ML12058A491

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Public Meeting Slides, Palisades Nuclear Plant
ML12058A491
Person / Time
Site: Palisades 
Issue date: 02/27/2012
From: Pederson C
Region 3 Administrator
To:
References
Download: ML12058A491 (27)
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Text

Public Meeting to Discuss Recent Performance Issues at the Palisades Nuclear 1

Nuclear Regulatory Commission - Region III South Haven Michigan February 29, 2012 the Palisades Nuclear Plant

Introduction Cynthia Pederson y

Acting Regional Administrator, RIII 2

Purpose of Todays Meeting

  • NRC will address recent performance issues at Palisades 3

- Discuss issues

- NRC actions

- Q & A

Agenda Introduction NRC role / mission Discussion of Palisades performance and NRC actions

- Licensed operator leaving his post 4

p g

p

- Auxiliary feed water pump failure to function

- Service water pump coupling failure

- Complicated plant shutdown caused by fault during work on an electric panel NRC response Break Q & A

Region III Organization Cynthia D. Pederson Acting Regional Administrator Jennifer L. Uhle Acting Deputy Regional Administrator Division of Reactor Projects Division of Reactor Safety Division of Nuclear Materials Safety 5

K. Steven West, Director Gary Shear, Deputy Director Steven A. Reynolds, Director Kenneth OBrien, Deputy Director Jack Giessner Branch 4 Chief Regional Specialists Palisades Resident Inspection Staff Tom Taylor, Senior Resident Inspector April Scarbeary, Resident Inspector Branch Staff Robert Lerch, Project Engineer Diana Betancourt, Reactor Engineer Swetha Shah, Reactor Engineer Anne T. Boland, Director Patrick Louden, Deputy Director Regional Specialists

Our Mission License and regulate nuclear materials to ensure adequate protection of public health and safety, promote the common defense and security, and protect the environment.

6

- Establishing rules and regulations

- Issuing licenses

- Providing oversight through inspection, enforcement, and evaluation of operational experience

- Conducting research to provide support for regulatory decisions

- Responding to events and emergencies

Cornerstones Mission Strategic P

f 7

Performance Areas Cornerstones

Significance Threshold of Inspection Findings and Indicators Safety significance NRC Response Green (very low)

Routine NRC Inspections White (low to moderate) Increases NRC oversight 8

White (low to moderate) Increases NRC oversight Yellow (substantial)

Increases NRC oversight Red (high)

Increases NRC oversight

Action Matrix Concept Licensee

Response

I Regulatory

Response

II Degraded Cornerstone III Multiple/Rep Degraded Cornerstone IV Unacceptable Performance V

9 Increasing Safety Significance Increasing NRC Inspection Efforts Increasing NRC/Licensee Management Involvement Increasing Regulatory Actions

National Summary of Plant Performance Status as of 2/15/2012 I Licensee Response 87 II Regulatory Response 12 III Degraded Cornerstone Palisades now 3 10 III Degraded Cornerstone Palisades now 3 IV Multiple/Repetitive Deg. Cornerstone 1

V Unacceptable 0

Total

  • 103
  • Fort Calhoun - shutdown and requires NRC permission to restart

Summary of Safety Significant Findings Plant continues to operate safely, but performance has degraded

  • Operator leaves his post - Confirmatory Order.

11 An Auxiliary Feed Water pump failed to function (low to moderate safety significance)

(low to moderate safety significance)

  • Complicated shutdown caused by fault during work on an electric panel -

(substantial safety significance)

Palisades Issue: Operator Leaves His Post, October 2010 What Happened:

  • Palisades licensed operator left the control room without following procedures NRC action:

12 NRC action:

  • NRC ensured plant took immediate actions
  • Increased observations of control room performance
  • NRC issued a Confirmatory Order requiring Entergy fleet, Palisades plant and the licensed operator to implement a wide range of corrective actions

Palisades Issue: Auxiliary Feed Water Pump Did Not Function, May 2011 What Happened:

