IR 05000317/2002001

2002 Annual Assessment Letter - Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant (Report 50-317/02-01, 50318/02-01)

ML020630488
Person / Time
Site:	Calvert Cliffs
Issue date:	03/04/2002
From:	Miller H Region 1 Administrator
To:	Cruse C Constellation Nuclear
References
IR-02-001
Download: ML020630488 (7)

Text

rch 4, 2002

SUBJECT:

ANNUAL ASSESSMENT LETTER - CALVERT CLIFFS NUCLEAR POWER PLANT (REPORT 50-317/02-01, 50-318/02-01)

Dear Mr. Cruse:

On January 31, 2002, the NRC staff completed its end-of-cycle plant performance assessment of Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant. The end-of-cycle review for Calvert Cliffs involved the participation of all technical divisions in evaluating performance indicators (PIs) for the most recent quarter and inspection results for the period from April 1, 2001 through December 31, 2001. The purpose of this letter is to inform you of our assessment of your safety performance during this period and our plans for future inspections at your facility so that you will have an opportunity to prepare for these inspections and to inform us of any planned inspections which may conflict with your plant activities.

As discussed in our previous annual assessment letter dated May 31, 2001, this inspection and assessment cycle consisted of three quarters (i.e., the second, third, and fourth calendar quarters of calendar year 2001) instead of the usual four quarters. This change was implemented in order to align the inspection and assessment cycle with the calendar year beginning on January 1, 2002.

Overall, Calvert Cliffs operated in a manner that preserved public health and safety and met all cornerstone objectives with moderate degradation in safety performance. Plant performance for the most recent quarter was within the Degraded Cornerstone Column of the NRC Manual Chapter 0305, Action Matrix, based on the Unit 1 finding of substantial safety significance (YELLOW) in the mitigating systems cornerstone. This finding was associated with the May 16, 2001, failure of the No. 11 turbine-driven auxiliary feedwater pump. Calvert Cliffs Unit 2 was within the Licensee Response Column of the Action Matrix for the entire assessment cycle based on all inspection findings being classified as having very low safety significance (Green) and all PIs indicating performance at a level requiring no additional NRC oversight (Green).

The YELLOW inspection finding associated with the pump failure was identified during a Special Inspection (reference Inspection Report 50-317/01-09, dated August 24, 2001) conducted in June-July 2001. A 95002 supplemental inspection (reference Inspection Report 50-317/01-13, dated January 14, 2002) identified that the Calvert Cliffs staff had adequately identified the underlying causes for the failed auxiliary feedwater pump and that the corrective actions were appropriately broad to provide reasonable assurance that failure would not recur.

Charles The pump failure was of substantial safety significance because the auxiliary feedwater system, which includes two electric and one turbine-driven pump, supplies water to the steam generators to remove decay heat when the main feedwater system is unavailable. Failure analysis of the No.

11 auxiliary feedwater pump determined that the pump would not have been capable of fulfilling its safety function mission time, from March 25, 2000 to May 16, 2001. The Calvert Cliffs staff promptly repaired the No. 11 auxiliary feedwater pump and, based upon the preliminary determination that excessive sealant was the most probable cause of the pump bearing failure, removed from service and inspected all potentially affected pumps at Units 1 and 2.

Prior to our inspection of the auxiliary feedwater pump issue, Calvert Cliffs Unit 1 had been in the Regulatory Response Column of the Action Matrix, based on the Scram with Loss of Normal Heat Removal PI having been WHITE (increased regulatory response band) since the first quarter of 2000. This PI, in the initiating events cornerstone, may return to GREEN as early as the third quarter of 2002. During this assessment period, the NRC completed the 95001 inspection for this indicator and determined that your staffs causal analysis was extensive. In addition, the corrective actions were closely connected to each cause identified in the analysis.

Additionally, the NRC staff has identified a substantive cross-cutting issue in the area of Problem Identification and Resolution. Specifically, the staff identified seven findings in the mitigating systems cornerstone in which Calvert Cliffs personnel did not consistently and thoroughly assess degraded or non-conforming structures, systems, and components. In addition to the findings raised during the special inspection of the No. 11 auxiliary feedwater pump, other examples related to air in the containment sump piping; switchgear ventilation system problems; and non-conforming design temperature conditions in the Unit 2 reactor cavity annulus.

The NRC staff plans to perform Problem Identification and Resolution (PI&R) inspections annually over the next two years. The PI&R inspection is being conducted at an increased frequency at Calvert Cliffs because PI&R issues contributed to the Yellow finding that placed Unit 1 into the Degraded Cornerstone Column of the NRCs Action Matrix.

The enclosed inspection plan details the inspections scheduled through March 31, 2003. You should also note the scheduling of the steam generator replacement inspection (Inspection Procedure 50001) and the Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation inspection (Inspection Procedure 60855). The inspection plan is provided to minimize the resource impact on your staff and to allow for scheduling conflicts and personnel availability to be resolved in advance of inspector arrival onsite. Routine resident inspections are not listed due to their ongoing and continuous nature. The schedule for the last six months of the inspection plan is tentative and may be revised at the Mid-Cycle Review meeting.

Charles Immediately following the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the NRC issued safeguards advisories recommending that nuclear power plant licensees go to the highest level of security, and all promptly did so. With continued uncertainty about the possibility of additional terrorist activities, the Nation's nuclear power plants, including Calvert Cliffs, remain at a high level of security. On February 25, 2002, the NRC issued an Order to all nuclear power plant licensees, requiring them to take certain additional interim compensatory measures to address the generalized high-level threat environment. These additional compensatory requirements will provide the NRC with reasonable assurance that public health and safety and the common defense and security continue to be adequately protected in the current generalized high-level threat environment. These requirements will remain in effect pending notification from the Commission that a significant change in the threat environment occurs, or until the Commission determines that other changes are needed following a more comprehensive re-evaluation of current safeguards and security programs. To date, we have monitored Calvert Cliffs actions in response to the terrorist attacks through a series of audits. With the issuance of the Order, we will evaluate Calvert Cliffs compliance with these interim requirements.

In accordance with 10 CFR 2.790 of the NRCs Rules of Practice, a copy of this letter and its enclosure will be made 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/NRC/ADAMS/index.html (the Public Electronic Reading Room).

If circumstances arise which cause us to change this inspection plan, we will contact you to discuss the change as soon as possible. Please contact Michele G. Evans, Chief, Reactor Projects Branch 1, at 610-337-5224, with any questions you may have regarding this letter or the inspection plan.

Sincerely,

/RA by James T. Wiggins Acting For/

Hubert J. Miller Regional Administrator Docket Nos. 50-317, 50-318 License Nos. DPR-53, DPR-69 Enclosure: Calvert Cliffs Inspection/Activity Plan

Charles