ML062430508

Mid-Cycle Performance Review and Inspection Plan

ML062430508
Person / Time
Site:	Point Beach
Issue date:	08/31/2006
From:	Caldwell J Region 3 Administrator
To:	Koehl D Nuclear Management Co
References
Download: ML062430508 (8)

Text

August 31, 2006 Mr. Dennis L. Koehl Site Vice President Point Beach Nuclear Plant Nuclear Management Company, LLC 6590 Nuclear Road Two Rivers, WI 54241-9516

SUBJECT:

MID-CYCLE PERFORMANCE REVIEW AND INSPECTION PLAN -

POINT BEACH NUCLEAR PLANT

Dear Mr. Koehl:

On August 7, 2006, the NRC staff completed its performance review of the Point Beach Nuclear Plant for the first half of the calendar year 2006 assessment cycle. Our technical staff reviewed performance indicators (PIs) for the most recent quarter and inspection results over the previous 12 months. The purpose of this letter is to inform you of our assessment of your safety performance during this period and our plans for future inspections at your facility.

This performance review and enclosed inspection plan do not include physical protection information. A separate letter, designated and marked Exempt from Public Disclosure in Accordance with 10 CFR 2.390, will include the physical protection review and resultant inspection plan.

Overall, Point Beach Nuclear Plant Units 1 and 2 operated in a manner that preserved public health and safety and met all cornerstone objectives. Plant performance for the most recent quarter remained within the Multiple/Repetitive Degraded Cornerstone Column of the Action Matrix. This is based on two Red findings for Unit 1 and Unit 2 associated with the auxiliary feedwater and instrument air systems, and a Yellow finding for Unit 1 and a Red finding for Unit 2 associated with the potential failure of the auxiliary feedwater pumps due to plugging of recirculation line orifices. All of these findings were in the Mitigating Systems cornerstone. The Nuclear Management Company (NMC) was initially notified that Point Beach Nuclear Plant had entered the Multiple/Repetitive Degraded Cornerstone Column in a letter dated April 2, 2003.

The NRC will continue to closely monitor Point Beach performance consistent with the guidance in Inspection Manual Chapter (IMC) 0305, Operating Reactor Assessment Program.

In addition to the routine NRC inspection and mid-cycle and end-of-cycle assessment activities, Point Beach performance is being evaluated quarterly. Consistent with IMC 0305, plants in the Multiple/Repetitive Degraded Cornerstone Column are given consideration at each quarterly performance assessment review for: (1) declaring plant performance to be unacceptable in accordance with the guidance in IMC 0305; (2) transferring to the IMC 0350 Oversight of Operating Reactor Facilities in a Shutdown Condition with Performance Problems process; and (3) taking additional regulatory actions, as appropriate. Our quarterly assessment results, to date, have concluded that Point Beach has been operated in a manner that preserved the public health and safety; therefore, the plant will remain in Column IV of the NRC Action Matrix.

D. Koehl On April 21, 2004, a Confirmatory Action Letter (CAL) 3-04-001 was issued to document your commitments to address the Red inspection findings and implement other improvement initiatives. The CAL listed five areas of regulatory concern: Human Performance, Engineering Design Control, Engineering/Operations Interface, Emergency Preparedness, and the Corrective Action Program. On April 14, 2006, the CAL was revised after NRC inspections had shown that adequate progress had been made in addressing four of the five areas. The remaining area, Engineering Design Control, will remain open pending a satisfactory review by the NRC of, at least, the initial implementation of the engineering assessment commitments, continued progress in the calculation upgrade project, and effectiveness of previous improvement initiatives and corrective actions in engineering. Specifically, the NMC needs to continue to demonstrate the ability to understand and recognize complex engineering questions/problems at Point Beach. These matters then need to be dispositioned in an accurate and comprehensive manner, taking into account all relevant design and licensing basis information and reaching a sound, justified conclusion without the need for extensive NRC involvement. As we determined in the Inspection Procedure 95003 inspection in 2003, engineering and design control weaknesses were found to be the root causes of the Red finding associated with the auxiliary feedwater and instrument air. As a result, it will be necessary for NMC to demonstrate sustained improvements in the Engineering Design Control area prior to the NRC closing these two Red findings.

In our Annual Assessment Letter dated March 2, 2006, we advised you that we had closed the substantive cross-cutting issues in the areas of Human Performance and Problem Identification and Resolution (PI&R). For the Human Performance area, this was based on a low number of findings and the lack of a common causal theme. For the PI&R area, where the number of findings exceeded our threshold, this was based on the NRCs assurance with the scope of your efforts in addressing the problems. Our 2006 Mid-Cycle Assessment concluded that your successful efforts in the Human Performance area continue. In the PI&R area, the number of problems with the same cross-cutting aspect again exceeded our threshold; however, the number of problems identified in the past 6 months of the assessment period has declined from the first 6 months, giving us assurance with your progress and the scope of your efforts to address these problems. Consequently, the substantive cross-cutting issues in the Human Performance and PI&R areas will remain closed.

