ML063410593
| ML063410593 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Byron  |
| Issue date: | 12/05/2006 |
| From: | Pederson C Division of Reactor Safety III |
| To: | Crane C Exelon Generation Co, Exelon Nuclear |
| References | |
| EA-06-272 3-2006-022 | |
| Download: ML063410593 (7) | |
Text
December 5, 2006 EA-06-272 Mr. Christopher M. Crane President and Chief Nuclear Officer Exelon Nuclear Exelon Generation Company, LLC 4300 Winfield Road Warrenville, IL 60555
SUBJECT:
BYRON STATION, UNITS 1 AND 2, NON-CITED VIOLATION
[OFFICE OF INVESTIGATIONS REPORT NO. 3-2006-022]
Dear Mr. Crane:
This refers to information provided to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) by Exelon on May 11, 2006, that a contract painter at the Byron Station (Byron) removed a tool from the radiologically controlled area (RCA) without a radiation survey of the tool in accordance with established radiation protection procedures for the Byron Station. The NRC Office of Investigations (OI) investigated the matter and concluded that the contract painter deliberately failed to have the required radiation survey performed on the material prior to removing it from the RCA.
Based on information developed during the OI investigation, the NRC concluded that a violation of an NRC-required radiation protection procedure occurred. The details of the violation are described in OI Report No. 3-2006-022, and a copy of the report synopsis is enclosed. In summary, a non-supervisory contractor employee mistakenly brought a sharpening tool into a personnel radiation monitor and then concealed the tool in a rolled up sweatshirt prior to leaving the RCA. By concealing the tool, the individual failed to ensure that a radiation survey was performed on the tool, in violation of an NRC-required procedure requiring radiation surveys of material prior to the unconditional release of material from the RCA.
Radiation protection (RP) personnel from Byron identified the rolled up sweatshirt, found the tool in the sweatshirt, and stopped the contract painter before he could leave the area. A subsequent radiation survey of the tool indicated the presence of a very low level of radioactivity on the tool (about 7,000 disintegrations per minute of radioactive contamination).
Exelon Procedure No. RP-AA-503, Unconditional Release Survey Method, a procedure required by Byron Technical Specification 5.4.1, provides that a radiation survey must be performed on all materials removed from the RCA. The contractor employee was aware of this requirement, through training, posted signs, and a pre-work briefing on May 11, 2006.
Therefore, the actions of this non-supervisory, contract employee are considered deliberate in nature, and his actions on May 11, 2006, placed Exelon in violation of an NRC-required radiation protection procedure. In view of the non-supervisory position held by the individual and the very low safety significance associated with the contamination on the tool that he removed from the RCA, this violation has been categorized in accordance with the NRC
C. Crane Enforcement Policy1 at Severity Level IV. The actions of the individual also placed the individual in violation of the NRC regulation prohibiting deliberate misconduct, 10 CFR 50.5(a)(1).
The NRC recognizes that Exelon identified this deliberate violation and took corrective actions consisting of: (1) returning the tool to the RCA immediately upon discovery of the violation, restoring compliance with licensee procedures and NRC requirements; (2) taking disciplinary actions against the individual that caused the violation; (3) taking additional actions to improve awareness for all site workers and contract workers through site wide communications before the B1R14 outage in September 2006; and (4) entering the issue into the corrective action program at Byron as Condition Report No. 489273. Therefore, the violation is being treated as a Non-Cited Violation (NCV), consistent with Section VI.A of the Enforcement Policy, and you are not required to respond to this letter.
If you contest the violation or significance of the NCV, you should provide a response within 30 days of the date of this letter, with the basis for your denial, to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ATTN: Document Control Desk, Washington DC 20555-0001, with copies to the Regional Administrator and Enforcement Officer, Region III, the Director, Office of Enforcement, United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, and the NRC Resident Inspector at Byron.
Questions concerning this matter should be addressed to Steven K. Orth, Health Physics Program Manager, Plant Support Team. Mr. Orth can be reached at telephone number (630) 829-9827.
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.390 of the NRC's "Rules of Practice," a copy of this letter, its enclosure, and your response, should 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/
Cynthia D. Pederson, Director Division of Reactor Safety Docket Nos. 50-454; 50-455 License Nos. NPF-37; NPF-66
Enclosure:
Synopsis of OI Report No. 3-2006-022 See Attached Distribution 1
The current Enforcement Policy is included on the NRCs web site at www.nrc.gov; select What We Do, Enforcement, then Enforcement Policy.
