IR 05000458/1992033
| ML20126G151 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | River Bend  |
| Issue date: | 12/28/1992 |
| From: | Milhoan J NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION IV) |
| To: | Graham P GULF STATES UTILITIES CO. |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20126G154 | List: |
| References | |
| EA-92-207, NUDOCS 9301040087 | |
| Download: ML20126G151 (7) | |
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UNITED $TATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION g,
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o 611 RY AN PLAZA DRIVE. $Ulf E 400 AR LINGTON, TF XA5 76011-8064
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DEC 28 JE l
l Docket No. 50-458 License No. NPF-47 EA 92-207
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Gulf States Utilities ATTN: Phil Graham,
Vice President, RBNG P.O.
Box 220 St. Francisville, Louisiana 70775 Gentlemen:
SUBJECT:
NOTICE OF VIOLATION AND PROPOSED IMPOSITION OF CIVIL PENALTY - $100,000 (NRC INSPECTION REPORT NO. 50-458/92-33)
This is in reference to the inspections conducted October 7-16 and October 19-23, 1992, at Gulf States Utilities' River Bend Otation (RBS) nuclear power plant near St. Francisville, Louisiana.
The results of these inspections were provided to Gulf States Utilities (GSU) in a report issued November 10, 1992.
Because significant violations of NRC requirements were identified during these inspections, the inspection findings were discussed with GSU representatives in an enforcement conference conducted in NRC's Arlington, Texas office on November 20, 1992.
The principal purpose of the enforcement conference was to ensure that NRC had obtained all information relevant to an enforcement decision.
NRC's inspections were conducted in response to two events which occurred during a recent refueling outage at RBS.
The first event, which was discovered by GSU radiation protection personnel on October 1, 1992, involved a plastic bag containing radioactive waste which had been mislabeled.
A tag on the bag, which was completed on September 4, 1992, indicated that radiation levels on contact with the bag were less than 2 millirem / hour (mr/hr)
when in fact radiation levels as high as 14,000 mr/hr were discovered on October 1.
The second event, which was discovered by personnel at a Baton Rouge scrap iron facility on October 19, 1992, involved a piece of scrap steel that had come from the RBS i
facility and was found to be slightly contaminated with radioactive material, j
CERTIFIED MAIL RETURN RECEIPT REOUESTED If
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9301040087 921220 l
PDR ADOCK 05000458
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s DEC 281992
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Gulf States Utilities-2-I i
As discussed in detail in the inspection report, NRC's
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inspections documented 17 apparent violations of NRC radiation j
safety requirements, with many, but not all, related to these two events.
These apparent violations, a number of which were
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discovered by GSU during its own investigations of these events, included nine instances in which radiation surveys were not
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performed as required, five instances in which RBS radiation protection procedures were not followed as required, two
instances in which personnel radiation monitoring devices were not utilized as required, and one instance in which radioactive i
material was transferred to an unauthorized recipient.
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Based on the information GSU presented to the NRC during the enforcement conference, one apparent violation has been dropped in its entirety tnd part of another apparent violation has been dropped.
The first violation that has been dropped was identified in the inspection report as violation 458/9233-05 and
involved the apparent failure to perform a radiation survey of packing material from valve E12*VF 039C.
GSU established during i
the conference that this packing material had been properly
surveyed.
The violation that has been dropped in part was identified in the inspection report as part of violation
458/9233-09 and involved the apparent failure to document a
survey of a waste storage area on the ll3-foot elevation of the fuel building.
GSU established during the conference that a i
contamination survey of the waste storage area was documented
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(violation 458/9233-09 also involved a failure to document a
survey of a bag containing radioactive waste).
In addition, during the enforcement conference, GSU also presented information regarding Violations A.1 and B.2.b of the attached Notice.
With respect to Violation A.1, GSU indicated that its airborne contamination surveys were representative of
i worker breathing zones.