On March 23, 2006, the NRC held a public meeting with NMC to discuss the actions taken or planned based on the results of a safety culture survey conducted at the plant in late 2004. A similar survey is planned for August 2006. The results of this survey, which should be indicative of the overall effectiveness of the actions taken in response to the 2004 survey, will be reviewed during the NRCs baseline Problem Identification and Resolution inspection scheduled for December 2006.

The enclosed inspection plan details the inspections scheduled through March 2008. The enclosed inspection plan is provided to minimize the resource impact on your staff and to allow for the resolution of any scheduling conflicts and personnel availability issues well in advance of inspector arrival onsite. Routine resident inspections are not listed due to their ongoing and continuous nature. The inspections in the last 9 months of the inspection plan are tentative and may be revised at the end-of-cycle review meeting.

D. Koehl In accordance with 10 CFR 2.390 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 System (PARS) component of NRC's document system (ADAMS), accessible from the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html (the Public 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 Patrick Louden at (630) 829-9627 with any questions you may have regarding this letter or the inspection plan.

Sincerely,

/RA/

James L. Caldwell Regional Administrator Docket Nos. 50-266; 50-301 License Nos. DPR-24; DPR-27

Enclosure:

Point Beach Inspection/Activity Plan DISTRIBUTION See next page

D. Koehl In accordance with 10 CFR 2.390 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 System (PARS) component of NRC's document system (ADAMS), accessible from the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html (the Public 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 Patrick Louden at (630) 829-9627 with any questions you may have regarding this letter or the inspection plan.

Sincerely,

/RA/

James L. Caldwell Regional Administrator Docket Nos. 50-266; 50-301 License Nos. DPR-24; DPR-27

Enclosure:

Point Beach Inspection/Activity Plan DISTRIBUTION See next page DOCUMENT NAME:G:\Branch TSS\ALL MOC\midcycle 2005 to 2006\point beach\Point Beach MOC letter 2006.wpd X Publicly Available G Non-Publicly Available G Sensitive X Non-Sensitive To receive a copy of this document, indicate in the concurrence box "C" = Copy without attach/encl "E" = Copy with attach/encl "N" = No copy OFFICE RIII RIII RIII RIII NAME PLouden for PLouden MSatorius JCaldwell MKunowski:sls DATE 08/21/2006 08/21/2006 08/25/2006 08/29/2006 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY

D. Koehl cc w/encl: F. Kuester, President and Chief Executive Officer, We Generation D. Cooper, Senior Vice President, Group Operations J. McCarthy, Site Director of Operations D. Weaver, Nuclear Asset Manager Plant Manager Regulatory Affairs Manager Training Manager Site Assessment Manager Site Engineering Director Emergency Planning Manager J. Rogoff, Vice President, Counsel & Secretary K. Duveneck, Town Chairman Town of Two Creeks Chairperson Public Service Commission of Wisconsin J. Kitsembel, Electric Division Public Service Commission of Wisconsin State Liaison Officer Chairman, Manitowoc County Board County Executive, Manitowoc Director, Manitowac County Emergency Management Agency Chairman, Kewaunee County Board Mayor of Kewaunee City Manager, Two Rivers Director, Kewaunee County Emergency Management Agency President, Village of Mishicot Chairman, Village of Two Creeks INPO

D. Koehl ADAMS Distribution:

EMH1 LXR1 CFL TEB RidsNrrDirslpab JLC1 GEG KGO RML2 SRI Point Beach DRPIII DRSIII PLB1 TXN ROPreports@nrc.gov (inspection reports, final SDP letters, any letter with an IR number)

