ML12213A310

NOED 12-2-002, Notice of Enforcement Discretion Denial

ML12213A310
Person / Time
Site:	Farley
Issue date:	07/31/2012
From:	Wert L Region 2 Administrator
To:	Lynch T Southern Nuclear Operating Co
References
NOED 12-2-002
Download: ML12213A310 (6)

Text

UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION REGION II 245 PEACHTREE CENTER AVENUE NE, SUITE 1200 ATLANTA, GEORGIA 30303-1257 July 31, 2012 Tom A. Lynch Vice President - Farley Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc.

7388 North State Highway 95 Columbia, AL 36319

SUBJECT:

NOTICE OF ENFORCEMENT DISCRETION DENIAL FOR SOUTHERN NUCLEAR COMPANY REGARDING JOSEPH M. FARLEY NUCLEAR PLANT, V23414 - NOED (NOTICE OF ENFORCEMENT DISCRETION) FARLEY UNIT 1, NOED NO. 12-2-002

Dear Mr. Lynch:

By letter dated July 30, 2012, you requested that the NRC exercise discretion to not enforce compliance with the actions required in the Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Plant (FNP) Technical Specification 3.8.1.B, A/C Sources - Operating, One Diesel Generator (DG) Set Inoperable.

Your letter documented information previously discussed with the NRC in a telephone conference on July 26, 2012, at 6:00 p.m. The principal NRC staff members who participated in that telephone conference included Len Wert, Deputy Regional Administrator for Operations, Region II and Eugene Guthrie, Acting Director for Division of Reactor Projects. You stated that on July 26, 2012, at 9:52 p.m. the plant would not be in compliance with Technical Specification 3.8.1.B which would require you to place the plant in Mode 3 (hot standby, with the reactor shutdown) by July 27 at 3:52 a.m. You requested that a Notice of Enforcement Discretion (NOED) be granted pursuant to the NRC's policy regarding exercise of discretion for an operating facility, set out in Section VII.C, of the "General Statement of Policy and Procedures for NRC Enforcement Actions" (Enforcement Policy), NUREG-1600, and be effective for the shorter of either the time to return the 1B DG to service or the 66-hour extension from 9:52 p.m.,

July 26, 2012. This letter documents our telephone conversation starting July 26 at 6:00 P.M.,

when we orally declined to issue this NOED.

You described the events leading up to the request for the NOED as follows: On July 16, 2012, at 9:52 p.m., you entered Technical Specification 3.8.1.B, with a 10 day allowable outage time (AOT), to conduct 24-month maintenance activities on the 1B DG set. Five days into the AOT, after completing several maintenance activities, you ran the 1B DG as part of the maintenance work order. The 1B the DG inner condenser cooling water control valve malfunctioned during this run, which resulted in overheating and damage to the 1B DG. You recognized that the time to complete the repairs and perform necessary inspections and subsequent test runs could require up to 66 hours7.638889e-4 days <br />0.0183 hours <br />1.09127e-4 weeks <br />2.5113e-5 months <br /> more than the time remaining in the AOT.

T. Lynch 2 In evaluating your NOED request, the NRC staff could not conclude that you satisfactorily addressed item number eight in Section D of NRC Inspection Manual, Part 9900: Technical Guidance, Operations - Notices of Enforcement Discretion. Specifically, Branch Technical Position (BTP) 8-8 of the Standard Review Plan, Onsite (Emergency Diesel Generators) and Offsite Power Sources Allowed Outage Time, Extension, Page 8-8-4, 4th paragraph, was discussed. This BTP specifies, in part, that multi-unit sites that have installed a single alternate AC (AAC) power source for station blackout (SBO) cannot substitute it for the inoperable DG when requesting AOT extensions unless the AAC source has enough capacity to carry all loss of offsite power (LOOP) loads to bring the unit to a cold shutdown as a substitute for the DG in an extended AOT and carry all SBO loads for the unit that has an SBO event without any load shedding. The NRC concluded that relying on a single AAC power source for an SBO in one unit and an inoperable DG in the adjacent unit erodes the defense-in-depth aspects of the plant's design and operation and thereby reduces the safety margins due to a planned extended allowed outage time and that the request was not acceptable.

You made no commitments with regard to a follow-up amendment and the nature of the request.