C.Crane cc w/encl: Site Vice President - Byron Station Plant Manager - Byron Station Regulatory Assurance Manager - Byron Station Chief Operating Officer Senior Vice President - Nuclear Services Vice President - Mid-West Operations Support Vice President - Licensing and Regulatory Affairs Director Licensing Manager Licensing - Braidwood and Byron Senior Counsel, Nuclear Document Control Desk - Licensing Assistant Attorney General Illinois Emergency Management Agency State Liaison Officer, State of Illinois State Liaison Officer, State of Wisconsin Chairman, Illinois Commerce Commission B. Quigley, Byron Station
C. Crane Enforcement Policy2 at Severity Level IV. The actions of the individual also placed the individual in violation of the NRC regulation prohibiting deliberate misconduct, 10 CFR 50.5(a)(1).
The NRC recognizes that Exelon identified this deliberate violation and took corrective actions consisting of: (1) returning the tool to the RCA immediately upon discovery of the violation, restoring compliance with licensee procedures and NRC requirements; (2) taking disciplinary actions against the individual that caused the violation; (3) taking additional actions to improve awareness for all site workers and contract workers through site wide communications before the B1R14 outage in September 2006; and (4) entering the issue into the corrective action program at Byron as Condition Report No. 489273. Therefore, the violation is being treated as a Non-Cited Violation (NCV), consistent with Section VI.A of the Enforcement Policy, and you are not required to respond to this letter.
If you contest the violation or significance of the NCV, you should provide a response within 30 days of the date of this letter, with the basis for your denial, to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ATTN: Document Control Desk, Washington DC 20555-0001, with copies to the Regional Administrator and Enforcement Officer, Region III, the Director, Office of Enforcement, United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, and the NRC Resident Inspector at Byron.
Questions concerning this matter should be addressed to Steven K. Orth, Health Physics Program Manager, Plant Support Team. Mr. Orth can be reached at telephone number (630) 829-9827.
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.390 of the NRC's "Rules of Practice," a copy of this letter, its enclosure, and your response, should 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, Cynthia D. Pederson, Director Division of Reactor Safety Docket Nos. 50-454; 50-455 License Nos. NPF-37; NPF-66
Enclosure:
Synopsis of OI Report No. 3-2006-022 DOCUMENT NAME:C:\FileNet\ML063410593.wpd To receive a copy of this document, indicate in the box: "C" = Copy without attachment/enclosure "E" = Copy with attachment/enclosure "N" = No copy OFFICE RIII RIII RIII OE RIII NAME SKO for JCassidy: SOrth BBerson CCarpenter MSatorius DATE 11/15/06 11/16/06 11/16/06 11/28/06 11/30/06 OFFICE RIII RIII:OI RIII NAME GShear RPaul** CPederson DATE 12/04/06 11/13/06 12/05/06 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY See Attached Distribution C. Crane 2 The current Enforcement Policy is included on the NRCs web site at www.nrc.gov; select What We Do, Enforcement, then Enforcement Policy.
cc w/encl: Site Vice President - Byron Station Plant Manager - Byron Station Regulatory Assurance Manager - Byron Station Chief Operating Officer Senior Vice President - Nuclear Services Vice President - Mid-West Operations Support Vice President - Licensing and Regulatory Affairs Director Licensing Manager Licensing - Braidwood and Byron Senior Counsel, Nuclear Document Control Desk - Licensing Assistant Attorney General Illinois Emergency Management Agency State Liaison Officer, State of Illinois State Liaison Officer, State of Wisconsin Chairman, Illinois Commerce Commission B. Quigley, Byron Station DISTRIBUTION:
SECY OCA L. Reyes, EDO W. Kane, DEDR C. Carpenter, OE D. Solorio, OE R. Fretz, OE J. Caldwell, RIII G. Grant, RIII L. Chandler, OGC B. Jones, OGC J. Dyer, NRR D. Holody, Enforcement Officer, RI C. Evans, Enforcement Officer, RII K. OBrien, Enforcement Officer, RIII G. Shear, Acting Enforcement Officer, RIII K. Fuller, Enforcement Officer, RIV R. Pascarelli, Enforcement Coordinator, NRR Resident Inspector E. Brenner, OPA H. Bell, OIG G. Caputo, OI J. Schlueter, OSTP R. Paul, RIII:OI E. Richards, RIII:OI N. Hane, RIII:OI C. Weil, RIII:EICS
J. Strasma, RIII:PA R. Lickus, RIII J. Lynch, RIII OEWEB OEMAIL OAC3 DXC1 TEB RFK RidsNrrDirsIrib GEG KGO GLS BLB1 CAA1 LSL CDP1 DRPIII DRSIII PLB1 TXN ROPreports@nrc.gov
SYNOPSIS This investigation was initiated by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Office of Investigations, Region III, on June 12, 2006 to determine if a contract painter at the Byron Generating Station violated radiation protection procedures.
Based on the evidence developed, this investigation did substantiate the allegation that the contract painter deliberately violated radiation protection procedures.
Case No. 3-2006-022