ML052720633
| ML052720633 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Beaver Valley |
| Issue date: | 09/30/2005 |
| From: | Colburn T NRC/NRR/DLPM/LPD1 |
| To: | Pearce L FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co |
| Colburn T, NRR/DLPM, 415-1402 | |
| References | |
| TAC MC1244, TAC MC1245 | |
| Download: ML052720633 (4) | |
Text
September 30, 2005 Mr. L. William Pearce Vice President FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company Beaver Valley Power Station Post Office Box 4 Shippingport, PA 15077
SUBJECT:
BEAVER VALLEY POWER STATION, UNIT NOS. 1 AND 2 (BVPS-1 and 2) -
AUDIT OF FIRSTENERGY NUCLEAR OPERATING COMPANYs (FENOCs)
COMMITMENT MANAGEMENT PROGRAM (TAC NOS. MC1244 AND MC1245)
Dear Mr. Pearce:
On May 27, 2003, the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation published Office Instruction LIC-105, Managing Regulatory Commitments Made by Licensees to the NRC [Nuclear Regulatory Commission]. LIC-105, which is publicly available electronically from the Agencywide Documents Access and Management System at Accession No. ML022750041, provides the NRC staff and its stakeholders with a common reference for handling regulatory commitments made by licensees for commercial nuclear reactors to the NRC staff. The guidance is consistent with the industry guidance prepared by the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), NEI 99-04, Guidance for Managing NRC Commitment Changes. According to LIC-105, and as also defined in NEI 99-04, a regulatory commitment is an explicit statement to take a specific action agreed to, or volunteered by, a licensee and submitted in writing on the docket to the NRC. LIC-105 further directs the NRR Project Manager to audit the licensees commitment management program by assessing the adequacy of the licensees implementation of a sample of commitments made to the NRC in past licensing actions (amendments, reliefs, exemptions, etc.) and activities (bulletins, generic letters, etc.). The audit is to be performed every 3 years.
On November 19, 2003, with a follow-up visit in March 30, 2005, the NRC staff conducted an audit of the BVPS-1 and 2 commitment management program. This audit consisted of an in-office review of the BVPS-1 and 2 commitment management program procedures and an onsite review of a representative sample of formal regulatory commitments made to the NRC by FENOC. The FENOC staff member contacted during the audit was Mr. Brian Sepelak.
The NRC staff compared the licensees commitment management procedures to the guidance contained in NEI 99-04. The NRC staff determined that the licensees guidance conformed almost exactly to the NEI guidance except for obvious plant-specific references to BVPS-1 and 2, where appropriate.
During the onsite portion of the audit, the NRC staff noted that the licensees commitment management program included items such as commitments made in Licensee Event Reports and responses to Notices of Violation which would not be defined as regulatory commitments per LIC-105. NRC staff had previously reviewed regulatory commitments contained in license amendment requests and supplements and compiled a list of commitments for consideration during the audit. The audit was limited to include only those items which would correspond to
L. Pearce the LIC-105 definition of regulatory commitments. The NRC staff looked at a representative sample of commitments (about 10) in detail during the onsite portion of the audit. The NRC staff determined that the licensees database captured all the regulatory commitments that were identified by the NRC staff before the audit. For commitments that had changed, the NRC staff determined that the licensee promptly informed the NRC of the change in commitment. The NRC staff further determined that the licensees tracking system and related data base were very effective in determining the status and history of regulatory commitments. The system had been newly incorporated to consolidate several commitment management systems that had been in place prior to its inception. It provided a comprehensive and accurate cradle-to-grave research of all regulatory commitments.
In evaluating the adequate completion of regulatory commitments, the NRC staff observed one deviation from expected practices. This involved a update to a response to Generic Letter 88-
- 14. A review of the justification of the change led the NRC staff to determine that the licensee had misinterpreted the guidance provided by the Instrument Air Standards Committee in a letter to the licensee dated August 15, 1990. This item was brought to the licensees attention and the licensee promptly entered the item into its corrective action program and initiated condition report CR 04-01045. The follow-up onsite visit on March 30, 2005, confirmed that this condition report had been closed and that the deficiency had been corrected. The licensees revised supporting analysis utilized a more recent version of the Instrument Air Standards Committees guidance to justify the change in commitment.
The NRC staff concludes, based on the audit, that (1) FENOCs commitment management program is consistent with NRC guidance contained in LIC-105 and industry guidance contained in NEI 99-04, (2) FENOC has implemented NRC commitments on a timely basis, and (3) FENOCs program for managing NRC commitment changes is effective.
Sincerely,
/RA/
Timothy G. Colburn, Senior Project Manager, Section 1 Project Directorate I Division of Licensing Project Management Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket Nos. 50-334 and 50-412 cc: See next page
ML052720633 OFFICE PDI-1\\PM PDI-2\\LA PDI-1\\SC NAME TColburn MOBrien RLaufer DATE 9/30/05 9/30/05 9/30/05
Beaver Valley Power Station, Unit Nos. 1 and 2 cc:
Mary OReilly, Attorney FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company FirstEnergy Corporation 76 South Main Street Akron, OH 44308 Larry R. Freeland, Manager FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company Regulatory Affairs/Performance Improvement Beaver Valley Power Station P.O. Box 4, BV-A Shippingport, PA 15077 Commissioner James R. Lewis West Virginia Division of Labor 749-B, Building No. 6 Capitol Complex Charleston, WV 25305 Director, Utilities Department Public Utilities Commission 180 East Broad Street Columbus, OH 43266-0573 Director, Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency 2605 Interstate Dr.
Harrisburg, PA 17110-9364 Ohio EPA-DERR ATTN: Zack A. Clayton P.O. Box 1049 Columbus, OH 43266-0149 Dr. Judith Johnsrud Environmental Coalition on Nuclear Power Sierra Club 433 Orlando Avenue State College, PA 16803 J. H. Lash, Plant Manager (BV-IPAB)
FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company Beaver Valley Power Station P.O. Box 4 Shippingport, PA 15077 Director Bureau of Radiation Protection Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Rachel Carson State Office Building P.O. Box 8469 Harrisburg, PA 17105-8469 Mayor of the Borough of Shippingport P.O. Box 3 Shippingport, PA 15077 Regional Administrator, Region I U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 475 Allendale Road King of Prussia, PA 19406 Resident Inspector U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission P.O. Box 298 Shippingport, PA 15077 FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company Beaver Valley Power Station ATTN: R. G. Mende, Director Work Management (BV-IPAB)
P.O. Box 4 Shippingport, PA 15077 FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company Beaver Valley Power Station Mr. B. F. Sepelak P.O. Box 4, BV-A Shippingport, PA 15077