IR 05000327/1996013

Forwards Order Imposing Civil Monetary Penalty in Amount of $50,000 in Matter of TVA Plant,Units 1 & 2.Violations Identified During Insp Repts 50-327/96-13 & 50-328/96-13 on 961125

ML20141J168
Person / Time
Site:	Sequoyah
Issue date:	05/23/1997
From:	Jordan E NRC OFFICE FOR ANALYSIS & EVALUATION OF OPERATIONAL DATA (AEOD)
To:	Kingsley O TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY
Shared Package
ML20141J170	List: IR 05000327/1996013 ML20141J183
References
50-327-96-13, 50-328-96-13, EA-96-414, NUDOCS 9705270277
Download: ML20141J168 (3)

Text

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

..

,.

.. .

OS

'

[pg j s*

,

t UNITED STATES MR NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

. * WASHINGTON, D.C. 20066 4001

-

...../ May 23, 1997

EA 96-414 Tennessee Valley Authority

~ ATTN: Mr. Oliver D. Kingsley, Jr.

-President TVA Nuclear and Chief Nuclear Officer

'6A Lookout Place 1101 Market Street i Chattanooga, Tennessee 37402-2801 SUBJECT: ORDER IMPOSING CIVIL MONETARY PENALTY - $50,000

.

Dear Mr. Kingsley:

.This refers to your letter dated January 23, 1997, in response to the Notice

-

of Violation.and Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalties (Notice) sent to you by our letter dated December 24, 1996. The violations were identified during i

an inspection conducted during the period September 19 through November 2, 1996, at your Sequoyah Nuclear Plant. The results of the inspection were originally documented in Inspection Report No. 50-327 and 50-328/96-13 issued

,

on November 25, 1996.

.

To emphasize the importance of management oversight of plant activities and the need for prompt, effective corrective actions, two Severity Level III

'

problems, each with a civil penalty of $50,000, were proposed in the December 24, 1996 letter.

,

'

In your response, you agreed that the violations occurred and did not contest the $50,000 civil penalty for the Severity Level III problem issued for

<

Violations B(1), B(2) and B(3); however, you maintained that the NRC's categorization of Violations A(1), A(2) and A(3) as a Severity Level III problem and the proposed imposition of a civil penalty of $50,000 was

!

inconsistent with the Enforcement Policy. You requested that the NRC reconsider the severity level of Violations A(1), A(2) and A(3) and mitigate th: associated civil penalty in its entirety.

After consideration of your response, we have concluded, for the reasons given in the Appendix attached to the enclosed Order Imposing Civil Monetary Penalty (Order),-that the aggregation of Violations A(1), A(2) and A(3) into a single problem, the characterization of the problem at Severity Level III, and the assessment of a civil penalty associated with the Severity Level III problem should stand as proposed. The violations were cited collectively as a Severity Level III problem because they have the same underlying cause, i.e.,

inadequate implementation of the corrective action program. Thus, the violations were considered to be a significant regulatory concern. In addition, the action was based on the significance of the violations taken collectively, not ir.dividually. While the NRC acknowledges that the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) had taken steps to identify and correct deficiencies in its corrective action program, the NRC concluded that the licensee's 1 h t\

f> f 9705270277 970523 PDR ****

O ADOCK 05000327 PDR

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

'

,

J. < ( 2

'

,

4s TVA 2  :

corrective actions implemented prior to the equipment failures associated with

-

the October 11, 1996 Unit 2 shutdown, were not fully effective in assuring adequate resolution of repetitive equipment failures and avoiding additional i non-compliances.

i

Accordingly, we hereby serve the enclosed Order on TVA imposing a civil

monetary penalty in the amount of $50,000. As provided in Section IV of the enclosed Order, payment should be made within 30 days of the date of this l Order, by check, draft, money order, or electronic transfer, payable to the .

-

! Treasurer of- the United States and mailed to James Lieberman, Director, Office j of Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, One White Flint North, '

!

11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852-2738. We will review the -

effectiveness of your corrective actions during subsequent inspections.

With regard to Violations B(1), B(2) and B(3), the NRC's assessment of your i comments is provided in the Appendix to the Order. We have evaluated your response to Violations B(1), B(2) and B(3) and found that it meets the

,

j requirements of 10 CFR 2.201. We will examine the implementation of your

corrective actions during future inspections.

)

! In accordance with 10 CFR 2.790 of the NRC's " Rules of Practice," a copy of

,

this letter and the enclosure will be placed in the NRC's Public Document Room.

Sincerely,

'

1 -

dwar . Jordan

, Deput xecutive Director for

,

Regu atory Effectiveness, Program

Oversight, Investigations and Enforcement

[ Docket Nos. 50-327, 50-328 License Nos. DPR-77, DPR-79 Enclosure: Order Imposing Monetary Civil Penalty cc w/ enc 1:

0. J. Zeringue, Senior Vice President Nuclear Operations Tennessee Valley Authority 6A Lookout Place 1101 Market Street Chattanooga, TN 37402-2801

~

R. J. Adney Site Vice President Sequoyah Nuclear Plant Tennessee Valley Authority P. O. Box 2000 Soddy-Daisy, TN 37379'

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

.

. . f* >

'

.

i.

-

TVA 3

,

cc w/ enc 1 (Cont'd):

!

General Counsel

- Tennessee. Valley Authority ET 10H 400 West Summit Hill Drive l Knoxville, TN 37902 Raul R. Baron, General Manager Nuclear Assurance and Licensing Tennessee Valley Authority 4J Blue Ridge ,

l 1101 Market Street

'

Chattanooga, TN 37402-2801 Pedro Salas, Manager

! Licensing and Industry Affairs

'

Tennessee Valley Authority 4J Blue Ridge 1101 Market-Street Chattanooga, TN 37402-2801

'

Ralph H. Shell, Manager Licensing and Industry Affairs

.Sequoyah Nuclear Plant P. O. Box 2000 Soddy-Daisy, TN 37379 J. T. Herron, Plant Manager -

Sequoyah Nuclear Plant Tennessee Valley Authority P. O. Box 2000 Soddy Daisy, TN 37379 Michael H. Mobley, Director Division of Radiological Health 3rd Floor, L~and C Annex 401 Church Street Nashville, TN 37243-1532 County Executive Hamilton County Courthouse i Chattanooga, TN 37402 I

.

Y