager also believed that enefits

,

would. result as additional plant personnel received root cause training. To enhance the experience and development of personnel within the assessment branches, the manager was planning to create a rotational plan for personnel in the branche . - _ . _ . . _

.. ,

,

.

R

• -5-2.3 Review of previous Activities

_

The inspector reviewed the SRC meeting minutes of August 14, 1990, and the last two quality assurance corrective action audits. The SRC meeting minutes were

- thoroughly documented and were useful in ascertaining the topics discussed and the basis for the conclusions, htion items were clearly identified and

' followed up. The next scheduled meeting was documented and met with the meeting frequency requirements of the technical specifications. The meeting

--

minutes reflected that the SRC met with representatives of the Quality Audit

Program, Safety Evaluation, and PSC oversight subcoramittees. The subcomittee t- representatives discussed their status, presented their subcomittee meeting i minutes and made recornrendations for closure of the items in the minutes. The SRC was given a presentation regarding the plant assessment organization and Z responsibilities. The plant assessment department also presented and discussed 7 a detailed operations assessment report during the meeting. The SRC action i items were clearly identified and had been assigned specific action due date The SRC appeared to be making good use of the subcommittees. The inspector b noted that the QA audit program subcomittee minutes had addressed concerns i

"- with the significance of the audit findings associated with the 1990 training

-

audit. The subcommittee had discussed the possibility of proposing that the

- 1991 training audit be performed earlier in the year due to the number of significant findings identified in the 1990 training Eudit. As a followup in this area, the inspector contacted the training department to review the results of the most recently completed internal audit. The inspector was E informed that the internal audit had identified several areas of weaknesses, P and had provided an honest evaluation and insight into the problem areas. The audit results had been well received within the department. The training department was planning to continue the use of the internal eudit process as a method of self-evaluation and improvement. The inspector reviewed currective ection audits QAP-10 539 and QAP-10-90. The 1989 audit focused on the review of documentation and the acceptability of corrective actions while the 1990 audit focused on an assessmtnt (not strictly cotrpliance) of the various corrective action systems. The inspector foui.4 that the audit findings were well documented and were being tracked for resolution. The audit evaluated previous audit findings and determineo their a:ceptability for closeout, The inspector noted that a previously closed audit finding had also been revisited to verify that corrective actions had been eff ective. The 1990 audit identified strengths related to the CARB meetings, the Performance Review Group (PRG) focus un the root cause and corrective action programs, and the positive attitudes of plant personnel and the plant assessment department concerning corrective action The audit made recommenoations for improvements which included the need for additional qualified rcot cause evaluators. The insp*tetor concluded that the corrective action audits had mide a fair assessment of the licensee's corrective action proces No violations or deviations were identified in the retiew of this program are _

' - -- -- . _ . _ . . . . , , , , , ,,

n .. .

. . . .

-6-

.,

l3. EXIT INTERVIEW

,

- The inspector met with the licensee representatives -(denoted in paragraph 1) on

- October 26, 1990. The inspector sumarized the inspection purpose, scope, and-

- findings.. The licensee acknowledged the coninents and did.not identify any .>

specifir, proprietary information to the inspector. The NRC resident inspector ,

was present'at the exit meeting.

,

'

...

.'

l -

.

.

-

l:'

f:

~

,

,

T

?

>

[

t

-

.i

'

'

'

.m

_ - . . . . - . _ . .