The NRC staff considered this information carefully; however, given the results of the discussions that NRC undertook with the RBS personnel who were
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involved, the facts as noted in the associated Radiological
Deficiency Report prepared by RBS, and the GSU conclusion that
the personnel uptakes occurred due to localized puffs of
activity, the NRC staff maintains that the airborne contamination surveys were not representative of the actual worker breathing
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zone.
Regarding Violation B.2.b, GSU indicated that a reasonable i
person would not have used the ladder to access the high radiation area.
Notwithstanding your position on this issue, the requirements of RBS Procedure RPP-0005 were clearly not met; thus, the violation did occur.
The most significant of the violations that are being cited include the failure to survey or conduct adequate surveys of bags containing highly radioactive waste material, the' failure to conduct adequate radiation and airborne surveys during
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DEC 281952
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Gulf States Utilities-3-
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maintenance activities that led to the generation of this waste, the failure to survey material released from the facility to a
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scrap yard, and the failure to adhere to plant procedures
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regarding posting and restricting access to high radiation areas.
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In our view, these violations represent a breakdown in the
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controls that are essential to the prevention of significant
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radiation exposures and to the control of radioactive material.
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Although it does not appear that these violations resulted in radiation exposures to individuals in excess of NRC limits in 10 CFR Part 20, there was a potential for exceeding such limits.
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These violations appear to have occurred due to a combination of
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individual failures to follow established procedures and,
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importantly, existing weaknesses in GSU's radiation protection
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i program at RBS.
GSU's radiation protection program appears to have lacked sufficient controls to ensure that radioactive
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material was properly surveyed and controlled.
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GSU must not only develop and maintain sufficient controls in its radiation protection program to prevent such violations from recurring, it must ensure that individuals who are given the
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responsibility for radiation protection understand the importance of this function and the health and safety implications of not performing their jobs adequately.
We note that poor attitudes
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toward radiation safety were also to blame for recurring
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violations of high radiation area boundary controls at RBS, a problem that led NRC to assess a $37,500 civil penalty in June 1991 (EA 91-059).
It is disturbing that individual attitudes
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I continue to be partly to blame for the violations at issue in this enforcement action.
Collectively, the violations in the enclosed Notice of Violation
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represent a potentially significant lack of attention to licensed responsibilities.
In accordance with the " General Statement of Policy and Procedure for NRC Enforcement Actions," (Enforcement Policy) 10 CFR Part 2, Appendix C, these violations are
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classified in the aggregate as a Severity Level III problem.
During the enforcement conference, GSU pointed out that, in its
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view, some of the violations were derivatives of the failures to survey.
NRC has reviewed this information and agrees that some violations were the unavoidable consequence of the initial failure to survey.
While these violations are still included in the Notice of Violation, NRC did not rely on them to determine the severity level in this case.
Given the radiation levels involved, the survey failures alone are sufficient cause to classify these violations in the aggregate as a Severity Level III problem.
The staff recognizes that GSU took immediate action to restore compliance and assure safety, and has taken or plans to take
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DEC 281992
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comprehensive action to eliminate radiation safety program
weaknesses and ensure against a recurrence of these violations.
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GSU's short-term actions included, but were not limited tot j
conductint. surveys of all waste areas to assess the scope of the i
problem; counseling and disciplining the involved radiation protection technicians; and evaluating exposures of individuals l
who were involved in valve maintenance or in handling mislabeled
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bags.
GSU's long-term corrective actions, which were described
in some detail during the enforcement conference, include, but j
are not limited tot improvements in integrating radiological work practices into maintenance planning and training; requirements to a
i spot-check waste bags that have been surveyed and tagged; requirements to equip workers with extremity dosimeters when
repacking primary system valves; plans to have both a peer review and Institute for Nuclear Power Operations review of the RBS
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radiation safety program in the involved areas; and establishment of a radiation protection enhancement committee.
