IR 05000271/2007502

IR 05000271-07-502; on 10/16/2007 - 10/19/2007; Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station; Exercise Evaluation; Emergency Action Level and Emergency Plan Changes; Emergency Preparedness Performance Indicators

ML073241143
Person / Time
Site:	Vermont Yankee File:NorthStar Vermont Yankee icon.png
Issue date:	11/20/2007
From:	James Trapp Plant Support Branch 1
To:	Ted Sullivan Entergy Nuclear Operations
References
IR-07-502
Download: ML073241143 (11)

Text

ber 20, 2007

SUBJECT:

VERMONT YANKEE NUCLEAR POWER STATION - NRC EVALUATED EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS EXERCISE - INSPECTION REPORT NO.

05000271/2007502

Dear Mr. Sullivan:

On October 19, 2007, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) completed an inspection of the 2007 evaluated emergency preparedness exercise at your Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station. The enclosed inspection report documents the inspection results, which were discussed on October 19, 2007, with you and other members of your staff.

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.

The inspectors reviewed selected procedures and records, observed activities, and interviewed personnel.

Based on the results of this inspection, no findings of significance were identified.

In accordance with 10 CFR 2.390 of the NRC's "Rules of Practice," a copy of this letter and its enclosure and your response (if any) will be available electronically for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room or 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 Public Electronic Reading Room).

Sincerely,

/RA/

James M. Trapp, Chief Plant Support Branch 1 Division of Reactor Safety Docket No: 50-271 License No: DPR-28

November 20, 2007 Mr. Theodore Site Vice President Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.

Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station P.O. Box 0500 185 Old Ferry Road Brattleboro, VT 05302-0500 SUBJECT: VERMONT YANKEE NUCLEAR POWER STATION - NRC EVALUATED EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS EXERCISE - INSPECTION REPORT NO.

05000271/2007502

Dear Mr. Sullivan:

On October 19, 2007, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) completed an inspection of the 2007 evaluated emergency preparedness exercise at your Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station. The enclosed inspection report documents the inspection results, which were discussed on October 19, 2007, with you and other members of your staff.

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.

The inspectors reviewed selected procedures and records, observed activities, and interviewed personnel.

Based on the results of this inspection, no findings of significance were identified.

In accordance with 10 CFR 2.390 of the NRC's "Rules of Practice," a copy of this letter and its enclosure and your response (if any) will be available electronically for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room or 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 Public Electronic Reading Room).

Sincerely,

/RA/

James M. Trapp, Chief Plant Support Branch 1 Division of Reactor Safety Docket No: 50-271 License No: DPR-28 SUNSI Review Complete: JMT (Reviewers Initials) ADAMS ACCESSION NO. ML073241143 DOCUMENT NAME: C:\FileNet\ML073241143.wpd After declaring this document An Official Agency Record it will be released to the Public.

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 RI/DRS RI/DRP RI/DRS NAME SBarr/STB RPowell/RJP JTrapp/JMT DATE 11/19/07 11/19/07 11/20/07 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY cc w/encl:

M. R. Kansler, President, Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.

G. J. Taylor, Chief Executive Officer, Entergy Operations J. Wayne Leonard, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Entergy Operations J. T. Herron, Senior Vice President M. Balduzzi, Senior Vice President, Northeastern Regional Operations J. DeRoy, Vice President, Operations Support O. Limpias, Vice President, Engineering Sr. Vice President, Engineering and Technical Services D. Mannai, Manager, Licensing, Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station Operating Experience Coordinator, Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station W. Maguire, General Manager, Plant Operations, Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.

N. Rademacher, Director, Engineering, Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station J. F. McCann, Director, Licensing Manager, Licensing E. Harkness, Director of Oversight, Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.

Assistant General Counsel, Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.

J. H. Sniezek, PWR SRC Consultant M. D. Lyster, PWR SRC Consultant G. Edwards S. Lousteau, Treasury Department, Entergy Services, Inc.

D. O Dowd, Administrator, Radiological Health Section, DPHS, DHHS, State of New Hampshire W. Irwin, Chief, CHP, Radiological Health, Vermont Department of Health Chief, Safety Unit, Office of the Attorney General, Commonwealth of Mass.

