IR 05000458/1996026

Discusses Insp Rept 50-458/96-26 on 960729-0827 & Forwards Notice of Violation

ML20134G434
Person / Time
Site:	River Bend
Issue date:	11/07/1996
From:	Callan L NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION IV)
To:	Mcgaha J ENTERGY OPERATIONS, INC.
Shared Package
ML20134G438	List: IR 05000458/1996026 ML20134G454
References
EA-96-329, NUDOCS 9611130197
Download: ML20134G434 (6)

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ps mic% UNITED STATES p t, NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION h $ REGION IV S 611 RYAN PLAZA DRIVE, SUITE 400

+9..... AR LINGTON. TEXAS 76011 8064 November 7, 1996 EA 96-329 John R. McGaha. Vice President - Operations River Bend Station 1 Entergy Operations, Inc.

P.O. Box 220 St. Francisville. Louisiana 70775 SUBJECT: NOTICE OF VIOLATION (NRC Inspection Report No. 50-458/96-26)

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Dear Mr. McGaha:

i This refers to an inspection conducted on July 29 through August 27. 1996, at the River Bend Station (RBS) reactor facility. This special inspection included a review of the failure to perform or to properly complete ;

surveillance testing on several safety-related components The results of the inspection were discussed with your staff on September 6.1996, and the subject inspection report was issued on September 10. 1996. The cover letter to the inspection report noted that the apparent violations identified in the report were being considered for escalated enforcement but that it was not necessary to conduct a predecisional enforcement conference in order for the NRC to make an enforcement decision. As such. we gave you the opportunity to either request a predecisional enforcement conference or respond to the apparent violations in writing. You did not request a conference but.

instead, responded to the apparent violations by letter dated October 10.

1996.

Based on the information developed during the inspection and the information that you provided-in your October 10 response. the NRC has determined that violations of NRC requirements occurred. These violations are cited in the enclosed Notice of Violation (Notice) and the circumstances surrounding them are described in detail in the subject inspection report. The violations involve the failure to perform surveillance testing in accordance with the requirements specified in the Technical Specifications. The six violations involve the failure to perform or adequately aerform surveillance testing on the following equipment: (1) the Division I 3attery (2) the Division Ill battery. (3) the drywell airlock. (4) the drywell combination equipment hatch / personnel door. (5) the prefilters for the standby gas treatment, control room fresh air, and fuel building ventilation systems, and (6) a primary containment penetration isolation valve.

As noted in your October 10 letter, prior to the identification of these violations, RBS identified surveillance program weaknesses, and a corrective action plan and improvement initiatives were underway. In July 1996, after issues were identified related to the Division I station service battery performance discharge data. RBS initiated a Significant Event Response Team

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9611130197 961107 PDR G ADOCK 05000458 PDR

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ENTERGY OPERATIONS. INC. -2-(SERT) and developed corrective actions based on the SERT's findings. When your staf f reviewed other surveillance activities for similar problems. RBS found the remainder of the surveillance discrepancies.  :

Your October 10 letter stated that you believe there is adequate justification ,

for imposition of one Severity Level IV violation based on several factors ;

regarding the circumstances of the violations (e.g. . self-identified. 1 comprehensive corrective actions, lack of actual safety significance, and I others). While we generally agree with the circumstances as you '

characterized. they do not provide a basis for NRC to conclude that the circumstances amounted to Severity Level IV violations. The NRC's concern is i that these issues collectively represent a breakdown in your surveillance' -l testing program and, as such, represent a significant regulatory concern. -

Therefore, these violations are classified in the aggregate in accordance with the " General Statement of Policy and Procedure for NRC Enforcement Actions" (Enforcement Policy). NUREG-1600, as a Severity Level III problem. j in accordance with the Enforcement Policy, a base civil penalty in the amount of $50.000 is considered for a Severity Level 111 problem. Because your facility has not been the subject of escalated enforcement actions within the last 2 years. the NRC considered whether credit was warranted for Corrective Action in accordance with the civil penalty assessment process in Section VI.B.2 of the Enforcement Policy. Based on the various corrective actions taken by RBS staff, the NRC determined that corrective action credit is warranted. RBS took prompt corrective actions for each of the violations, including procedure revisions. discussions with personnel regarding personal accountability, enhanced training, and an additional staff engineer to provide oversight of the surveillance testing program. In addition, corrective action credit was warranted because of the comprehensive nature of the corrective actions addressing the programmatic issues. Specific corrective actions to address the program concerns included followup by Ouality Assurance.

additional training on technical specification bases, departmental "all-hands" l meetings, comparison of the RBS program with other sites, surveillance program l self-assessment, evaluations of 3rocedure verification and validation and i l focusing additional management o]servations on the performance of surveillance tests.

