IR 05000333/1989021
| ML20006G105 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | FitzPatrick  |
| Issue date: | 02/20/1990 |
| From: | Ronald Bellamy NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION I) |
| To: | Fernandez W POWER AUTHORITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK (NEW YORK |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 9003050053 | |
| Download: ML20006G105 (2) | |
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FEB20999g m-Docket No. 50-333
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Power Authority of the State of New York James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant J
ATTN:
Mr. William Fernandez Resident Manager P. O. Box 41
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Lycoming, New York 13093 Gentlemen:
L Subject:
Inspection No. 50-333/89-21 This refers to your letter dated January 29, 1990, in response to our letter dated December 29, 1980.
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Thank you for informing us of the corrective and preventive actions documented in your letter. These actions will be examined during a future inspection of your licensed program.
Your cooperation with us is appreciated.
Sincerely,
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n -. n..,,y ray Ronald R. Bellamy, Chief Facilities Radiological Safety and Safeguards Branch
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Division of Radiation Safety and Safeguards
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0FFICIAL RECORD COPY RL NYPA 89-21 - 0001.0.0
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' Power Authority of the
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J. Phillip Bayne, President J._Brons, Executive Vice President A. Klausmann, Senior Vice President - Appraisal and Compliance Services R. Patch, Quality Assurance Superintendent G. Wilverding, Manager Nuclear Safety Evaluation G. Goldstein, Assistant General Counsel R. Beedle, Vice President Nuclear Support
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S. Zulla, Vice President Nuclear Engineering
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R. Burns, Vice President Nuclear Operations
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J. Gray, Director Nuclear Licensing - BWR
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Dept. of Public Service, State of New York State of New' York, Department of Law
Public Document Room (POR)
Local Public Document Room (LPDR)
Nuclear Safety Information Center (NSIC)
NRC Resident Inspector State of New York. SLO Designee
bec w/ encl:
Region I Docket Room (with concurrences)
Management Assistant, DRMA (w/o encl)
J. Linville, DRP
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D. Limroth, DRP l
M. Conner, SALP Reports Only PA0 (17)'SALP Reports Only D. LaBarge, NRR J. Dver, EDO.
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0FFICIAL RECORD COPY RL NYPA 89-21 - 0002.0.0 i
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William Femandet 11!
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- Resident Manager Janua.m.f_29, 1990
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United State Nuclear Regulatory Commission
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~ Mail Station'Pl-137
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~ Washington, D.C. 20555
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ATTENTION:
Document Control Desk
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SUBJECT:
RESPONSE TO NOTICE OF VIOI.ATION -
INSPECTION NO. 89-21 (DOCKET 50-33)
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Reference:
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USNRC Letter Dated December 29, 1989, subject:
Inspection Report No. 50-333/89-21
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Enclosures:
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Response to Notice of Violation (3 pages)
2)
Unresolved Item #89-21-01 (1 page)
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f Gentlemen:
This letter provides-the Authority's response (Enclosure 1) to c
'the Notice of Violation transmitted by Reference (1).
This
. refers to the. inspection conducted by Mr. Peter O'Connell of your office between November 27, 1989 and-December 1, 1989 at the James'A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Powe" Plant.
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The Authority's comments on Unresolved Item 89-21-01 are-included in Enclosure (2).
P Very truly yours,
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WII5IAM Z
WF/JAS/ bas [
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Enclosure
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CC:
R. Beedle, WPO S. Toth, WPO J. Brons-, WPO R. Liseno, JAF J. Wiggins, NRC Region I Document Control Center-G. Vargo, JAF WPO Records Management NRC Resident Inspector, JAF
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REGISTERED MAIL - RETtnU! RECEIPT REQUESTED
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ENCLOSURE 1
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NOTICE OF VTOIATION A-As a result of the inspection conducted on November 27 to December.1,1989, 'and in accordance with the " General Statement of Policy and Procedure for NRC Enforcement Actions," 10 CFR Part 2, Appendix C violations were(Enforcement Policy) (1989), the following identified:
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10 CFR 20.201 (b) - requires, in part, that each licensee shall make or cause to be made such surveys as (1) may be necessary for
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the licensee to comply with the regulations in this part, and (2)
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are reasonable under the circumstances to evaluate the extent of radiation hazards that may be present.
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contrary,to the above, while touring the Reactor Building on November 28, 1989, the inspector noted that the general area dose rates on the drywell mezzanine were about 100 millirea/hr.
Access to this area was not controlled in accordance with-Technical Specification 6.11 (a) and the area was not posted as a
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High Radiation Area in accordance with 10 CFR 20,203(c).
