ML040630856

2003-04 Annual Assessment Letter - Hope Creek

ML040630856
Person / Time
Site:	Hope Creek
Issue date:	03/03/2004
From:	Blough A Division Reactor Projects I
To:	Richard Anderson Public Service Enterprise Group
References
IR-04-001
Download: ML040630856 (7)

Text

March 3, 2004 Mr. Roy A. Anderson President and Chief Nuclear Officer PSEG Nuclear LLC - N09 P. O. Box 236 Hancocks Bridge, NJ 08038

SUBJECT:

ANNUAL ASSESSMENT LETTER - HOPE CREEK NUCLEAR GENERATING STATION (REPORT 05000354/2004001)

Dear Mr. Anderson:

On February 4, 2004, the NRC staff completed its end-of-cycle plant performance assessment of Hope Creek station. The review involved the participation of all technical divisions in evaluating performance for the calendar year 2003 assessment cycle. The process included a review of performance indicators (PIs) for the most recent quarter and inspection results from 2003. The purpose of this letter is to inform you of our assessment of your safety performance and our plans for future inspections at your facility so that you will have an opportunity to prepare for these inspections and to inform us of any planned inspections that may conflict with your plant activities.

Overall, Hope Creek operated in a manner that preserved public health and safety, and fully met all cornerstone objectives. Plant performance for the most recent quarter at Hope Creek was within the Licensee Response Column of the NRCs Action Matrix, based on all inspection findings being classified as having very low safety significance (Green) and all PIs being Green. However, the significance of a finding on the service water traveling screens is still under review as part of the Significance Determination Process.

As discussed in the annual assessment letter dated March 3, 2003, and the mid-cycle assessment letter dated August 27, 2003, the staff identified a substantive cross-cutting issue in the area of problem identification and resolution (PI&R). The cross-cutting issue involved instances of ineffective, untimely problem evaluations and corrective actions. In the most recent annual assessment, we concluded that this substantive cross-cutting issue should remain open, based on the numerous inspection findings which indicate that weaknesses continue in this area. The weaknesses impacted equipment reliability and involved deficient problem identification, or once identified, insufficient recognition of the problems significance. For example, inspection findings included inadequate evaluations of conditions, such as a hydraulic leak on a turbine valve, which resulted a manual reactor scram; a pressure transient during a reactor shutdown, which enabled a second pressure transient; and a coolant leak on an emergency diesel generator (EDG), which resulted in the initiation of a plant shutdown. We request that you discuss this matter at our upcoming annual assessment meeting.

Mr. Roy A. Anderson 2 In a January 28, 2004 letter, we provided interim results of an ongoing NRC special review of the work environment at Salem and Hope Creek. The letter outlined areas of NRC concerns, particularly as they relate to the handling of emergent equipment issues and associated operational decision-making. The letter also requested a written response to provide a plan for an in-depth PSEG assessment of the work environment. We have received your response and are reviewing your plans. We expect to discuss this matter with you at the management meeting specified in our January 28 letter (tentatively planned for mid-March).

The enclosed inspection plan details the inspections scheduled through September 30, 2005. The inspection plan is provided to minimize the resource impact on your staff, and to allow for scheduling conflicts and personnel availability to be resolved in advance of inspector arrival onsite. Routine resident inspections are not listed due to their ongoing and continuous nature.

The inspections in the last twelve months of the inspection plan are tentative and may be revised at the mid-cycle review meeting.

As you are aware, the NRC has issued several Orders and threat advisories to enhance security capabilities and improve guard force readiness since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

We have conducted inspections to review your implementation of these requirements and have monitored your actions in response to changing threat conditions. For calendar year 2004, we plan to continue inspections of order implementation combined with newly developed portions of the security baseline inspection program.

In accordance with 10 CFR 2.790 of the NRCs Rules of Practice, a copy of this letter and its enclosure will be made available electronically for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room or from the Publicly Available Records (PARS) component of NRC's document system (ADAMS). ADAMS is accessible from the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html (the Electronic Reading Room).

If circumstances arise which cause us to change the inspection plan, we will contact you to discuss the change as soon as possible. Please contact Glenn Meyer of my staff at (610) 337-5211 with any questions you may have regarding this letter or the inspection plan.