D. Lewis, Pillsbury, Winthrop, Shaw, Pittman LLP G. D. Bisbee, Esquire, Deputy Attorney General, Environmental Protection Bureau J. Block, Esquire J. P. Matteau, Executive Director, Windham Regional Commission D. Katz, Citizens Awareness Network (CAN)

R. Shadis, New England Coalition Staff G. Sachs, President/Staff Person, c/o Stopthesale J. Volz, Chairman, Public Service Board, State of Vermont Chairman, Board of Selectman, Town of Vernon C. Pope, State of New Hampsire, SLO D. O'Brien, State of Vermont, SLO J. Giarrusso, SLO, MEMA, Commonwealth of Massachusetts U. Vanags, State Nuclear Engineer, Vermont Department of Public Service A. Cleaves, Regional Director, FEMA Region I S. Porell, Regional Assistance Committee Chairman, FEMA Region I Distribution w/encl: (via E-mail)

S. Collins, RA M. Dapas, DRA R. Powell, DRP B. Norris, DRP N. Sieller, DRP R. Laufer, RI OEDO (Acting)

M. Kowal, NRR J. Lubinski, NRR J. Kim, PM, NRR J. Boska, Backup PM, NRR B. Sienel, DRP, Senior Resident Inspector (Acting)

A. Rancourt, DRP, Resident OA Region I Docket Room (with concurrences)

ROPreports@nrc.gov R. Kahler, NSIR S. LaVie, NSIR M. Gamberoni, DRS D. Roberts, DRS J. Trapp, DRS S. Barr, DRS

U. S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION REGION I

REGION I

Docket No: 50-271 License No: DPR-28 Report No: 05000271/2007502 Licensee: Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee, LLC Facility: Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station Location: Vernon, Vermont Dates: October 16, 2007 through October 19, 2007 Inspectors: S. Barr, Sr. Emergency Preparedness Inspector, Division of Reactor Safety (DRS), Region I (Lead)

B. Sienel, Resident Inspector, Vermont Yankee R. Cureton, Emergency Preparedness Inspector, DRS, Region I T. Jackson, Sr. Health Physicist, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety (DNMS), Region I Approved by: James M. Trapp, Chief Plant Support Branch 1 Division of Reactor Safety Enclosure

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS IR 05000271/2007502; 10/16/2007 - 10/19 /2007; Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station; Exercise Evaluation; Emergency Action Level and Emergency Plan Changes; Emergency Preparedness Performance Indicators.

This was an announced inspection conducted by three region-based inspectors and the Vermont Yankee resident inspector. No findings of significance were identified. The NRCs program for overseeing the safe operation of commercial nuclear power reactors is described in NUREG-1649, Reactor Oversight Process, Revision 4, dated December 2006.

Cornerstone: Emergency Preparedness A. NRC-Identified and Self-Revealing Findings No findings of significance were identified B. Licensee-Identified Findings None.

ii Enclosure

Report Details 1. REACTOR SAFETY Cornerstone: Emergency Preparedness (EP)

1EP1 Exercise Evaluation (71114.01 - 1 Sample)

a. Inspection Scope Prior to the exercise, an in-office review was conducted of the exercise objectives and scenario submitted to the NRC, to determine if the exercise would test major elements of the emergency plan as required by 10 CFR 50.47(b)(14). The elements of the evaluation conducted by the NRC during the exercise are described below. Overall, this inspection activity represented the completion of one sample on a biennial cycle.

The exercise evaluation consisted of the following review and assessment:

• The adequacy of Vermont Yankees performance in the biennial full-participation exercise regarding the implementation of the risk-significant planning standards (RSPS) in 10 CFR 50.47 (b)(4), (5), (9), and (10), which are emergency classification, offsite notification, radiological assessment, and protective action recommendations, respectively.

• The overall adequacy of Vermont Yankees emergency response facilities with regard to NUREG-0696, Functional Criteria for Emergency Response Facilities, and Emergency Plan commitments. The facilities assessed were the Control Room Simulator, the Technical Support Center (TSC), the Operations Support Center (OSC), the Joint Information Center (JIC), and the Emergency Operations Facility (EOF).

• Other performance areas, such as, the emergency response organizations (EROs) recognition of abnormal plant conditions, command and control, intra- and inter-facility communications, prioritization of mitigation activities, utilization of repair and field monitoring teams, interface with offsite agencies, staffing and procedure adequacy, and the overall implementation of the emergency plan and its implementing procedures.

• Past performance issues from the last NRC exercise report and Vermont Yankees drill reports to determine effectiveness of corrective actions as demonstrated during this exercise to ensure compliance with 10 CFR 50.47(b)(14).

• The post-exercise critiques to evaluate Vermont Yankees self-assessment of its ERO performance during the exercise and to ensure compliance with 10 CFR 50, Appendix E, Paragraph IV.F.2.g.

The inspectors reviewed the documents listed in the attachment to this report.