Page 1 of 2 Point Beach 08/30/2006 13:02:47 Inspection / Activity Plan Report 22 09/01/2006 - 03/31/2008 Unit No. of Staff Planned Dates Inspection Number Inspection Activity Title on Site Start End Type HEAD - SPECIAL INSPECTION OF HEAD DROP ANALYSIS 3 1, 2 IP 93812 Special Inspection 04/01/2006 12/31/2006 Event Response Insp CDBI - COMPONENT DESIGN BASES INSPECTION 7 1, 2 IP 95003 Inspection For Repetitive Degraded Cornerstones, Multiple Degraded Cornerstones, Multiple 06/01/2006 09/29/2006 Supplemental Program 1, 2 IP 7111121 Component Design Bases Inspection 08/28/2006 09/29/2006 Baseline Inspections ISI - POINT BEACH UNIT 2 ISI INSPECTION 1 2 IP 7111108P Inservice Inspection Activities - PWR 10/23/2006 11/03/2006 Baseline Inspections BI - OUTAGE ACCESS CONTROL (ALARA) 1 1, 2 IP 7112101 Access Control to Radiologically Significant Areas 10/23/2006 11/03/2006 Baseline Inspections 1, 2 IP 7112102 ALARA Planning and Controls 10/23/2006 11/03/2006 Baseline Inspections 71114 - BIENNIAL EP EXERCISE 1 1, 2 IP 7111401 Exercise Evaluation 12/04/2006 12/08/2006 Baseline Inspections 1, 2 IP 71151 Performance Indicator Verification 12/04/2006 12/08/2006 Baseline Inspections PI&R - PI&R TEAM INSPECTION 5 1, 2 IP 71152B Identification and Resolution of Problems 11/20/2006 12/15/2006 Baseline Inspections 7112102 - POST OUTAGE ALARA (ACCESS CONTROL) 1 1, 2 IP 7112101 Access Control to Radiologically Significant Areas 12/04/2006 12/08/2006 Baseline Inspections 1, 2 IP 7112102 ALARA Planning and Controls 12/04/2006 12/08/2006 Baseline Inspections 1, 2 IP 71151 Performance Indicator Verification 12/04/2006 12/08/2006 Baseline Inspections BI - RAD INSTUMENTATION 1 1, 2 IP 7112103 Radiation Monitoring Instrumentation and Protective Equipment 03/12/2007 03/16/2007 Baseline Inspections ISI - ISI BASELINE INSPECTION 1 1 IP 7111108P Inservice Inspection Activities - PWR 04/02/2007 04/27/2007 Baseline Inspections 7112101 - OUTAGE ACCESS CONTROL AND ALARA 2 1, 2 IP 7112101 Access Control to Radiologically Significant Areas 04/16/2007 04/27/2007 Baseline Inspections 1, 2 IP 7112102 ALARA Planning and Controls 04/16/2007 04/27/2007 Baseline Inspections FY 2007 - POINT BEACH INIT PREP 06/2007 3 1 W90164 OL - INITIAL EXAM - POINT BEACH - JUN/JUL 2007 06/18/2007 06/22/2007 Not Applicable FPI - FIRE PROTECTION INSPECTION - TRIENNIAL 3 1, 2 IP 7111105T Fire Protection [Triennial] 06/25/2007 07/13/2007 Baseline Inspections FY 2007 - POINT BEACH INIT EXAM 07/2007 3 1 W90164 OL - INITIAL EXAM - POINT BEACH - JUN/JUL 2007 07/09/2007 07/20/2007 Not Applicable 7112102 - POST OUTAGE ALARA AND ACCESS CONTROL 1 1, 2 IP 7112101 Access Control to Radiologically Significant Areas 08/20/2007 08/24/2007 Baseline Inspections 1, 2 IP 7112102 ALARA Planning and Controls 08/20/2007 08/24/2007 Baseline Inspections This report does not include INPO and OUTAGE activities.

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

Page 2 of 2 Point Beach 08/30/2006 13:02:47 Inspection / Activity Plan Report 22 09/01/2006 - 03/31/2008 Unit No. of Staff Planned Dates Inspection Number Inspection Activity Title on Site Start End Type 7112102 - POST OUTAGE ALARA AND ACCESS CONTROL 1 1, 2 IP 71151 Performance Indicator Verification 08/20/2007 08/24/2007 Baseline Inspections EP BI - BASELINE EP INSPECTION 1 1, 2 IP 7111402 Alert and Notification System Testing 11/05/2007 11/09/2007 Baseline Inspections 1, 2 IP 7111403 Emergency Response Organization Augmentation Testing 11/05/2007 11/09/2007 Baseline Inspections 1, 2 IP 7111405 Correction of Emergency Preparedness Weaknesses and Deficiencies 11/05/2007 11/09/2007 Baseline Inspections 1, 2 IP 71151-EP01 Drill/Exercise Performance 11/05/2007 11/09/2007 Baseline Inspections 1, 2 IP 71151-EP02 ERO Drill Participation 11/05/2007 11/09/2007 Baseline Inspections 1, 2 IP 71151-EP03 Alert & Notification System 11/05/2007 11/09/2007 Baseline Inspections 7112202 - RADWASTE AND TRANSPORTATION 1 1, 2 IP 7112202 Radioactive Material Processing and Transportation 10/22/2007 10/26/2007 Baseline Inspections 1, 2 IP 71151 Performance Indicator Verification 10/22/2007 10/26/2007 Baseline Inspections MAINRULE - MAINTENANCE EFFECTIVENESS INSPECTION 2 1, 2 IP 7111112B Maintenance Effectiveness 10/29/2007 11/02/2007 Baseline Inspections 71111.11 - LIC OPERATOR REQUAL PROGRAM EVALUATION 2 1, 2 IP 7111111B Licensed Operator Requalification Program 11/12/2007 11/16/2007 Baseline Inspections MOD5059 - MODIFICATIONS/50.59 INSPECTION 2 1, 2 IP 7111102 Evaluation of Changes, Tests, or Experiments 11/26/2007 12/14/2007 Baseline Inspections 1, 2 IP 7111117B Permanent Plant Modifications 11/26/2007 12/14/2007 Baseline Inspections HEATSINK - HEAT SINK INSOECTION 1 1, 2 IP 7111106 Flood Protection Measures 02/11/2008 02/15/2008 Baseline Inspections This report does not include INPO and OUTAGE activities.

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