ML050320383
| ML050320383 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Saint Lucie  |
| Issue date: | 01/31/2005 |
| From: | Mccree V Division Reactor Projects II |
| To: | Stall J Florida Power & Light Co |
| Shared Package | |
| ML050320379 | List: |
| References | |
| 2-2004-030, EA-05-009 | |
| Download: ML050320383 (6) | |
Text
January 31, 2005 EA-05-009 Florida Power and Light Company ATTN: Mr. J. A. Stall, Senior Vice President Nuclear and Chief Nuclear Officer P. O. Box 14000 Juno Beach, FL 33408-0420
SUBJECT:
NOTICE OF VIOLATION (NRC OFFICE OF INVESTIGATIONS REPORT NO. 2-2004-030)
Dear Mr. Stall:
On November 30, 2004, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commissions (NRC) Office of Investigations completed an investigation into the circumstances involving an Instrumentation and Control (I&C) technician at Florida Power and Light Companys St. Lucie Nuclear Plant, who failed to follow plant procedures for obtaining a work order package and clearance prior to conducting high voltage electrical work. Based on the evidence, OI substantiated that the I&C technician deliberately failed to follow plant procedures. Enclosed for your information is the synopsis to the OI report.
This issue was also the subject of an FPL review, which was documented in FPL Attorney letter dated August 31, 2004. Based on our review of the OI report and the information provided in FPLs letter of August 31, 2004, the NRC has concluded that a violation of NRC requirements occurred. The violation involves the failure to adhere to plant Technical Specification 6.8.1 and plant procedures. These activities occurred during the performance of megger testing on the Unit 1 Control Element Assembly System on May 26, 2003.
The significance of the violation was assessed in accordance with Section IV of the NRCs Enforcement Policy. As discussed in the Enforcement Policy, the significance was not formally assessed using the Reactor Oversight Process, but instead was assessed using the guidance of Section IV.A.4 of the Enforcement Policy due its willful aspect. Based on our review, the NRC concluded that the safety significance of this violation should be characterized at Severity Level IV for the following reasons: the system for which the megger testing was performed was not operable at the time (Unit 1 was in a refueling outage); the testing activity did not result in any actual negative consequence; the increase in risk to the facility was minimal; this issue appears to be an isolated case; and the issue did not appear to involve any willful actions on the part of FPL supervisory or licensed personnel.
The NRC also considered whether the criteria of Section VI.A of the Enforcement Policy were satisfied such that the violation could be dispositioned as a non-cited violation. Based on our review, it appears that FPL supervision was fully cognizant of the issue within a few days of its occurrence, but did not place the issue in the corrective action program to address recurrence
FPL 2
until November 10, 2003. Furthermore, FPL did not provide any information concerning the willful aspect of the issue to the appropriate NRC personnel until several months afterwards, and significant remedial action commensurate with the circumstances was not taken promptly by FPL at the time, so as to demonstrate the seriousness of the violation to other employees.
Because of the above, the NRC concluded that NCV criteria were not satisfied. Accordingly, the Notice of Violation (Notice) is included as an enclosure to this letter. For administrative tracking purposes, this violation will also be referenced in a future NRC inspection report.
You are required to respond to this letter and should follow the instructions specified in the enclosed Notice when preparing your response. 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 2.390 of the NRC's "Rules of Practice," a copy of this letter, its enclosures, and your response will be made available electronically for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room or from the NRCs document system (ADAMS), accessible from the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To the extent possible, your response should not include any personal privacy, proprietary, or safeguards information so that it can be made available to the Public without redaction. The NRC also includes significant enforcement actions on its Web site at www.nrc.gov; select What We Do, Enforcement, then Significant Enforcement Actions.
Sincerely,
/RA/
Victor M. McCree, Director Division of Reactor Projects Docket Nos.: 50-335, 50-389 License Nos.: DPR-67, NPF-16
Enclosures:
- 2. Synopsis to OI Report 2-2004-030 cc w/encl: (See page 3)
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cc w/encls:
William Jefferson, Jr.