Enclosure

b. Findings No findings of significance were identified.

1EP4 Emergency Action Level (EAL) and Emergency Plan Changes a. Inspection Scope (71114.04 - 1 Sample)

Since the last NRC inspection of this program area, Emergency Plan Revisions 42 and 43 were implemented based on the licensees determination, in accordance with 10 CFR 50.54(q), that the changes resulted in no decrease in effectiveness of the Plan, and that the revised Plan continued to meet the requirements of 10 CFR 50.47(b) and Appendix E to 10 CFR 50. The inspectors inspected all EAL changes made since August 2006, and conducted a sampling review of the Emergency Plan changes, and changes to the lower-tier emergency plan implementing procedures, to evaluate for potential decreases in effectiveness of the Emergency Plan. However, this review was not documented in a Safety Evaluation Report and does not constitute formal NRC approval of the changes.

Therefore, these changes remain subject to future NRC inspection in their entirety.

b. Findings No findings of significance were identified.

4. OTHER ACTIVITIES (OA)

4OA1 Performance Indicator (PI) Verification (71151- 3 Samples)

a. Inspection Scope The inspectors reviewed data for the Vermont Yankee EP PIs, which are: (1) Drill and Exercise Performance (DEP); (2) ERO Drill Participation; and (3) Alert and Notification System (ANS) Reliability. The last EP inspection at Vermont Yankee was in the third quarter of 2006, so the inspectors reviewed supporting documentation from drills and tests from the third and fourth quarters of 2006 and the first three quarters of 2007, to verify the accuracy of the reported PI data. The review of these performance indicators was conducted in accordance with NRC Inspection Procedure 71151. The acceptance criteria used for the review were documented in NEI 99-02, Revision 5, Regulatory Assessment Performance Indicator Guidelines.

This inspection activity represented the completion of three samples on an annual cycle.

b. Findings No findings of significance were identified.

Enclosure

40A6 Meetings, including Exit On October 19 , 2007, the inspector presented the inspection results to Mr. Theodore Sullivan, Vermont Yankee Vice President, and other members of the Vermont Yankee staff. No proprietary information was provided to the inspectors during this inspection.

Enclosure

A-1 ATTACHMENT SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION KEY POINTS OF CONTACT Licensee Personnel M. Wilson, Vermont Yankee Emergency Preparedness Manager LIST OF ITEMS OPENED, CLOSED, AND DISCUSSED None LIST OF DOCUMENTS REVIEWED Section 1EP1: Exercise Evaluation Emergency Plan, Entergy Vermont Yankee (Revision 43)

Vermont Yankee Emergency Plan Implementing Procedures Vermont Yankee October 17, 2007, Emergency Exercise Scenario Package Vermont Yankee Emergency Preparedness Drill Reports, January 2006 - September 2007 Condition Reports Developed From The October 17, 2007, Exercise:

CR-VTY-2007-03946 CR-VTY-2007-03948 CR-VTY-2007-03954 CR-VTY-2007-03957 CR-VTY-2007-03958 CR-VTY-2007-03959 CR-VTY-2007-03965 Section 1EP4: Emergency Action Level an Emergency Plan Changes Procedure EN-LI-100, Process Applicability Determination (Revision 4)

Procedure EN-LI-113, Licensing Basis Document Change Process (Revision 1)

Procedure EN-EP-305, Emergency Planning 10CFR50.54(q) Review Program (Revision 1)

Emergency Plan, Entergy Vermont Yankee (Revisions 42 and 43)

Emergency Plan Implementing Procedure (EPIP) AP 3125, Emergency Plan Classification and Action Level Scheme (Revision 20) Change Package Sample of all other EPIP changes made between August 2006 - September 2007 Attachment

A-2 Section 4OA1: Performance Indicator Verification Procedure EN-LI-114, Performance Indicator Process (Revision 2)

Procedure EN-EP-201, Performance Indicators (Revision 6)

Drill/Exercise Performance Indicator Data, July 2006 - September 2007 ERO Drill Participation Performance Indicator Data, July 2006 - September 2007 ANS Reliability Performance Indicator Data, July 2006 - September 2007 LIST OF ACRONYMS CFR Code of Federal Regulations CR Condition Report ERO Emergency Response Organization EOF Emergency Operations Facility EP Emergency Preparedness EPIP Emergency Planning Implementing Procedure ERO Emergency Response Organization JIC Joint Information Center NRC Nuclear Regulatory Commission OSC Operations Support Center RSPS Risk Significant Planning Standard TSC Technical Support Center Attachment