ML091320623
| ML091320623 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Sequoyah  |
| Issue date: | 05/12/2009 |
| From: | Eugene Guthrie Reactor Projects Region 2 Branch 6 |
| To: | Swafford P Tennessee Valley Authority |
| References | |
| EA-08-348 IR-09-007 | |
| Download: ML091320623 (9) | |
See also: IR 05000327/2009007
Text
UNITED STATES
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
REGION II
SAM NUNN ATLANTA FEDERAL CENTER
61 FORSYTH STREET, SW, SUITE 23T85
ATLANTA, GEORGIA 30303-8931
May 12, 2009
Mr. Preston D. Swafford
Chief Nuclear Officer and
Executive Vice President
Tennessee Valley Authority
3R Lookout Place
1101 Market Street
Chattanooga, TN 37402-2801
SUBJECT:
NRC OFFICE OF INVESTIGATIONS REPORT 2-2008-024, SEQUOYAH
NUCLEAR PLANT INSPECTION REPORT 05000327/2009007,
05000328/2009007 AND NOTICE OF VIOLATION (NOV)
Dear Mr. Swafford:
This refers to the investigation completed on December 16, 2008, at your Sequoyah Nuclear
Power Plant. The purpose of the investigation was to review the facts and circumstances
associated with the failure to provide complete and accurate information regarding a chemistry
standing order. The results of the investigation were discussed on May 12, 2009 with Tim
Cleary and other members of your staff.
Based on the results of the investigation, the NRC has determined that a Severity Level IV
violation of NRC requirements occurred. The violation was evaluated in accordance with the
NRC Enforcement Policy, which is located on the NRCs Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/about-
nrc/regulatory/enforcement/enforc-pol.pdf. The violation is documented in the enclosed Notice
of Violation (Notice). For administrative purposes, this letter is issued as Inspection Report 05000327/2009007 and 05000328/2009007, and the NOV is designated as 05000327,
328/2009007-01.
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.390 of the NRC's "Rules of Practice," a copy of this letter will be
available electronically for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room or from the
Publicly Available Records (PARS) component of NRC's 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).
You are required to respond to this letter and should follow the instructions specified in the
enclosed Notice when preparing your response. The NRC will use your response, in part, to
determine whether further enforcement action is necessary to ensure compliance with
regulatory requirements.
2
If you contest the violation or significance of the NOV, you should provide a response within 30
days of the date of this inspection report, with the basis for your denial, to the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, ATTN: Document Control Desk, Washington DC 20555-0001, with
copies to the Regional Administrator, Region II, and the Director, Office of Enforcement, United
States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, and the NRC Resident
Inspector at the Sequoyah facility.
Your response 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.
If Safeguards Information is necessary to provide an acceptable response, please provide the
level of protection described in 10 CFR 73.21.
Sincerely,
/RA/
Eugene F. Guthrie, Chief
Reactor Projects Branch 6
Division of Reactor Projects
Docket Nos.: 50-327, 50-328
cc w/encls: (See Page 3)
Enclosures: 1. Synopsis OI Investigation 2-2008-034
3. List of Items Opened, Closed and Discussed
_________________________
X SUNSI REVIEW COMPLETE
OFFICE
RII:DRP
RII:DRS
RII:DRP
SIGNATURE
PCH
CFC for
EFG
NAME
PHiggins
SSparks
EGuthrie
DATE
4/24/2009
4/24/2009
5/12/2009
5/ /2009
5/ /2009
5/ /2009
5/ /2009
E-MAIL COPY?
YES
NO YES
NO YES
NO YES
NO YES
NO YES
NO YES
NO
3
cc w/encls:
Ashok S. Bhatnagar
Senior Vice President
Nuclear Generation Development and
Construction
Tennessee Valley Authority
Electronic Mail Distribution
Preston D. Swafford
Chief Nuclear Officer and Executive Vice
President
Tennessee Valley Authority
Electronic Mail Distribution
William R. Campbell
Senior Vice President
Fleet Engineering
Tennessee Valley Authority
6A Lookout Place
1101 Market Place
Chattanooga, TN 37402-2801
Christopher R. Church
Plant Manager
Sequoyah Nuclear Plant
Tennessee Valley Authority
Electronic Mail Distribution
Thomas Coutu
Vice President
Nuclear Support
Tennessee Valley Authority
Electronic Mail Distribution
Michael J. Lorek
Vice President
Nuclear Engineering & Projects
Tennessee Valley Authority
Electronic Mail Distribution
Timothy P. Cleary
Site Vice President
Sequoyah Nuclear Plant
Tennessee Valley Authority
Electronic Mail Distribution
Ann Harris
341 Swing Loop
Rockwood, TN 37854
Ludwig E. Thibault, General Manager
Nuclear Oversight & Assistance
Tennessee Valley Authority
3R Lookout Place
1101 Market Steet
Chattanooga , TN 37402-2801
General Counsel
Tennessee Valley Authority
Electronic Mail Distribution
Fredrick C. Mashburn
Acting Manager
Corporate Nuclear Licensing & Industry
Affairs
Tennessee Valley Authority
Electronic Mail Distribution
Beth A. Wetzel, Manager
Licensing and Industry Affairs
Sequoyah Nuclear Plant
Electronic Mail Distribution
Lawrence Edward Nanney
Director
Division of Radiological Health
TN Dept. of Environment & Conservation
Electronic Mail Distribution
County Mayor
Hamilton County
Hamilton County Courthouse
Chattanooga, TN 37402-2801
Larry E. Nicholson, General Manager
Performance Improvement
Tennessee Valley Authority
Electronic Mail Distribution
Michael A. Purcell
Senior Licensing Manager
Nuclear Power Group
Tennessee Valley Authority
Electronic Mail Distribution
James H. Bassham
Director
Tennessee Emergency Mgmt. Agency
Electronic Mail Distribution
4