Site Vice President St. Lucie Nuclear Plant Florida Power & Light Company Electronic Mail Distribution G. L. Johnston Plant General Manager St. Lucie Nuclear Plant Electronic Mail Distribution Terry L. Patterson Licensing Manager St. Lucie Nuclear Plant Electronic Mail Distribution David Moore, Vice President Nuclear Operations Support Florida Power & Light Company Electronic Mail Distribution Rajiv S. Kundalkar Vice President - Nuclear Engineering Florida Power & Light Company Electronic Mail Distribution M. S. Ross, Managing Attorney Florida Power & Light Company Electronic Mail Distribution Marjan Mashhadi, Senior Attorney Florida Power & Light Company Electronic Mail Distribution William A. Passetti Bureau of Radiation Control Department of Health Electronic Mail Distribution Craig Fugate, Director Division of Emergency Preparedness Department of Community Affairs Electronic Mail Distribution J. Kammel Radiological Emergency Planning Administrator Department of Public Safety Electronic Mail Distribution Douglas Anderson County Administrator St. Lucie County 2300 Virginia Avenue Ft. Pierce, FL 34982 Distribution w/encls: (See page 4)
FPL 4
Distribution w/encls:
E. Brown, NRR L. Slack, RII EICS T. Ross, DRP OEMAIL RIDSNRRDIPMLIPB PUBLIC OFFICE DRP:RII DRP:RII EICS:RII SIGNATURE JTM SBR CFE NAME JMunday SRudisail CEvans DATE 01/27/2005 01/27/2005 01/27/2005 April 20, 2005 April 20, 2005 April 20, 2005 April 20, 2005 E-MAIL COPY?
YES NO YES NO YES NO YES NO YES NO YES NO YES NO PUBLIC DOCUMENT YES NO YES NO YES NO YES NO YES NO YES NO YES NO OFFICIAL RECORD COPY DOCUMENT NAME: E:\\Filenet\\ML050320383.wpd NOTICE OF VIOLATION Florida Power and Light Company Docket No.: 50-335 St. Lucie Nuclear Plant License No.: DPR-67 Unit 1 EA-05-009 During an NRC investigation completed on November 30, 2004, a violation of NRC requirements was identified. In accordance with the General Statement of Policy and Procedure for NRC Enforcement Actions, (Enforcement Policy), the violation is listed below:
Contrary to the above requirements, the licensee failed to comply with the requirements established for the conduct of maintenance. Specifically, on May 26, 2003, megger testing was performed on the Control Element Assembly System without obtaining authorization from the Nuclear Plant Supervisor following an appropriate briefing and without obtaining the required clearance.
This is a Severity Level IV violation (Supplement I).
Pursuant to the provisions of 10 CFR 2.201, Florida Power and Light Company is hereby required to submit a written statement or explanation to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ATTN: Document Control Desk, Washington, DC 20555 with a copy to the Regional Administrator, Region II, and a copy to the NRC Resident Inspector at the facility that is the subject of this Notice, within 30 days of the date of the letter transmitting this Notice of Violation (Notice). This reply should be clearly marked as a "Reply to a Notice of Violation; EA-05-009" and should include for each violation: (1) the reason for the violation, or, if contested, the basis for disputing the violation or severity level, (2) the corrective steps that have been taken and the results achieved, (3) the corrective steps that will be taken to avoid further violations, and (4) the date when full compliance will be achieved. Your response may reference or include previously docketed correspondence, if the correspondence adequately
Notice of Violation 2 addresses the required response. If an adequate reply is not received within the time specified in this Notice, an order or a Demand for Information may be issued as to why the license should not be modified, suspended, or revoked, or why such other action as may be proper should not be taken. Where good cause is shown, consideration will be given to extending the response time.
If you contest this enforcement action, you should also provide a copy of your response, with the basis for your denial, to the Director, Office of Enforcement, United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
Your response will be made available electronically for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room or from the NRCs document system (ADAMS). To the extent possible, it should not include any personal privacy, proprietary, or safeguards information so that it can be made available to the public without redaction. ADAMS is accessible from the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. If personal privacy or proprietary information is necessary to provide an acceptable response, then please provide a bracketed copy of your response that identifies the information that should be protected and a redacted copy of your response that deletes such information. If you request withholding of such material, you must specifically identify the portions of your response that you seek to have withheld and provide in detail the bases for your claim of withholding (e.g., explain why the disclosure of information will create an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy or provide the information required by 10 CFR 2.390(b) to support a request for withholding confidential commercial or financial information). If safeguards information is necessary to provide an acceptable response, please provide the level of protection described in 10 CFR 73.21.
In accordance with 10 CFR 19.11, you may be required to post this Notice within two working days.
Dated this 31st day of January 2005