IR 05000391/2012601
| ML112440649 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Watts Bar  |
| Issue date: | 09/01/2011 |
| From: | Haag R NRC/RGN-II/DCP/CPB3 |
| To: | Bhatnagar A Tennessee Valley Authority |
| References | |
| IR-12-601 | |
| Download: ML112440649 (8) | |
Text
September 1, 2011
SUBJECT:
MID-CYCLE ASSESSMENT LETTER - WATTS BAR NUCLEAR PLANT UNIT 2 (NRC INSPECTION REPORT 05000391/2012601)
Dear Mr. Bhatnagar:
On August 11, 2011, the NRC staff completed its performance review of the Watts Bar Nuclear (WBN) Plant Unit 2 construction project. Our technical staff reviewed inspection results for the period from July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2011. 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.
Overall, WBN Unit 2 construction activities were conducted in a manner that complied with the Commissions rules and regulations, the conditions of your construction permit, and the Unit 2 regulatory framework commitments. Our inspections indicated that your construction program and procedure development, along with project staffing, were sufficiently implemented to support ongoing construction activities. Management and Quality Assurance oversight effectively monitored and assessed construction activities. Recently our inspections identified concerns with the completeness and adequacy in the implementation of your corrective actions associated with several historical issues. Specifically, for non-cited violation (NCV)05000391/2011605-01, Failure to take adequate corrective action associated with construction deficiency reports (CDRs) and issues identified in a NRC Bulletin, the NRC staff identified four examples of inadequate corrective actions to resolve the historical issues. Because of the large number of historical Watt Bar 2 issues that will require resolution, the NRC is concerned with the possible implications if your corrective actions are not thorough and properly documented. Your approach taken to resolve this NCV should be rigorous enough to ensure that all historical issues are properly resolved and that the final closure packages contain appropriate documentation to demonstrate implementation of corrective actions. The NRC staff will continue to inspect this area during review of corrective actions for historical issues and review of your closure packages. In addition, a review of your corrective actions for the NCV will be accomplished by performing a focused Problem Identification and Resolution (PI&R) sample inspection in this area.
The corrective action program implementation activities, including initiation, classification, disposition, and trending were deemed satisfactory; however, some issues that were entered into your corrective action program have not yet been resolved. Specifically, for violation (VIO)
005000391/2010603-08, Failure to Adequately Evaluate and Qualify Molded Case Circuit
UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
REGION II
245 PEACHTREE CENTER AVE., NE., SUITE 1200 ATLANTA, GEORGIA 30303-1257
Breakers and for unresolved item (URI)05000391/2011606-01, Electrical Design Issues, the NRC staff has not seen the corrective actions necessary to close these items. These items are of high priority for the NRC staff where follow-up inspection will be required. It is important that you have a plan to resolve these items and implement adequate corrective actions to ensure that the quality requirements are satisfied so these components and systems will be able perform their safety-related function during a worst case design basis accident.
During the 2010 End-of-Cycle Assessment, a cross-cutting theme was identified in the Work Practices component of the Human Performance cross-cutting area (H.4(b)), for the failure to effectively communicate expectations regarding procedural compliance and that personnel follow procedures. The NRC staff evaluated this cross-cutting theme during the 2010 End-of-Cycle Assessment to determine if a Substantive Cross-Cutting Issue existed. Because two of the four findings that comprised the cross-cutting theme were documented in last quarter of that assessment period, the NRC staff determined more time was needed to assess the effectiveness of your corrective actions. In preparation for the 2011 Mid-Cycle Assessment, the NRC staff reviewed your corrective actions associated with the cross-cutting theme. Based on these corrective actions and the fact that only three findings exist in the Work Practices component of the Human Performance cross-cutting area (H.4(b)) for the twelve (12) month period considered during the Mid-Cycle Assessment review, we have concluded that a Substantive Cross-Cutting Issue does not exist.
The NRC staff has expended a large effort toward the WBN Unit 2 project over the last twelve months. Specifically, the Region II office has spent over 17,200 hours0.00231 days <br />0.0556 hours <br />3.306878e-4 weeks <br />7.61e-5 months <br /> performing inspections, assessments, public meetings, allegation follow-up, and inspection program support for WBN Unit 2. The NRC staff anticipates the number of hours to increase as WBN Unit 2 construction activities continue and pre-operational testing is performed on additional safety-related systems.
In conclusion, project performance for the most recent quarter, as well as for the previous three quarters of the assessment cycle, was acceptable based on the above inspection conclusions, the fact that all violations were classified as severity level IV or below, and that no Substantive Cross-Cutting Issue was identified. Therefore, we do not plan to expand our inspection activities beyond what is specified by Inspection Manual Chapter (IMC) 2517.
The enclosed inspection plan contains those major or infrequent projected inspection activities that we have currently identified, in part, by reviewing your project schedule. It is crucial that you keep us apprised of any project schedule changes as soon as they are identified, in order to maintain our inspection plan current. As additional details of your project schedule become available, we will plan other inspections specified in IMC 2517. Your staff will be informed of changes/ additions to our inspection plans. Routine inspections performed by the resident inspectors and regional staff on construction activities, Corrective Active Programs (CAPs),
Special Programs (SPs), Generic Communications, historical open items, and CDRs are not listed on the inspection plan due to their ongoing and continuous nature. We plan to give your staff ample notification of specific upcoming inspection activities as their schedule becomes available in order to allow for the resolution of any scheduling conflicts and personnel availability issues.