I Therefore, to encourage prompt identification and comprehensive correction of i violations, and in recognition of the absence of previous escalated l enforcement action. I have been authorized not to propose a civil penalty in j this case, However, significant violations in the future could result in a civil penalty.

The NRC has also concluded that information regarding the reasons for the

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violations. the corrective actions taken and planned to correct the violations and prevent recurrence, and the date when full compliance will be achieved is already adequately addressed on the docket in the subject NRC inspection report. LER 96-014-00 dated August 9. 1996, and your October 10 response.

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Therefore, you are not required to respond to this letter unless the description therein does not accurately reflect your corrective actions or

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your position. In that case. or if you choose to provide additional

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ENTERGY OPERATIONS. INC. -3- l information. you should follow the instructions specified in the enclosed Notice.

In accordance with 10 CFR 2.790 of the NRC's " Rules of Practice." a copy of this letter. its enclosure, and your October 10 response will be placed in the NRC Public Document Room. 1

Sincerely

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. Callan Reg onal Administrator Docket No. 50-458 License No. NPF-47 Enclosure: Notice of Violation cc (w/ enclosure):

Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Entergy Operations. Inc.

P.O. Box 31995 Jackson. Mississippi 39286-1995 Vice President Operations Support Entergy Operations. Inc.

P.O. Box 31995 Jackson, Mississippi 39286-1995 General Manager Plant Operations River Bend Station Entergy Operations. Inc.

P.O. Box 220 St. Francisville. Louisiana 70775 Director - Nuclear Safety River Bend Station Entergy Operations. Inc.

P.O. Box 220 St. Francisville. Louisiana 70775 Wise. Carter. Child & Caraway P.O. Box 651 Jackson. Mississippi 39205 J

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ENTERGY OPERATIONS. INC. -4-Mark J. Wetterhahn. Esq.

Winston & Strawn 1401 L Street. N.W.

Washington. D.C. 20005-3502 Manager - Licensing River Bend Station Entergy Operations. Inc.

P.O. Box 220 St. Francisville. Louisiana 70775 The Honorable Richard P. Ieyoub ~

Attorney General P.O. Box 94095 Baton Rouge. Louisiana 70804-9095 H. Anne Plettinger 3456 Villa Rose Drive Baton Rouge. Louisiana 70806 President of West Feliciana Police Jury l P.O. Box 1921 St. Francisville. Louisiana 70775 Larry G. Johnson. Director Systems Engineering Cajun Electric Power Coop. Inc.

10719 Airline Highway P.O. Box 15540 Baton Rouge. Louisiana 70895 William H. Spell. Administrator Louisiana Radiation Protection Division P.O. Box 82135 Baton Rouge. Louisiana 7088t.-2135

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ENTERGY OPERATIONS. INC. -5-TRIBUTION:

LPDR Enforcement Coordinators l SECY RI. RII. RIII CA JGilliland. PA (0-2G4)

JTaylor, EDO (0-17G21) -HBell, OIG (T-5028)

JMilhoan. DEDR (0-17G21) GCaputo. 01 (0-3E4)

JLieberman, OE (0-7H5) '

EJordan, AE00 (T-4D18)

LChandler. OGC (0-15B18) LTremper. OC/LFDCB (T-9E10)

JGoldberg, OGC (0-15B18) OE: (0-7H5)

Director. NRR (0-12G18) OE:EA (2) (0-7H51 RZimmerman, NRR/ADP (0-12G18) ;NUDOCS

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i DWiggington NRR (0-13H3)  ;

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RIV OISTRIBUTION:

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0EMAIL DChamberlain (DDC)'

SJCollins (SJC) 1 BHenderson (BWH)

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MHammond(MFH2)

CHackney (CAH)

WBrown (WLB) JDyer(JED2)

LWilliamson (ELW1) KPerkins(KEP)

AHowell (ATH) SRI PHHarrell (PHH) KBrockman(KEB)  !

