IR 05000247/2005011

IR 05000247-05-011 on 09/13/2005 - 02/28/2006 for Indian Point Generating Station Unit 2; Assess Issues Related to Entergy'S Discovery of a Small Amount of Contaminated Water Leaking from Unit 2 Spent Fuel Pool

ML060750842
Person / Time
Site:	Indian Point
Issue date:	03/16/2006
From:	Blough A Division of Reactor Safety I
To:	Dacimo F Entergy Nuclear Operations
References
FOIA/PA-2010-0209 IR-05-011
Download: ML060750842 (69)

Text

rch 16, 2006

SUBJECT:

INDIAN POINT NUCLEAR GENERATING UNIT 2 - NRC SPECIAL INSPECTION REPORT NO. 05000247/2005011

Dear Mr. Dacimo:

On February 28, 2006, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) completed an inspection at the Indian Point Nuclear Generating Unit 2 (IP2). The enclosed inspection report documents the inspection findings, which were discussed on February 28, 2006, with Mr. Jim Comiotes and other members of your staff.

The purpose of this special inspection, initiated on September 20, 2005, was to assess issues related to Entergys discovery of a small amount of contaminated water leaking from the Unit 2 spent fuel pool, and the subsequent discovery of subsurface groundwater contamination in a monitoring well located in the IP2 transformer yard. This inspection focused on Entergys initial efforts to explore and evaluate the extent of contamination, as well as to determine the source(s) of the groundwater contamination. At the completion of our inspection on February 28, 2006, Entergy was still involved in groundwater exploration and assessment and had completed installation of the first phase of monitoring wells. These efforts have resulted in a degree of understanding with respect to the groundwater transport of the radioactive contaminants and associated dose calculations for potential exposure to the public. Entergy and your contractors are proceeding with further evaluations and are installing additional onsite monitoring wells. A followup NRC report will be issued providing the final conclusions with respect to Entergys actions to control, mitigate, and remediate (as necessary) the onsite groundwater contamination. Continued NRC inspection of your activities was approved by the NRCs Executive Director for Operation as described in our October 2005 Reactor Oversight Process Deviation Memorandum.

The inspection examined activities conducted under your license as they relate to safety and compliance with the Commissions rules and regulations, and with the conditions of your license. Within these areas, the inspection consisted of a selected examination of procedures and representative records, observations of activities, interviews with personnel, and independent analyses of water samples.

Mr. Fred The team found Entergys response to identified conditions to be reasonable and technically sound. The existence of onsite groundwater contamination, as well as the underlying source(s)

of leakage, are conditions warranting continued efforts by your company to resolve them, yet they do not present significant risk to public health and safety or to the environment. Our inspection determined that public health and safety has not been, nor is likely to be, adversely affected; and the dose consequence to the public that can be attributed to current onsite conditions is negligible with respect to conservatively established NRC regulatory limits.

Our inspection activities thus far have not identified any significant licensee performance deficiencies. However, please note that this report, while reaching important safety conclusions, does not provide our final regulatory or enforcement conclusions. These conclusions will be provided in a follow up inspection after your ongoing work, outlined above and detailed in the enclosed report, has yielded additional information for NRC review.

The enclosed inspection identifies areas for enhancement regarding the focus of your program under a 1980 NRC Bulletin related to contamination of normally nonradioactive systems, as well as some details of how your corrective action tools were employed in your followup of the fuel pool wall seepage and groundwater sample results. We deemed these observations to be of minor safety significance, but have included them in Sections 7 and 8 of our report for your use in continued efforts to improve your programs.

As you know, NRC is reviewing generic implications of recent discoveries of groundwater contamination at several plants; and the NRC review will include both industry aspects and NRC regulatory learnings. Notwithstanding, NRC inspection results will vary plant-to-plant based on the facts of each case.

In accordance with 10 CFR 2.390 of the NRC's "Rules of Practice," a copy of this letter and its enclosure will be available electronically for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room or from the Publicly Available Records (PARS) component of the NRCs document system (ADAMS). ADAMS is accessible from the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html (the Public Electronic Reading Room). Further, in light of ongoing public interest in these matters, the NRC has scheduled a public meeting in Peekskill, New York on March 28, 2006, as announced by our Meeting Notice dated March 10, 2006, also available at the NRC web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reactors.plant-specific-items/Indian-point-issues.html.

Sincerely,

/RA/

A. Randolph Blough, Director Division of Reactor Safety Docket No. 50-247 License No. DPR-26 Enclosure: Inspection Report No. 05000247/2005011 w/Attachment: Supplemental Information cc w/encl:

G. J. Taylor, Chief Executive Officer, Entergy Operations, Inc.

Mr. Fred