  • The pump tripped during routing testing
  • In 2010, maintenance greased a pump component that should not have been greased, which resulted in pump failure 13 p

p NRC action:

  • Ensured immediate corrective actions completed
  • Observed testing to validate pumps reliability
  • Assessed risk of not having the pump available as moderate/White and issued a violation for pump failure

Turbine Driven Auxiliary Feedwater Pump Schematic

Palisades Issue: Service Water Pump Coupling Failed, August 2011 What Happened:

1 of 3 service water pumps failed. The cause was the #6 coupling (that connects two shaft pieces) fractured Similar to a failure on the same pump in 2009 (#7 coupling)

Failure was caused by stress corrosion cracking 15 Type of steel used was not adequately evaluated NRC action:

Ensured immediate corrective actions were complete Dispatched a team of experts to evaluate the issue Assessed the risk of the event as moderate/White and issued a violation for pump failure

Affected Service Water Pump Section

Palisades Issue: Complicated Plant Shutdown Caused by Fault During Work on an Electric Panel, September 2011 What Happened:

While performing maintenance on an electrical panel, metal from the panel contacted another metal piece of an opposite charge, resulting in a short and complicated shutdown

- Loss of indications and control of equipment Equipment operation challenged operators 17

- Equipment operation challenged operators

- Degradation of safety culture possibly contributed to event NRC action:

Required immediate corrective actions completed prior to plant startup Dispatched a team of experts to evaluate the issue Assessed the risk of the event as significant/Yellow and issued violation

Electrical Panel Issue, September 2011 Before A reactor scram occurred when a worker was performing maintenance activities on an electrical panel. The highlighted metal pieces have opposite charge, when they came into contact, they caused an electrical arc and loss of the bus.

After

Palisades Current Performance

  • Palisades continues to operate safely
  • NRC placed Palisades in Column III of the 19
  • NRC placed Palisades in Column III of the Action Matrix (Degraded Cornerstone)
  • If the NRC determines the plant is not operating safely, we will shut down the plant

NRCs Response to Issues 2011

  • Routine inspections ~ 2000-2500 hours 20
  • Additional inspections to address plant issues - over 1000 hours0.0116 days <br />0.278 hours <br />0.00165 weeks <br />3.805e-4 months <br />

NRCs Response to Issues 2012 NRC required immediate actions from the site NRC will do follow-up inspections on all three greater than green findings and confirmatory order NRC will independently evaluate the issues 21 NRC will independently evaluate the issues

- Adequate actions to prevent the issue from occurring again

- Determine if the condition that existed could exist in other equipment

- Determine the root/underlying causes and evaluate if those causes could lead to other events

- Determine if problems with safety culture caused or significantly contributed to the events

Closing Remarks Cynthia Pederson y

Acting Regional Administrator, RIII 22

Questions/Comments 23

Open to the Public

  • The NRC places a high priority on keeping the public and stakeholders informed of its activities.

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  • At www.nrc.gov, you can:

- Find public meeting dates and transcripts;

- Read NRC testimony, speeches, press releases, and policy decisions; and

- Access the agencys Electronic Reading Room to find NRC publications and documents.

Contacting the NRC

  • Report an emergency

- (301) 816-5100 (call collect)

  • Report a safety concern 25

- (800) 695-7403

- Allegation@nrc.gov

  • General information or questions

- www.nrc.gov

- Select What We Do for Public Affairs

NRC Representatives

- (630) 829-9662

  • John Jack Giessner, Branch Chief, Division of Reactor Projects 26 j

- (630) 829-9619

  • Tom Taylor, Senior Resident Inspector

- (269) 764-8971

  • April Scarbeary, Resident Inspector

- (269) 764-8972

Reference Sources

  • Reactor Oversight Process

- http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/

ASSESS/index.html

  • Public Electronic Reading Room 27 Public Electronic Reading Room

- http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm.html

  • NRC Information Digest

- http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr1350/

  • Public Document Room 800-397-4209 (Toll Free)
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