IR 05000315/2007024

Forwards Notice of Violation & Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalty in Amount of $50,000 for Violation Noted in Insp Rept 50-454/87-47 on 841231-850214 & 850315-0724.Violation Involved Acceptance Criteria Change W/O NRC Approval

ML20205K677
Person / Time
Site:	Byron, Cook
Issue date:	03/26/1987
From:	Davis A NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION III)
To:	Oconnor J COMMONWEALTH EDISON CO.
Shared Package
ML20205K682	List: IR 05000315/2007024 IR 05000454/1984087
References
EA-87-016, EA-87-16, NUDOCS 8704020012
Download: ML20205K677 (4)

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VAR 2 61987 -

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Docket-No.' 50-454-I License No. NPF-37 EA 87-16 Commonwealth Edison Company-i ATTN: Mr. James J. O'Connor -

President

, . Post Office Box 767

. Chicago, IL 60690

) Gentlemen:

i J SUBJECT: NOTICE.0F VIOLATION AND PROPOSED IMPOSITION OF CIVIL PENALTY (NRC INSPECTION REPORT 50-454/84-87)

This refers to the inspection conducted by the-Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)

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during the period December 31, 1984 - February 14, 1985, and to the investigation

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conducted by the NRC Office of Investigations, Region III Field Office during

the period March 15, 1985 - July 24, 1986 of activities at Byron Nuclear Power

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Station, Unit 1, authorized b NRC Operating License-NPF-37. The report documenting the results of th inspection was provided to you by letter dated March 5, 1985. The synopsis describing the results of the investigation was provided to ou by letter dated November 7, 1986. The results of.the inspection:

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i and investi tion were discussed with Mr. Cordell Reed and members of your staff during an Enforcement Conference conducted in the NRC Region III office- -'

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on December 15, 198 Present at that conference representing the NRC were-i members of my' staff, the Enforcement: Staff'from~the Office of. Inspection and i Enforcement, the Office of the General Counsel, and the Office of Nuclear j- Reactor Regulation.

The violation in the enclosed Notice of Violation and Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalty occurred when your Project Engineering Section Manager ap) roved

" Reactor Coolant Flow Coastdown," )y the utilizing results of Startup Test an acceptance 2.63.32,fferent criterion di than that described-in Chapter 14 of the Byron Final Safety Analysis Report (FSAR). Your license specifically_

required prior NRC approval for any change-to test acceptance. criteria. The Project Engineering Section Manager violated the Byron Unit 1 license when he-

. approved the test results and did not request and obtain prior NRC approval for j the change in the FSA TheProjectEngineeringSectionManagerstatedthathe t

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CERTIFIED MAIL i~

REIURN RECEIPT REQUESTED g \

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Commonwealth Edison Company 2 MAR 2 61987 was aware of the requirement to obtain prior NRC approval of FSAR acceptance criteria changes and he was advised in a letter from Westinghouse Electric Corporation that the test acceptance criterion could be revised based on reanalysis of the Byron Unit 1 Complete Loss of Forced Reactor Coolant Flow accident. The Westinghouse letter further stated that a revised FSAR section would be provided after incorporation of the test result Furthermore, the FSAR required the results of that test to be approved prior to Byron Unit 1 initial criticalit TheProjectEngineeringSectionManager approved those test results two days prior to initial criticality. The NRC staff considers that the circumstances surrounding this matter involve careless disregard of NRC requirements; specifically, the Byron Unit I license conditio The NRC has performed a technical analysis of this event and has concluded that the violation would normally be categorized at Severity Level IV for a violation of the license condition requirement. However, after considering the careless disregard toward regulatory compliance exhibited by your section manager who was vested with startup test approval authority, the violation described in the enclosed Notice has been categorized at Severity Level III, in accordance with the " General Statement of Policy and Procedure for NRC Enforcement Actions," Enforcement Policy 10 CFR Part 2, Appendix C (1986)

(Enforcement Policy).

To emphasize the importance of ensuring that your managers adhere to NRC requirements, I have been authorized, after consultation with the Director, Office of Inspection and Enforcement, to issue the enclosed Notice of Violation and Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalty in the amount of Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000) for the violation described in the enclosed Notice. The escalation and mitigation factors in tne Enforcement Policy were considered andnoadjustmenthasbeendeemedappropriat You are required to respond to this letter and should follow the instruction specified in the enclosed Notice when preparing your response. In your l response, you should document the specific actions taken and any additional actions you plan to prevent recurrence. After reviewing your response to this Notice, including your proposed corrective actions and the results of future inspections, the NRC will determine whether further NRC enforcement action is necessary to ensure compliance with NRC regulatory requirement In accordance with Section 2.790 of the NRC's " Rules of Practice," Part 2, Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, a copy of this letter and its

enclosure will be placed in the NRC Public Document Roo .

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Commonwealth Edison Company- 3 R 2 6 987 l

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Theresponsesdirectedby.thisletterandtheenclosedNoticearenotsubject to the clearance procedures of the Office of Management and Budget as required '

l- by the Paperwork Reduction Act.of 1980, PL 96-51

Sincerely, i

j gep,Ael c!csL by A. Entt krit

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! A. Bert Davi .

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Acting Regional Administrator k

Enclosure: Notice of Violation -

and Proposed Imposition of j Civil Penalty i  :

j cc w/ enclosure:

j D. L. Farrar, Director

of Nuclear Licensing i V. I. Schlosser, Project Manager j GunnerSorensen,SiteProject

. Superintendent

! R. E. Querio, Plant Manager

!- DCS/RSB(RIDS)

L Licensing Fee Management Branch

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Resident Inspector, RIII Byron

Resident Inspector, RIII

, Braidwood i Phyllis Dunton, Attorney l General's Office, Environmental

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. Control Division D. W. Cassel, Jr., Es Diane Chavez, DAARE/ SAFE Steve Lewis, 0GC i L. 01shan, NRR LPM j H. S. Taylor, Quality Assurance i Division

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Commonwealth Edison Company 4 MAR 2 61987 Distribution PDR LPDR SECY CA ACRS JTaylor, IE ABDavis, RIII ABeach, IE PMilano, IE 0GC JLieberman,/ROGR JZerbe, DED Enforcement Coordinators RI, RII, RIII, RIV, RV BHayes 01 SConnelly,0IA JCrooks, AE0D HDenton, NRR EA File ES File ED0 Rdg File

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