TPGwynn (TPG) GAPick (GAP)  !

Copies to:

RIV Files i MIS Coordinator LJCallan* Reading File GSanborn*EAFile RSLO DOCUMENT NAME: G:\EA\ DRAFT \EA96329 To receive copy of document, indicate in box: "C" = Copy wdhout enclosures "E" = C,opy,with enclosures "N" = No copy

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ENTERGY OPERATIONS, INC. -5-DISTRIBUTION:

PDR IE 14 LPDR Enforcement Coordinators SECY RI. RII. RIII CA JGilliland. PA (0-2G4)

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JTaylor. EDO (0-17G21) HEell. OIG (T-5D28)

JMilhoan. DEDR (0-17G21) GCaputo. OI (0-3E4) ,

JLieberman. OE (0-7H5) EJordan. AE00 (T-4D18)

LChandler. OGC (0-15B18) LTremper. OC/LFDCB (T-9E10)

JGoldberg. 0GC (0-15B18) OE: (0-7H5)

Director. NRR (0-12G18) OE:EA (2) (0-7H5)  ;

RZimmercen. NRR/ADP (0-12G18) NUDOCS i DWiggington, NRR (0-13H3)

RIV DISTRIBUTION:

E-mail to:

0EMAIL DChamberlain (DDC)

SJCollins (SJC)

BHenderson (BWH) MHammond(MFH2)

CHackney (CAH) l WBrown (WLB) JDyer(JED2)

LWilliamson (ELW1) KPerkins(KEP)

AHowell (ATH) SRI l PHHarrell (PHH) KBrockman(KEB)

TPGwynn (TPG) GAPick (GAP)

l Copies to:

RIV Files MIS Coordinator LJCallan> Reading File GSanborn>EAFile l RSLO l

DOCUMENT NAME: G:\EA\ DRAFT \EA96329 To receive copy of document, indicate in box: "C" = Copy without enclosures "E" = C,opy,with enclosures "N" = No copy ES m , l, C:DRP/D , a D:DRP 1. RC /#f}/ A/DRA LM l GMVasquez fj/V PHHarre?M- JEDyer @f WLBro#hyV IPGwynn V 'T

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ENTERGY OPERATIONS. INC. -5-

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LPDR Enforcement Coordinators SECY RI. Ril. RIII

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CA JGilliland. PA (0-2G4)

JTaylor. EDO (0-17G21) HBell. OIG (T-5028)

, JMilhoan. DEDR (0-17G21) GCaputo. 01 (0-3E4)

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JLieberman. OE (0-7H5) EJordan. AE00 (T-4D18) i t LChandler. OGC (0-15B18) LTremper. OC/LFDCB (T-9E10)

JGoldberg. OGC (0-15B18) OE: (0-7H5)

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Director. NRR (0-12G18) OE:EA (2) (0-7H51 1 RZimmerman. NRR/ADP (0-12G18) .NUDOCS ' l DWiggington. NRR (0-13H3) '

i RIV DISTRIBUTION:

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E-mail to:

OEMAIL DChamberlain (DDC)

SJCollins (SJC)  :

BHenderson (BWH) MHammond(MFH2) i CHackney (CAH) I t

WBrown (WLB) JDyer(JED2)  !

LWilliamson (ELW1) KPerkins(KEP)  :

. AHowell (ATH) SRI ,

PHHarrell (PHH) KBrockman(KEB) l TPGwynn (TPG) GAPick (GAP)

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Copies to:  !

RIV Files  !

MIS Coordinator LJCallan* Reading File GSanborn*EAFile *

RSLO DOCUMENT NAME: G:\EA\ DRAFT \EA96329 To receive copy of document, indicate in box: "C" = Copy without enclosures "E" = C,opy,with enclosures "N" = No copy, ES m , l, C:DRP/D m a D:DRP 1, RC /g/f;/ A/DRA If/_ ;

GMVasquez fj/U PHHarreM)%r JEDyer (j W WLBroWh F TPGwynn V ' f

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