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.390 of the NRCs Rules of Practice, a copy of this letter and its enclosure 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).
Please contact me at (404) 997-4446 with any questions you may have regarding this letter or our planned inspections.
Sincerely,
/RA/
Robert C. Haag, Chief
Construction Projects Branch 3
Division of Construction Projects
Docket No. 50-391 Construction Permit No: CPPR-92
Enclosure
cc: (See next page)
ML112440649 G SUNSI REVIEW COMPLETE OFFICE RII:DCP RII:DCP RII:DCP
SIGNATURE JBB TXN CJE
NAME JBaptist TNazario CEven
DATE 8/31/2011 8/31/2011 8/31/2011
E-MAIL COPY?
YES NO YES NO YES NO
cc w/encl:
Mr. Gordon P. Arent Manager, New Generation Licensing Nuclear Generation Development and Construction WBN Nuclear Plant P.O. Box 2000 Spring City, Tennessee 37381
Mr. Dave Stinson Vice President WBN Unit Two WBN Nuclear Plant Tennessee Valley Authority P.O. Box 2000 Spring City, Tennessee 37381
Mr. C.J. Reid Manager, Licensing and Industry Affairs WBN Nuclear Plant Tennessee Valley Authority P.O. Box 2000 Spring City, Tennessee 37381
Mr. Preston D. Swafford Chief Nuclear Officer and Executive Vice President Tennessee Valley Authority 3R Lookout Place 1101 Market Place Chattanooga, Tennessee 37402-2801
County Executive 375 Church Street Suite 215 Dayton, Tennessee 37321
W.D. Crouch, Manager WBN Unit 2 Licensing Watts Bar Nuclear Plant Tennessee Valley Authority P.O. Box 2000 Spring City, Tennessee 37381
Mr. Gregory A. Boerschig Plant Manager, WBN Nuclear Plant Tennessee Valley Authority P.O. Box 2000 Spring City, Tennessee 37381
Mr. T.J. Neissen General Manager NGDC Governance & Oversight Tennessee Valley Authority 3A Blue Ridge Place 1101 Market Street Chattanooga, Tennessee 37402-2801
Mr. R.M Krich Vice President Nuclear Licensing Tennessee Valley Authority 3R Lookout Place 1101 Market Street Chattanooga, Tennessee 37402-2801
Mr. E.J. Vigluicci Assistant General Counsel Tennessee Valley Authority 6A West Tower 400 West Summit Hill Drive Knoxville, Tennessee 37402
Lawrence E. Nanney, Director Tennessee Department of Environmental Health and Conservation Division of Radiological Health 3rd Floor, L&C Annex 401 Church Street Nashville, TN 37243-1532
Mr. D. E. Grissette Site Vice President WBN Nuclear Plant Tennessee Valley Authority P.O. Box 2000 Spring City, Tennessee 37381
County Mayor P.O. Box 156 Decatur, Tennessee 37322
Ms. Ann P. Harris 341 Swing Loop Rockwood, TN 37854
cc email distribution w/encl:
Greg Scott Tennessee Valley Authority Electronic Mail Distribution
Watts Bar Unit 2 Licensing Tennessee Valley Authority Electronic Mail Distribution
Letter to Ashok from Robert C. Haag dated September 1, 2010.
SUBJECT:
WATTS BAR NUCLEAR PLANT UNIT 2 CONSTRUCTION - NRC INSPECTION REPORT 05000391/2009601
Distribution w/encl:
S. Campbell, NRR L. Raghavan, NRR J. Wiebe, NRR P. Milano, NRR C. Evans, RII S. Lewis, RII EICS E. Guthrie, RII DRP R. Monk, RII Watts Bar Unit 1 SRI PUBLIC
Enclosure Inspection Plan
Watts Bar Unit 2*
Inspection Activity Calendar Quarter for Inspection
Electrical Distribution System Functional Inspection (EDSFI)
Follow-up
Fourth Quarter 2011 Team Inspection
Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) Audit of Fire Protection Plan
Fourth Quarter 2011 Team Inspection Fire Protection Inspection First Quarter 2012 Team Inspection Problem Identification and Resolution (IP 35007)
Second Quarter 2012 Team Inspection
Cyber Security Plan Implementation Inspection Second Quarter 2012 Construction Refurbishment Process (IP 37002)
Ongoing Pre-operational testing inspection of ERCW system Fourth Quarter 2011 With pre-operational testing inspections on other safety-related systems starting First Quarter 2012 Commercial Grade Dedication follow-up inspection Fourth Quarter 2011
- The inspections listed above are limited to major or infrequently performed inspections. They are in addition to routine inspections performed by the resident inspectors and regional staff such as inspections of routine construction activities, CAPs, SPs, Generic Communications and historical open items.