Sincerely,

/RA/

A. Randolph Blough, Director Division of Reactor Projects Docket No. 50-354 License No. NPF-57

Enclosure:

Hope Creek Inspection/Activity Plan

Mr. Roy A. Anderson 3 cc w/encl:

C. Bakken, Senior Vice President Site Operations M. Brothers, Vice President - Operations J. T. Carlin, Vice President Nuclear Assurance D. F. Garchow, Vice President, Engineering and Technical Support W. F. Sperry, Director Business Support S. Mannon, Manager - Licensing C. J. Fricker, Salem Plant Manager R. Kankus, Joint Owner Affairs J. J. Keenan, Esquire Consumer Advocate, Office of Consumer Advocate F. Pompper, Chief of Police and Emergency Management Coordinator M. Wetterhahn, Esquire J. Lipoti Ph.D., Assistant Director of Radiation Programs, State of New Jersey H. Otto, Ph.D., DNREC Division of Water Resources, State of Delaware N. Cohen, Coordinator - Unplug Salem Campaign W. Costanzo, Technical Advisor - Jersey Shore Nuclear Watch E. Zobian, Coordinator - Jersey Shore Anti Nuclear Alliance Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO)

Mr. Roy A. Anderson 4 Distribution w/encl:

Region I Docket Room (with concurrences)

H. Miller, RA J. Wiggins, DRA G. Meyer, DRP S. Barber, DRP M. Gray, DRP - NRC Resident Inspector J. Jolicoeur, OEDO D. Roberts, NRR R. Fretz, PM, NRR J. Boska, NRR C. ODaniell, DRP N. Sheehan, PAO W. Lanning, DRS R. Crlenjak, DRS R. Conte, DRS J. White, DRS R. Lorson, DRS J. Rogge, DRS L. Doerflein, DRS RidsNrrDipmlipb DOCUMENT NAME: G:\BRANCH3\ROP4 Annual Assess Ltrs\Hope Creek AA Letter.wpd After declaring this document An Official Agency Record it will be released to the Public.

To receive a copy of this document, indicate in the box: "C" = Copy without attachment/enclosure "E" = Copy with attachment/enclosure "N" = No copy OFFICE RI/DRP RI/DRP RI/DRP NAME MGray/GWM for GMeyer/GWM ABlough/ARB DATE 03/03/04 03/03/04 03/03/04 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY

Page 1 of 3 Hope Creek 03/02/2004 12:50:29 Inspection / Activity Plan Report 22 01/01/2004 - 09/30/2005 Unit No. of Staff Planned Dates Inspection Number Inspection Activity Title on Site Start End Type 1/5EXAM - OPER LIC RETAKE EXAM 1 1 U01596 HOPE CREEK RETAKE EXAM (1/04) 01/05/2004 01/09/2004 Not Applicable 7111112B - MAINTENANCE RULE 1 1 IP 7111112B Maintenance Effectiveness 01/12/2004 01/16/2004 Baseline Inspections 7111111B - LORT FOLLOW-UP SIMULATOR DEFICIENCES 1 1 IP 7111111B Licensed Operator Requalification Program 02/10/2004 02/11/2004 Baseline Inspections 7111107B - HEAT SINK 1 1 IP 7111107B Heat Sink Performance 02/16/2004 02/20/2004 Baseline Inspections 71121 - OCC RAD SAFETY 1 1 IP 7112101 Access Control to Radiologically Significant Areas 02/23/2004 02/27/2004 Baseline Inspections 1 IP 7112102 ALARA Planning and Controls 02/23/2004 02/27/2004 Baseline Inspections 1 IP 7112103 Radiation Monitoring Instrumentation and Protective Equipment 02/23/2004 02/27/2004 Baseline Inspections 7111401 - EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS EXERCISE & PI VER 5 1 IP 7111401 Exercise Evaluation 03/15/2004 03/19/2004 Baseline Inspections 1 IP 71151 Performance Indicator Verification 03/15/2004 03/19/2004 Baseline Inspections 71130 - SECURITY 2 1 IP 7113001 Access Authorization 04/05/2004 04/09/2004 Baseline Inspections 1 IP 7113002 Access Control 04/05/2004 04/09/2004 Baseline Inspections 1 IP 7113008 Fitness For Duty Program 04/05/2004 04/09/2004 Baseline Inspections 1 IP 71151 Performance Indicator Verification 04/05/2004 04/09/2004 Baseline Inspections 71121 - OCC RAD SAFETY 1 1 IP 7112101 Access Control to Radiologically Significant Areas 05/17/2004 05/21/2004 Baseline Inspections 1 IP 7112102 ALARA Planning and Controls 05/17/2004 05/21/2004 Baseline Inspections 1 IP 7112103 Radiation Monitoring Instrumentation and Protective Equipment 05/17/2004 05/21/2004 Baseline Inspections 1 IP 71151 Performance Indicator Verification 05/17/2004 05/21/2004 Baseline Inspections 7111121 - SSDI 6 1 IP 7111121 Safety System Design and Performance Capability 07/12/2004 07/16/2004 Baseline Inspections 1 IP 7111121 Safety System Design and Performance Capability 07/26/2004 07/30/2004 Baseline Inspections 7111111B - LO REQUALIFICATION PROGRAM 2 1 IP 7111111B Licensed Operator Requalification Program 08/30/2004 09/03/2004 Baseline Inspections 71121 - OCC RAD SAFETY 1 1 IP 7112101 Access Control to Radiologically Significant Areas 10/25/2004 10/29/2004 Baseline Inspections 1 IP 7112102 ALARA Planning and Controls 10/25/2004 10/29/2004 Baseline Inspections 1 IP 7112103 Radiation Monitoring Instrumentation and Protective Equipment 10/25/2004 10/29/2004 Baseline Inspections This report does not include INPO and OUTAGE activities.

