IR 05000348/1999009

Discusses Insp Repts 50-348/99-09 & 50-364/99-09 on 990308- 10 & Forwards Notice of Violation Re Failure to Intercept Adversary During Drills,Contrary to 10CFR73 & Physical Security Plan Requirements

ML20210H128
Person / Time
Site:	Farley
Issue date:	07/23/1999
From:	Mallett B NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION II)
To:	Dennis Morey SOUTHERN NUCLEAR OPERATING CO.
Shared Package
ML20210H135	List: IR 05000348/1999009 ML20210H159
References
50-348-99-09, 50-364-99-09, EA-99-172, NUDOCS 9908030283
Download: ML20210H128 (2)

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July 23,1999 EA 99-172 Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc.

ATTN: Mr. D. Vice President P. O. Box 1295 Birmingham, AL 35201 SUBJECT: NRC INSPECTION REPORT NOS. 50-348/99-09 AND 50-364/99-09 AND

' NOTICE OF VIOLATION

Dear Mr. Morey:

This refers to the inspection conducted on March 8-10,1999, at the Farley facility. The purpose of the inspection was to confirm the security response force's capability to protect against the design basis threat. The results of the inspection were communicated to you during an NRC exit conducted on March 10,1999, and formally transmitted to you by letter dated April 6,1999.

An apparent violation was identified regarding your failure to intercept an adversary during drills, which is contrary to 10 CFR Part 73 and your Physical Security Plan requirements (eel 50-348,364/99-09-01). Upon further review, the NRC has determined that this violation should be characterized as a Severity Level IV violation in accordance with NUREG-1600, Rev.1,

" General Statement and Policy and Procedures for NRC Enforcement Actions" (Enforcement Policy). This violation is cited in the enclosed Notice of Violation (Notice). The circumstances surrounding it have been described in detail in Inspection Report No. 50-348/99-09 and 50-364/99-09.

i The violation is being cited rather than dispositioned as a non-cited violation. This action is based on our determination that your initial actions to address tne vulnerability were not implemented within a reasonable amount of time. This is consistent with Appendix C of the Enforcement Policy, Interim Enforcement Policy for Severity Level IV Violations involving Activities of Power Reactor Licensees. The policy states that restoration of compliance, or in l

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l this case, implementation of compensatory actions, within a reasonable time after the violation was identified is one of the criteria that must be satisfied in order for a Severity Level IV violation ;

to be dispositioned as a non-cited violation. We recognize that complete corrective actions to i l restore compliance (i.e., changing your design basis threat response strategy) took two days to implement in order to addressed the complete aspects of a strategy change. Because of the j potential significant consequences of your inability to intercept an adversary at the time the drills !

! were conducted, it was important for you to take prompt corrective actions to reduce the amount l l of time the vulnerability existed. In this case, we determined that your initial corrective action to l restore compliance (i.e., to implement compensatory measures on March 11,1999), was not i implemented within a reasonable amount of time for initial action. Instead, it was 24 hours2.777778e-4 days <br />0.00667 hours <br />3.968254e-5 weeks <br />9.132e-6 months <br /> after the violation was identified in our formal inspection exit and about two days after the vulnerability

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was demonstrated. On July 15,1999, I held a telephone conversation with Messrs. L. M. s !

Stinson, M. J. Ajluni, and other members of your staff to discuss the timeline for the actions

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9908030283 990723 PDR ADOCK 05000348 G PM

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SNC- 2-o taken in response to the apparent violation. A copy of the timeline information, which was subsequently provided to Mr. T.P. Johnson, our Senior Resident inspector, is enclosed.

' You are required to respond to this letter and should follow the instructions specified in the

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enclosed Notice when preparing your response. In addition, your response should also address

. the cause of your staffs failure to restore compliance with Physical Security Plan commitments within a reasonable time, and the corrective steps that will be taken to ensure timely implementation of safeguards compensatory measures in the future. The NRC will use your response, in part, to determine whether further enforcement action is necessary to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements.

In accordance with 10 CFR 2.790 of the NRC's " Rules of Practice," a copy of this letter, its enclosure (s), and your response will be placed in the NRC Public Document Room.

Sincerely Bru S. Ilett, Director Division of Reactor Safety Docket Nos.: 50-348, 50-364 License Nos.: NPF-2, NPF-8 Enclosures: 1. Notice of Violation 2. July 15,1999 Telefax cc w/encis:

M. J. Ajiuni, Licensing Services Manager, B-031 Southern Nuclear Operating L Company, Inc.

l . 42 inverness Center Parkway l Birmingham, AL 35201-1295 L. M. Stinson l

General Manager, Farley Plant i

Southern Nuclear Operating l Company, Inc.

!- ' P. O. Box 470 -

Ashford AL 36312 (cc w/encis cont'd - See page 3)