ML14181A824
| ML14181A824 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Robinson  |
| Issue date: | 05/16/1996 |
| From: | Ebneter S NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION II) |
| To: | Hinnant C CAROLINA POWER & LIGHT CO. |
| Shared Package | |
| ML14181A825 | List: |
| References | |
| RTR-NUREG-1600 EA-96-120, NUDOCS 9606110172 | |
| Download: ML14181A824 (6) | |
See also: IR 05000261/1996003
Text
May 16, 1996
EA 96-120
Carolina Power & Light Company
ATTN:
Mr. C. S. Hinnant
Vice President
H. B. Robinson Steam Electric Plant
Unit 2
3581 West Entrance Road
Hartsville, SC 29550
SUBJECT:
NOTICE OF VIOLATION (NRC INSPECTION REPORT NOS. 50-261/96-03)
Dear Mr. Hinnant:
This refers to an inspection conducted during the period March 11 through
April 4, 1996, at your H. B. Robinson facility. The inspection included a
review of the circumstances surrounding the failure to control safeguards
information (SGI) properly. The results of this inspection were sent to you
by letter dated April 25, 1996. A closed predecisional enforcement conference
was conducted in the Region II office on May 9, 1996, with members of your
staff to discuss the apparent violation, the root causes, and your corrective
actions to preclude recurrence. A list of conference attendees, NRC slides,
and a copy of your presentation materials are enclosed.
Based on the information developed during the inspection and the information
that you provided during the conference, the NRC has determined that a
violation of NRC requirements occurred. The violation is cited in the
enclosed Notice of Violation (Notice), and the circumstances surrounding it
are described in detail in the subject inspection report. The violation
involved your repeated failure to control SGI adequately in order to prevent
access by unauthorized persons. Specifically, the violation relates to
instances occurring on February 19-20 and on March 19, 1996, where SGI was
left unattended and unsecured for periods of approximately 24 hours2.777778e-4 days <br />0.00667 hours <br />3.968254e-5 weeks <br />9.132e-6 months <br /> and 10
minutes, respectively. The root causes of the violation were your failures to
implement effective corrective action for previously identified violations
involving SGI and to address findings identified through your own assessment
processes appropriately. At the conference, you admitted the violation and
further stated that the violation resulted from the failure of your security
management to establish and enforce expectations regarding the control of SGI
and a lack of sensitivity on the part of the security staff.
The failure to control SGI potentially allowed information about the security
program at your Robinson facility to be available to individuals who may not
have been authorized access to SGI. Although these events were somewhat
mitigated by the fact that the information was left unprotected within the
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security unit office area, a location which normally is either occupied by
security personnel or secured, the unprotected material was located in an area
outside the plant protected area, and a reasonable probability existed that
unauthorized persons could have accessed it. At the conference, you stated
that your investigation did not identify that the unsecured documents had been
compromised.
The violation is of particular concern in that you had earlier opportunities
to identify programmatic vulnerabilities and prevent the occurrence of the
current violation. Specifically. NRC Inspection Report No. 50-261/95-12
issued on May 19, 1995, included a Severity Level IV violation for an April
1995 failure to store SGI in a locked security storage container when
unattended which was identified by the NRC. NRC Inspection Report No.
50-261/95-18, issued on June 22, 1995, also included a Severity Level IV
violation for four separate failures to handle and protect properly SGI which
you identified. The four examples occurred during the period May 1994 through
April 1995. In addition, although not cited in the Notice, the NRC noted that
in March 1995 and February 1996 your Nuclear Assessment Department (NAD)
identified procedural weaknesses in your SGI controls program as well as a low
level of sensitivity to the control of SGI on the part of the staff. Although
management changes were implemented, your corrective actions for these
violations and assessment findings were primarily administrative in nature and
did not include changes to safeguards physical control or fully address the
performance issues within the security organization to prevent recurrence.
Based on the safety significance, the violation described in the enclosed
Notice normally would be categorized as a Severity Level IV violation in
accordance with the "General Statement of Policy and Procedure for NRC
Enforcement Actions" (Enforcement Policy), NUREG-1600. However, as provided
by Section IV.B of the Enforcement Policy, the severity level of a Severity
Level IV violation may be increased to Severity Level III, if the violation
can be considered a repetitive violation. In consideration of the specific
circumstances of this case, the NRC has concluded that the current violation
is appropriately categorized at a Severity Level III.
The bases for this
determination were: (1)
Seven occurrences of the failure to control
safeguards material have been identified within the last two years which
resulted in two previously cited Notices of Violation: (2)
SGI related issues
were identified by NAD during the 1995 and 1996 assessments which were
indicative of program weaknesses: (3)
The seven occurrences were similar in
nature in that they all resulted in SGI being potentially available to
unauthorized personnel and increased the probability of compromise; (4)
The
root causes of the occurrences were the same: and (5)
Corrective actions for
the two previously cited violations were ineffective to prevent the additional
occurrences of unattended SGI in February and March 1996.
0
3
In accordance with the Enforcement Policy, a base civil penalty in the amount
of $50,000 is considered for a Severity Level III violation. Because your
facility has been the subject of escalated enforcement actions within the last
two years,' the NRC considered whether credit was warranted for
Identification and Corrective Action in accordance with the civil penalty
assessment process in Section VI.B.2 of the Enforcement Policy. NRC
determined that credit was warranted for Identification in that your staff
identified both of the examples associated with the current violation.