This report shows only on-site and announced inspection procedures.

Page 2 of 3 Hope Creek 03/02/2004 12:50:29 Inspection / Activity Plan Report 22 01/01/2004 - 09/30/2005 Unit No. of Staff Planned Dates Inspection Number Inspection Activity Title on Site Start End Type 7111108G - INSERVICE INSPECTION 1 1 IP 7111108G Inservice Inspection Activities - BWR 11/01/2004 11/05/2004 Baseline Inspections 71111.05 - TRIENNIAL FIRE PROTECTION INSPECTION 3 1 IP 7111105T Fire Protection 11/29/2004 12/03/2004 Baseline Inspections 1 IP 7111105T Fire Protection 12/13/2004 12/17/2004 Baseline Inspections 71130 - SECURITY 4 1 IP 7113001 Access Authorization 11/29/2004 12/03/2004 Baseline Inspections 1 IP 7113004 Equipment Performance, Testing, and Maintenance 11/29/2004 12/03/2004 Baseline Inspections 1 IP 7113005 Protective Strategy Evaluation 11/29/2004 12/03/2004 Baseline Inspections 1 IP 7113007 Security Training 11/29/2004 12/03/2004 Baseline Inspections 1 IP 7113009 Owner-Controlled Area Controls 11/29/2004 12/03/2004 Baseline Inspections 7112203 - PUB RAD SAFETY - REMP 1 1 IP 7112203 Radiological Environmental Monitoring Program 01/31/2005 02/04/2005 Baseline Inspections 71121 - OCC RAD SAFETY 1 1 IP 7112101 Access Control to Radiologically Significant Areas 02/14/2005 02/18/2005 Baseline Inspections 1 IP 7112102 ALARA Planning and Controls 02/14/2005 02/18/2005 Baseline Inspections 1 IP 7112103 Radiation Monitoring Instrumentation and Protective Equipment 02/14/2005 02/18/2005 Baseline Inspections 7111117B - MODS & 50.59 1 1 IP 7111102 Evaluation of Changes, Tests, or Experiments 02/14/2005 02/18/2005 Baseline Inspections 1 IP 7111117B Permanent Plant Modifications 02/14/2005 02/18/2005 Baseline Inspections 71121 - OCC RAD SAFETY 1 1 IP 7112101 Access Control to Radiologically Significant Areas 05/16/2005 05/20/2005 Baseline Inspections 1 IP 7112102 ALARA Planning and Controls 05/16/2005 05/20/2005 Baseline Inspections 1 IP 7112103 Radiation Monitoring Instrumentation and Protective Equipment 05/16/2005 05/20/2005 Baseline Inspections 71121 - OCC RAD SAFETY 1 1 IP 7112101 Access Control to Radiologically Significant Areas 08/08/2005 08/12/2005 Baseline Inspections 1 IP 7112102 ALARA Planning and Controls 08/08/2005 08/12/2005 Baseline Inspections 1 IP 7112103 Radiation Monitoring Instrumentation and Protective Equipment 08/08/2005 08/12/2005 Baseline Inspections 1 IP 71151 Performance Indicator Verification 08/08/2005 08/12/2005 Baseline Inspections 71114 - EP PROGRAM INSP & PI VERIFICATION 1 1 IP 7111402 Alert and Notification System Testing 08/29/2005 09/02/2005 Baseline Inspections 1 IP 7111403 Emergency Response Organization Augmentation Testing 08/29/2005 09/02/2005 Baseline Inspections 1 IP 7111404 Emergency Action Level and Emergency Plan Changes 08/29/2005 09/02/2005 Baseline Inspections 1 IP 7111405 Correction of Emergency Preparedness Weaknesses and Deficiencies 08/29/2005 09/02/2005 Baseline Inspections This report does not include INPO and OUTAGE activities.

This report shows only on-site and announced inspection procedures.

Page 3 of 3 Hope Creek 03/02/2004 12:50:29 Inspection / Activity Plan Report 22 01/01/2004 - 09/30/2005 Unit No. of Staff Planned Dates Inspection Number Inspection Activity Title on Site Start End Type 71114 - EP PROGRAM INSP & PI VERIFICATION 1 1 IP 71151 Performance Indicator Verification 08/29/2005 09/02/2005 Baseline Inspections This report does not include INPO and OUTAGE activities.

This report shows only on-site and announced inspection procedures.