ML062970451
| ML062970451 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Palisades  |
| Issue date: | 10/20/2006 |
| From: | Caldwell J Region 3 Administrator |
| To: | Harden P Nuclear Management Co |
| References | |
| 3-2005-004, EA-06-213 | |
| Download: ML062970451 (3) | |
Text
October 20, 2006 EA-06-213 Mr. Paul A. Harden Site Vice President Nuclear Management Company, LLC Palisades Nuclear Plant 27780 Blue Star Memorial Highway Covert, MI 49043-9530
SUBJECT:
OFFICE OF INVESTIGATIONS REPORT NO. 3-2005-004 PALISADES NUCLEAR PLANT
Dear Mr. Harden:
This refers to an investigation by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Office of Investigations (OI) that was completed on April 28, 2006, at the Palisades Nuclear Plant (Palisades) operated by the Nuclear Management Company, LLC (NMC). The investigation concerned possible incomplete and inaccurate information in a November 2, 2004, letter from the NMC to the NRC requesting an emergency change to the Palisades Technical Specifications. In that letter, the NMC requested the Technical Specifications be changed to add additional restrictions that limit the cool down rates for the reactor.
Title 10 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 50.91(a)(6), Notice for Public Comment; State Consultation, provides in part, that an NRC licensee requesting an emergency amendment to plant Technical Specifications must explain why the emergency situation occurred and why the licensee could not avoid the situation. Information in the November 2, 2004, letter, from the NMC indicated that emergency circumstances existed, that the condition was unavoidable and that compliance with the current Technical Specifications would be insufficient to assure plant safety. This information appeared to be incomplete and/or inaccurate, in that as early as June 2004, several members of the Palisades staff had indications that a change to the plant Technical Specifications could possibly be required to accommodate repairs to the reactor vessel head and would necessitate a change in the Technical Specifications associated with cooling down. However, we determined that the NMCs analysis of the repair and its impact on the Technical Specifications was not complete and the need to change the Technical Specifications was not recognized by the NMC until the analysis required by 10 CFR 50.59, Changes, Tests and Experiments, was completed on October 26, 2004. Therefore, the statement in the November 2, 2004, letter from the NMC that emergency circumstances existed and the condition was unavoidable was complete and accurate and did not violate 10 CFR 50.9, Completeness and Accuracy of Information. As a result, the NRC staff is not proposing enforcement action in this matter.
Please contact David E. Hills, Chief, Engineering Branch 1, with questions. Mr. Hills can be reached at telephone number (630) 829-9733.
1 No legal objection received by e-mail from Jenny Longo, OGC, on September 13, 2006.
2 HQ concurrence received by e-mail from Robert Fretz, OE, on October 16, 2006.
P. Harden You are not required to respond to this letter. However, should you choose to respond, your response should be sent to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ATTN: Regional Administrator, Region III, 2443 Warrenville Road, Suite 210, Lisle, IL 60532-4352 with a copy to the Enforcement Officer at the same address and a copy to the NRC Resident Inspector at the Palisades Nuclear Plant, and marked Response to An Enforcement Action, EA-06-213, within 30 days of the date of this letter.
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.390 of the NRC's "Rules of Practice," a copy of this letter and your response, if you choose to respond, 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.
Sincerely,
/RA/
James L. Caldwell Regional Administrator Docket No. 50-255 License No. DPR-20 cc:
J. Cowan, Executive Vice President and Chief Nuclear Officer R. Fenech, Senior Vice President, Nuclear Fossil and Hydro Operations D. Cooper, Senior Vice President - Group Operations L. Lahti, Manager, Regulatory Affairs J. Rogoff, Vice President, Counsel and Secretary A. Udrys, Esquire, Consumers Energy Company S. Wawro, Director of Nuclear Assets, Consumers Energy Company Supervisor, Covert Township Office of the Governor State Liaison Office, State of Michigan L. Brandon, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality -
Waste and Hazardous Materials Division FILE NAME: C:\\FileNet\\ML062970451.wpd 9 Publicly Available 9 Non-Publicly Available 9 Sensitive 9 Non-Sensitive To receive a copy of this document, indicate in the box: "C" = Copy w/o att/encl "E" = Copy w/att/encl "N" = No copy OFFICE RIII C
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NAME Weil Longo for Jones Fretz for Carpenter Pederson Satorius OBrien Caldwell DATE 10/17/06 9/13 /06 10/16/06 10/20/06 10/20/06 10/20/06 10/20/06 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY
Letter from J. Caldwell to P. Harden dated October 20, 2006
SUBJECT:
OFFICE OF INVESTIGATIONS REPORT NO. 3-2005-004 PALISADES NUCLEAR PLANT DISTRIBUTION:
SECY OCA L. Reyes, EDO W. Kane, DEDR C. Carpenter, OE D. Solorio, OE D. Starkey, OE R. Fretz, OE J. Caldwell, RIII G. Grant, RIII L. Chandler, OGC B. Jones, OGC J. Dyer, NRR C. Pederson, RIII M. Satorius, RIII A. Boland, RIII S. West, RIII D. Holody, Enforcement Coordinator, RI C. Evans, Enforcement Coordinator, RII K. OBrien, Enforcement Coordinator, RIII K. Fuller, Enforcement Coordinator, RIV R. Pascarelli, Enforcement Coordinator, NRR J. Longo, OGC J. Ellegood, RIII E. Brenner, OPA H. Bell, OIG G. Caputo, OI J. Schlueter, OSTP R. Paul, RIII:OI E. Richards, RIII:OI N. Hane, RIII:OI D. Hills, RIII C. Lipa, RIII C. Weil, RIII J. Strasma, RIII:PA V. Mitlyng, RIII:PA R. Lickus, RIII S. Minnick, RIII J. Lynch, RIII OEWEB OEMAIL OAC3