Letter to Preston D. Swafford from Eugene Guthrie dated May 12, 2009
SUBJECT:
NRC OFFICE OF INVESTIGATIONS REPORT 2-2008-024, SEQUOYAH
NUCLEAR PLANT INSPECTION REPORT 05000327/2009007,
05000328/2009007 AND NOTICE OF VIOLATION (NOV)
Distribution w/encls:
C. Evans, RII
L. Slack, RII
OE Mail
RIDSNRRDIRS
PUBLIC
R. Pascarelli, NRR
RidsNrrPMSequoyah Resource
NOT FOR PUBLIC DISCLOSURE WITHOUT APPROVAL OF
FIELD OFFICE DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF INVESTIGATIONS, REGION II
Official Use Only - OI Investigation Information
Case No. 2-2008-024
Enclosure 1
SYNOPSIS
This investigation was initiated on February 20, 2008, by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC), Office of Investigations (OI), Region II (RII), to determine whether a
Chemistry Shift Manager at the Sequoyah Nuclear Plant deliberately failed to provide complete
and accurate information regarding a chemistry standing order, as required, and in violation of
Based upon the evidence developed, OI:RII substantiated that the Chemical Shift Supervisor
deliberately failed to provide complete and accurate information as required in the chemistry
standing order he signed and acknowledged on December 28, 2007.
Enclosure 2
Tenneesee Valley Authority (TVA)
Docket Nos. 50-327 & 50-328
Sequoyah Nuclear Plant
License Nos. DPR-77 &
During an NRC investigation conducted between February 20, 2008 and December 16, 2008, a
violation of NRC requirements was identified. In accordance with the NRC Enforcement Policy,
the violation is listed below:
10 CFR 50.9 (a) requires that information provided to the Commission by a licensee or
information required by statute or by the Commissions regulations, orders, or license conditions
to be maintained by the licensee shall be complete and accurate in all material respects.
Technical Specification 6.8.1 requires procedures described in Appendix A of RG 1.33, Revision
2 to be established, implemented, and maintained. Paragraph 10 of Appendix A of RG 1.33
requires, in part, that chemical control procedures be written to prescribe the limitations on
concentrations of agents that may cause corrosive attack or fouling of heat transfer surfaces
and specify laboratory instructions and calibration of laboratory equipment. Licensee procedure
SPP-5.3, Chemistry Control, Revision 5, implemented this requirement for all TVA nuclear
facilities.
Step 3.1.3 of procedure SPP-5.3 required Chemistry licensee personnel, including Chemistry
Supervisors, to implement chemistry quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) programs.
Appendix D of procedure SPP-5.3 described chemistry quality assurance, quality control and
referenced procedure CHTP-109, Chemistry QA/QC, for the details. Step 4.2.3E of procedure
CHTP-109 required that a known control standard check within the same concentration range
as the instrument calibration range be performed along with each batch of samples and
described a batch as less than or equal to 10 samples in a 12 hour1.388889e-4 days <br />0.00333 hours <br />1.984127e-5 weeks <br />4.566e-6 months <br /> period.
Contrary to the above, on January 25, 2008, a Chemistry Shift Supervisor deliberately entered
false data into the Chemistry Department internal laboratory statistics database. Specifically, on
January 24, 2008, the licensee employee failed to perform the required QA/QC standard check
for the evening shift, and the following day entered false data into the database. This
information was material to the NRC in that the substance of the information is used to
determine compliance with the Technical Specifications. The Chemistry Shift Supervisors
deliberate entry of false data into the internal laboratory statistics database caused the licensee
(TVA) to be in violation of 10 CFR 50.9 (a).
This is a Severity Level IV violation.
Pursuant to the provisions of 10 CFR 2.201, TVA is hereby required to submit a written
statement or explanation to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ATTN:
Document Control Desk, Washington, DC 20555-0001 with a copy to the Regional
Administrator, Region II, and a copy to the NRC Resident Inspector at the facility that is the
subject of this Notice, within 30 days of the date of the letter transmitting this Notice of Violation
(Notice).
2
Enclosure 2
This reply should be clearly marked as a Reply to a Notice of Violation; EA-08-348 and should
include for the violation: (1) the reasons for the violation, or, if contested, the basis for disputing
the violation or severity level, (2) the corrective steps that have been taken and the results
achieved, (3) the corrective steps that will be taken to avoid further violations, and (4) the date
when full compliance will be achieved.
Your response may reference or include previously docketed correspondence, if the
correspondence adequately addresses the required response. If an adequate reply is not
received within the time specified in this Notice, an order or a Demand for Information may be
issued as to why the license should not be modified, suspended, or revoked, or why such other
action as may be proper should not be taken. Where good cause is shown, consideration will
be given to extending the response time.
If you contest this enforcement action, you should also provide a copy of your response, with
the basis for your denial, to the Director, Office of Enforcement, United States Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
If Safeguards Information is necessary to provide an acceptable response, please provide the
level of protection described in 10 CFR 73.21.
Dated this 12th day of May 2009
Enclosure 3
LIST OF ITEMS OPENED, CLOSED, AND DISCUSSED
Opened
05000327,328/2009007-01
Falsifying Data