ML060740529

Interview of the Senior Resident Inspector at the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station

ML060740529
Person / Time
Site:	Palo Verde
Issue date:	03/15/2006
From:	Troy Pruett NRC/RGN-IV/DRP/RPB-D
To:	Wagner J State of AZ
References
IR-05-012
Download: ML060740529 (6)

Text

March 15, 2006 Janet Wagner Commission Counsel Arizona Corporation Commission 1200 West Washington Street Phoenix AZ 85007-2927

SUBJECT:

INTERVIEW OF THE SENIOR RESIDENT INSPECTOR AT THE PALO VERDE NUCLEAR GENERATING STATION

Dear Ms. Wagner:

On March 2, 2006, you submitted an affidavit to the U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Office of General Counsel in support of the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) staff's request to interview the resident inspectors at the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station (PVNGS). A subsequent telephone conversation was held with you, Karla Smith Fuller, Region IV Regional Counsel, and me on March 9, 2006, to clarify the areas of inquiry. This letter acknowledges the NRC's agreement to participate in a one-hour telephone interview with William Jacobs, Consultant with GDS Associates, Jerry Ward, Consultant with GDS Associates, Prem Bahl, ACC Staff Engineer, and Janet Wagner, ACC Senior Staff Counsel, on March 24, 2006 at 10:00 a.m. (MST), to discuss the NRC's assessment of the circumstances surrounding plant outages that occurred since January 1, 2005, and the adequacy of operations and maintenance practices at the PVNGS. NRC participants will include Mr. Gregory Warnick, Senior Resident Inspector and Ms. Karla Smith Fuller.

As discussed, the interview will be limited to publically available information in the following areas:

1. Regulatory findings dispositioned by the NRC since January 1, 2005. Performance assessment results and inspection reports are retrievable from the NRC website at:

www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/PALO1/palo1_chart.html.

2. PVNGS's progress in resolving the human performance and problem identification and resolution substantive crosscutting issues most recently documented in our March 2, 2006, Annual Assessment Letter. The assessment letter can be retrieved from the Publicly Available Records (PARS) component of NRCs document system (ADAMS).

ADAMS is accessible from the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. The ADAMS accession number for the PVNGS assessment letter is ML060610254.

3. PVNGS's progress in resolving the Yellow finding associated with the voiding of emergency core cooling suction piping. The NRC's review of this issue is documented in NRC Inspection Report 05000528/2005012; 05000529/2005012; and 05000530/2005012. The ADAMS accession number is ML060300193.

Arizona Corporation Commission 4. The effectiveness of the corrective action program at PVNGS. The most recent review of the PVNGS corrective action program was completed in February 2006. The results will be documented in NRC Inspection Report 05000528/2006008; 05000529/2006008; and 05000530/2006008. The results of this inspection are predecisional and will not be discussed during the interview.

5. The results of the PVNGS performance improvement plan to date. The NRC will be conducting a public meeting with PVNGS to discuss the current status of the performance improvement plan on March 30, 2006, at 1:00 p.m. (CST), in Arlington, Texas. A telecommunications bridge will be available for the public. The phone number is (800) 952-9677. The callers should then request to be transferred to extension 472.

NRC public meeting notices are retrievable from the NRC website at:

www.nrc.gov/public-involve/public-meetings/index.cfm.

Questions regarding the NRC's involvement in this proceeding should be directed to me at (817) 860-8173.

Sincerely, Greg E Werner for /RA/

Troy W. Pruett, Chief Project Branch D Division of Reactor Projects Dockets: 50-528 50-529 50-530 Licenses: NPF-41 NPF-51 NPF-74 cc:

James M. Levine, Executive Vice President, Generation Mail Station 7602 Arizona Public Service Company P.O. Box 52034 Phoenix, AZ 85072-2034 Steve Olea Arizona Corporation Commission 1200 W. Washington Street Phoenix, AZ 85007

Arizona Corporation Commission Douglas K. Porter, Senior Counsel Southern California Edison Company Law Department, Generation Resources P.O. Box 800 Rosemead, CA 91770 Chairman Maricopa County Board of Supervisors 301 W. Jefferson, 10th Floor Phoenix, AZ 85003 Aubrey V. Godwin, Director Arizona Radiation Regulatory Agency 4814 South 40 Street Phoenix, AZ 85040 Craig K. Seaman, General Manager Regulatory Affairs and Performance Improvement Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station Mail Station 7636 P.O. Box 52034 Phoenix, AZ 85072-2034 Hector R. Puente Vice President, Power Generation El Paso Electric Company 310 E. Palm Lane, Suite 310 Phoenix, AZ 85004 Jeffrey T. Weikert Assistant General Counsel El Paso Electric Company Mail Location 167 123 W. Mills El Paso, TX 79901 John W. Schumann Los Angeles Department of Water & Power Southern California Public Power Authority P.O. Box 51111, Room 1255-C Los Angeles, CA 90051-0100 John Taylor Public Service Company of New Mexico 2401 Aztec NE, MS Z110 Albuquerque, NM 87107-4224

Arizona Corporation Commission Thomas D. Champ Southern California Edison Company 5000 Pacific Coast Hwy, Bldg. D1B San Clemente, CA 92672 Robert Henry Salt River Project 6504 East Thomas Road Scottsdale, AZ 85251 Brian Almon Public Utility Commission William B. Travis Building P.O. Box 13326 1701 North Congress Avenue Austin, TX 78701-3326 Karen O'Regan Environmental Program Manager City of Phoenix Office of Environmental Programs 200 West Washington Street Phoenix, AZ 85003

Arizona Corporation Commission Electronic distribution by RIV:

Regional Administrator (BSM1)

DRP Director (ATH)

DRS Director (DDC)

DRS Deputy Director (RJC1)

Senior Resident Inspector (GXW2)

Branch Chief, DRP/D (TWP)

Senior Project Engineer, DRP/D (GEW)

Team Leader, DRP/TSS (RLN1)

RITS Coordinator (KEG)

Mel Fields, NRR (MBF1)

Tamara Bloomer, OEDO (TEB)

SUNSI Review Completed: _GEW___ ADAMS: / Yes G No Initials: GEW______

/ Publicly Available G Non-Publicly Available G Sensitive / Non-Sensitive R:\_REACTORS\PV\2006\Arizona Corporation Commission Letter.wpd RIV:SPE:DRP/D RC PAO RSLO OGC GEWerner KSFuller VLDricks WAMaier GHKim

/RA/ /RA/ E-GEWerner /RA/ E-KSFuller 3/15/06 3/15/06 3/15/06 3/15/06 3/14/06 D:DRP RA C:DRP/D ATHowell III BSMallett TWPruett

/RA/ ATHowell for GEWerner for 3/15/06 3/15/06 3/15/06 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY T=Telephone E=E-mail F=Fax