Although your corrective actions for the previous violations were
ineffective, at the time of the conference you detailed the following
corrective actions for the current violation: (1)
additional changes in
security management; (2)
consolidation and reduction of SGI and document
storage containers and locations: (3)
implementation of disciplinary action
for the individual involved in the March 1996 event; (4)
establishment of a
SGI work room within the security work area with augmented physical controls;
and (5)
increased emphasis on internal security department self-assessments
and heightened focus on the security program by your NAD. Based on these
facts, the NRC determined that the corrective actions for the current
violation appear comprehensive and that credit was warranted for the factor of
Corrective Action.
Therefore, to encourage prompt identification and correction of violations, I
have been authorized, after consultation with the Office of Enforcement, not
to propose a civil penalty in this case. However, significant or further
repetitive violations in the future could result in a civil penalty.
You are required to respond to this letter and should follow the instructions
specified in the enclosed Notice when preparing your response. In your
response, you should document the specific actions taken and any additional
actions you plan to prevent recurrence of the violation. In addition, we
expect your response to address your corrective actions associated with the
previously discussed NAD assessment findings related to the control of SGI.
After reviewing your response to this Notice, including your proposed
corrective actions and the results of future inspections. the NRC will
determine whether further NRC enforcement action is necessary to ensure
compliance with NRC regulatory requirements.
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.790 of the NRC's "Rules of Practice," a copy of
this letter, its enclosure, and your response will be placed in the NRC Public
Document Room (PDR). To the extent possible, your response should not include
1 On August 30. 1994, a Severity Level III violation with a $75,000 civil
penalty was issued regarding inadequate design reviews and testing for the
control room ventilation system (EA 94-119). On November 28, 1994, a Severity
Level III violation with a $100,000 civil penalty was issued regarding the
failure to control pressurizer cooldown rate (EA 94-205).
4
any personal privacy, proprietary, or safeguards information so that it can be
placed in the PDR without redaction.
Sincerely,
Original Signed by
Luis A. Reyes
Stewart D. Ebneter
Regional Administrator
Docket No. 50-261
License No. DPR-23
Enclosures:
2. List of Conference Attendees.
3. NRC Slides
4. Licensee Presentation Handout
cc w/encls:
Dale E. Young
Plant Manager
H. B. Robinson Steam Electric Plant
3581 West Entrance Road
Hartsville, SC 29550
J. Cowan, Manager
Operations & Environmental
Support
MS OHS7
Carolina Power & Light Company
P. 0. Box 1551
Raleigh, NC
27602
R. M. Krich, Manager
Regulatory Affairs
H. B. Robinson Steam Electric Plant
3581 West Entrance Road
Hartsville, SC 29550
Max Batavia, Chief
Bureau of Radiological Health
Dept. of Health and Environmental
Control
2600 Bull Street
Columbia, SC 29201
cc w/encls:
(Cont'd on Page 4)
5
cc w/encls (Cont'd):
Dayne H. Brown, Director
Division of Radiation Protection
N. C. Department of Environmental
Commerce & Natural Resources
P. 0. Box 27687
Raleigh, NC
27611-7687
W. D. Johnson, Vice President
and Senior Counsel
Carolina Power & Light Co.
P. 0. Box 1551
Raleigh, NC 27602
Karen E. Long
Assistant Attorney General
State of North Carolina
P. 0. Box 629
Raleigh, NC 27602
Robert P. Gruber
Executive Director
Public Staff - NCUC
P. 0.
Box 29520
Raleigh, NC 27626-0520
Public Service Commission
State of South Carolina
P. 0. Box 11649
Columbia, SC 29211
Hartsville Memorial Library
147 W. College Avenue
Hartsville, SC 29550
CP&L6
Distribution w/encls:
JTaylor, EDO
JMilhoan, DEDR
RZimmerman, NRR
SEbneter, RII
JLieberman, OE
JGoldberg, OGC
Enforcement Coordinators
RI, RIII, RIV
FIngram, OPA
GCaputo, 01
WMcNulty, RII:OIFO
EJordan, AEOD
CGrimes, SECY
BKeeling, CA
LNorton, OIG
RRosano, OE
OE:EA File (2) (ATTN: B. Summers)
BMozafari , NRR
RTrojanowski, RII
RWoodruff, RII
KClark, RII
MShymlock, RII
PFredrickson, RH
DThompson, RII
0
P PUBLIC
NRC Resident Inspector
U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
2112 Old Camden Road
Hartsville, SC 29550
SEND TO PUBLIC DOCUMENT ROOM?
YES
NO
OFFICE
RII:DRP
RI1
RH:
S
RII:ORA
RII: E
RI:ORA
SIGNATURE
LVj
NAE VEMeschoff
Gison
B
CEvans
L eberman
yes
DATE
05/
96
05
96
05/
/96
/ 96
/ 9
05 /
/ $
COPY?
ES, NO
YES
0
NO
YES
NO
YES
0
OFFICIAL RECORD COPY
DOCUMENT
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