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The most recent survey of this area was dated November 3, 1989 and indicated the general area dose rate to be 50 millirem /hr.
The licensee resurveyed this area and determined the general area dose rate to be 280 r.illiraq'hr.
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This is Severity Level IV violation.
(Supplement IV)
NYPA RESPONSE TO NOTIC'E OF VIOLATION I
The Authority agrees with the violation.
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Reasons for the violation The drywell mezzanine was surveyed on a monthl L
part of the radiological surveillance program.y frequency as l'
- This area was surveyed on November 3, 1989 and those portions of the area that constituted a high radiation area were properly posted.
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As-a result of a reactor scram and subsequent isolation of
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u the reactor water cleanup (RWCU) system on November 6 1989,
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a pump seal leak developed.
Following this scram, a,
L significant amount of activity, predominantly Zn-65, was
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released to the reactor coolant.
RWCU pump seal leakage is routed through nuclear equipment drain piping that passes through the drywell mezzanine area.
Operation of the RWCU L
pump with elevated reactor coolant activity resulted in increased dose rates on this piping observed on November 28,
1989.
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The' monthly survey frequency for this area was based on
historical performance that showed radiation levels to change slowly.
FitzPatrick is the first BWR to implement both hydrogen water chemistry (HWC) and feedwater zinc
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has produced some unexpected results, such as Zn-65 spiking, H
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L that are the subject of ongoing assessment by the Authority'
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and General Electric.
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Corrective Action Taken and Results Achieved i
The immediate corrective action was a comprehensive survey
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of the mezzanine and proper posting of the high radiation
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3.
Corrective Action Which Will be Taken to Avoid Further
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Violations
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Based on recent experience, the Authority has increased its-sensitivity toward the radiological effects of reactor i
coolant leaks and operational transients such as reactor
The surveillance frequency for the drywell
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mezzanine has been increased from monthly to weekly.-
In addition, other routine survey frequencies are being i
assessed for adequacy.
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The Date When Full connliance Will Be Achieved These items were completed before the-Inspection Exit on
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Friday, December 1, 1989.
'i Technical Specification 6.11 " Radiation Protection-Program" requires, in part, that procedures for personnel radiation
protection shall be prepared and adhered to for all plant i
operations.
Procedure RTP-23 " SAC-4 Scintillation Alpha Counter Operation and
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calibration" dated November 23, 1987, requires, in part, in
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Section 4.6.1 that if the background is greater than 3 counts per
10 minutes, then decontaminate the instrument.
Section 4.8 of i
- this procedure also requires notification of a Radiological and Environmental Services-(RES) Supervisor if any problems are
encountered that cannot be resolved through the use of this procedure.
Contrary to the above, from November 8 to 28, 1989 the background on-the SAC-4-(No. 440) in use at the control point ranged from 15 to 42 counts per 10 minutes without the instrument being decontaminated or RES Supervision being notified.
This is a Severity Level IV violation.
(supplement IV)
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NYPA RESPONSE TO NOTICE OF VIOLATION B
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The Authority agrees with the violation.
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Reasons for the Violation p
The cause of-this problem was a failure to follow the procedure (RTP-23) for operation of the SAC-4 Scintillation Alpha Counter.
This particular SAC-4 Alpha Counter, with the high background, was inadvertently put into service temporarily as a substitute for the low background counter (LBC) in the Chemistry Laboratory which was out-of-service
for repair.
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Corrective Action Taken and Results Achieved The instrument was immediately removed from service, and the policy of strict procedural adherence was reaffirmed for the i
Radiation Protection technician staff.
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corrective Action _which will-be Taken to Avoid Further Violations
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RES Management will review background instrumentation j
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results on a periodic basis.
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'The Date When Full Comoliance Will be Achieved
These items were completed before the Inspection Exit on Friday, December 1, 1989.
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ENCLOSURE 2
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NYPA RESPONSE TO UNRESOLVED TTEM 89-21-01
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c The-Quality Assurance Department has taken the following action l.
to resolve the subject item, A copy of the November, 1988 Radiation Protection Program Audit (Audit 655) has been forwarded to the NRC Inspector for review (memo JAF-QF-89-173).
The requirement for periodic audits.of the radiation protection program has been added to Quality Assurance Procedure 18,4, " Audit Program Implementation" in Attachment 18.4-l', to assure that the audit will be scheduled as required.
Additionally, portions of the radiation protection program will I
be monitored on a recurring basis through the implementation of the Quality Assurance Department Observation / Monitoring-
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