On the basis of the staff's evaluation of your request, we have concluded that granting this NOED is inconsistent with the Enforcement Policy and staff guidance, and may have an adverse impact on public health and safety or the environment, if granted. Therefore, your request was denied and FNP subsequently complied with the required actions of Technical Specification 3.8.1.B.

Sincerely,

/RA/

Leonard D. Wert, Jr.

Deputy Regional Administrator Region II Docket No.: 50-348 License No: NPF-2 cc: (See page 3)

_________________________ G SUNSI REVIEW COMPLETE G FORM 665 ATTACHED OFFICE RII:DRP RII:DRP RII:DRP RII:DRP SIGNATURE MOM /RA/ FJH /RA/ RPC /RA/ LDW /RA/

NAME MMiller FEhrhardt RCroteau LWert DATE 7/ /2012 7/ /2012 7/ /2012 7/ /2012 7/ /2012 7/ /2012 7/ /2012 E-MAIL COPY? YES NO YES NO YES NO YES NO YES NO YES NO YES NO T. Lynch 3 cc w/encl: Mark Williams C. Russ Dedrickson Commissioner Fleet Support Supervisor Georgia Department of Natural Resources Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc. Electronic Mail Distribution Electronic Mail Distribution B. D. McKinney, Jr.

Cheryl A. Gayheart Regulatory Response Manager Plant Manager Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc.

Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Plant Electronic Mail Distribution Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc.

Electronic Mail Distribution D. W. Daughhetee Licensing Engineer S. Kuczynski Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc.

Chairman, President and CEO Electronic Mail Distribution Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc.

Electronic Mail Distribution T. D. Honeycutt Regulatory Response Supervisor J. L. Pemberton Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc.

SVP & General Counsel-Ops & SNC Electronic Mail Distribution Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc.

Electronic Mail Distribution L. Mike Stinson Vice President D. G. Bost Fleet Operations Support Chief Nuclear Officer Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc.

Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc. Electronic Mail Distribution Electronic Mail Distribution N. J. Stringfellow Dennis R. Madison Licensing Manager Vice President Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc.

Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant Electronic Mail Distribution Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc.

Electronic Mail Distribution L. P. Hill Licensing Supervisor Paula Marino Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc.

Vice President Electronic Mail Distribution Engineering Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc. L. L. Crumpton Electronic Mail Distribution Administrative Assistant, Sr.

Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc.

T. E. Tynan Electronic Mail Distribution Site Vice President Vogtle Electric Generating Plant William D. Oldfield Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc. Principal Licensing Engineer Electronic Mail Distribution Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Plant Electronic Mail Distribution M. J. Ajluni Nuclear Licensing Director (cc w/encl continued next page)

Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc.

Electronic Mail Distribution

T. Lynch 4 (cc w/encl continued) Chuck Mueller Manager Todd L. Youngblood Policy and Radiation Program Vice President Georgia Department of Natural Resources Fleet Oversight Electronic Mail Distribution Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc.

Electronic Mail Distribution John G. Horn Site Support Manager Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Plant Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc.

Electronic Mail Distribution Cynthia A. Sanders Radioactive Materials Program Manager Environmental Protection Division Georgia Department of Natural Resources Electronic Mail Distribution James C. Hardeman Environmental Radiation Program Manager Environmental Protection Division Georgia Department of Natural Resources Electronic Mail Distribution Mr. Mark Culver Chairman Houston County Commission P. O. Box 6406 Dothan, AL 36302 James L. McNees, CHP Director Office of Radiation Control Alabama Dept. of Public Health P. O. Box 303017 Montgomery, AL 36130-3017 Donald E. Williamson State Health Officer Alabama Dept. of Public Health RSA Tower - Administration Suite 1552 P.O. Box 30317 Montgomery, AL 36130-3017

T. Lynch 5 Letter to T. A. Lynch from Leonard D. Wert, Jr. dated July 31, 2012

SUBJECT:

NOTICE OF ENFORCEMENT DISCRETION DENIAL FOR SOUTHERN NUCLEAR COMPANY REGARDING JOSEPH M. FARLEY NUCLEAR PLANT, V23414 - NOED (NOTICE OF ENFORCEMENT DISCRETION) FARLEY UNIT 1, NOED NO. 12-2-002 Distribution w/encl:

C. Evans, RII L. Douglas, RII OE Mail RIDSNRRDIRS PUBLIC RidsNrrPMFarley Resource