To emphasize the importance of developing and ensuring sound
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radiation protection programs and practices at all levels and the
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need to effect lasting corrective actions, I have been
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authorized, af*er conruitation with the Director, office of Enforcement, ar.J the Deputy Executive Director for Nuclear i
Reactor Regulation, Regional Operations and Research, to issue the enclosed Notice of Violation and Proposed Imposition of Civil j
Penalty (Notice) in the amount of $100,000 for the Severity j
Level III problem described above and in the enclosed Notico, i
l The base value of a civil penalty for a Severity Level III problem is $50,000.
The civil penalty adjustment factors in
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Section VI.B.2 of the Enforcement Policy were considered and resulted in no adjustment to the base penalty because the
i mitigation for GSU's corrective actions was offset by the escalation due to GSU's prior performance in the health physics i
area.
Nevertheless, in order to reflect the level of concern with which the NRC views the fact that these violations were due,
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in part, to (1) individual failures to follow established procedures, (2) existing weaknesses in GSU's radiation protection
program at RBS, and (3) the fact that GSU has failed to instill
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in individuals a proper regard for the importance of radiation protection requirements, I have decided, pursuant to Section VII of the Enforcement Policy, to escalate the civil penalty for this violation by 100 percent of the base civil penalty to convey a stronger regulatory message.
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GSU is required to respond to this letter and should follow the instructions specified in the enclosed' Notice when preparing your
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response.
In your 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 f
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CEC 28 ieel
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Gulf States Utilities-5-future inspections, the NRC will determine whether further NRC'
enforcement action is necessary to ensure compliance with NRC regulatory requirements.
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.790 of the NRC's " Rules of Practice,"
a copy of this letter and its enclosure will be placed in the NRC Public Document Room.
The responses directed by this letter and the enclosed Notice are not subject to the clearanca procedures of the Office of Management and Budget as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act j
of 1980, Pub. L. No.96-511.
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Sincerely, i
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.$mes L. Milhoan
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egional Administrator Enclosures Notice of Violation and Proposed Imposition j
of Civil Penalty
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Gulf States Utilities l
ATTN:
J.
E.
Booker, Manager-Nuclear Industry Relations
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P.O.
Box 2951 l
Beaumont, Texas 77704
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j Winston & Strawn ATTN:
Mark J. Wetterhahn, Esq.
1401 L Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C.
20005-3502 Gulf States Utilities ATTN:
Les England, Director Nuclear Licensing P.O.
Box 220 l
St. Francisville, Louisiana 70775 Mr.
J.
David McNeill, III Willian G.
Davis, Esq.
Department of Justice Attorney General's Office P.O.
Box 94095 Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70804-9095 i
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J Gulf States Utilities-6-
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H. Anne Plottinger
3456 Villa Rose Drive Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70806 I
President of West Feliciana
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Police Jury
P.O. Box 1921
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St. Francisville, Louisiana 70775
l Cajun Electric Power coop. Inc.
ATTN Philip G.
Harris
10719 Airline Highway i
P.O. Box 15540 i
Baton Rouge, Louisiana. 70895-i
Hall Bohlinger, Administrator Radiation Protection Division P.O. Box 82135 l
Baton Rougu, Louisiana 70884-2135 i
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bcct HO DISTRIBUTION:
J PDR LPDR
SECY CA l
JSniezek, DEDR HThompson, DEDS TMurley, NRR JPartlow, NRR/ADP JLieberman, OE (4)
LChandler, OGC JGeldberg, OGC Enforcement Officers RI, RII, RIII, RV FIngram, PA DWilliams, OIG EJordan, AEOD RIV DISTRIBUTION:
JMilhoan JMontgomery ABBeach>TPGwynn SCollins>DChamberlain LJCallan>JJaudon BMurray>TGaines JGagliardo>ECollins WSmith, SRI, RBS'
EFord, SRI, W3 JGilliland CHackney-WBrown GSanborn>RWise LWilliamson RIV Files RSTS Operator
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MIS Coordinator j
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RA:R NRR OEtD e
JDe ico JMilhoan JPartlow JLi 12/9/92 12/g/92 12/1/92 12/
/92 '
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