ML14182A290
| ML14182A290 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Robinson  |
| Issue date: | 03/11/1997 |
| From: | NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION II) |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML14182A291 | List: |
| References | |
| 50-261-96-99, NUDOCS 9704010296 | |
| Download: ML14182A290 (5) | |
See also: IR 05000261/1996099
Text
SYSTEMATIC ASSESSMENT OF LICENSEE PERFORMANCE REPORT
H. B. ROBINSON STEAM ELECTRIC PLANT, UNIT 2
50-261/96-99
I.
BACKGROUND
The SALP board convened on February 26, 1997, to assess the nuclear
safety performance of the H. B. Robinson Steam Electric Plant, Unit 2
for the period June 18, 1995, through February 8, 1997. The board was
conducted in accordance with Management Directive 8.6, "Systematic
Assessment of Licensee Performance."
Board Members were
Johns P. Jaudon, Director, Division of Reactor Safety (Board
Chairperson), Bruce S. Mallett, Director, Division of Nuclear Materials
Safety, Richard V. Crlenjak, Acting Deputy Director, Division of Reactor
Projects, and F. Mark Reinhart, Acting Director, Project Directorate
II-1, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. This assessment was
reviewed and approved by the Regional Administrator.
II. PLANT OPERATIONS
This functional area assesses the control and execution of activities
directly related to operating the plant. It includes activities such as
plant startup, power operation, and respcnse to transients. It also
includes initial and requalification training programs for licensed
operators.
The previous SALP noted good overall performance with weaknesses related
to personnel errors, procedural compliance, and configuration control.
The line organization had lacked an aggressive, focused effort to
identify and resolve problems. For this SALP period, concentrated
management oversight and continued emphasis on high standards resulted
in marked improvement in the previous weak areas.
Plant operat.ions during this period were excellent and were
characterized by operators who maintained a conservative and safety
conscious focus. Operator performance improved during the period. The
plant was operated competently with very few reactor trips, none the
result of operator error. Control room communications, using three-way
repeat backs, were clear and well executed; comprehensive pre-activity
briefings were the norm. Early in the period, lack of attention to
detail by operators resulted in several mispositionings and equipment
failures.
Superior work coordination and management oversight were evident. Plant
startup and shutdown activities were well planned and properly executed,
-including activities associated with reduced inventory and fuel
handling. Operations pre-job briefings were detailed and ensured that
responsibilities and expectations were clearly delineated. Work
coordination included early morning shift turnovers and weekly planning
meetings that were effective in bringing focus to operations and
promoting interfacing between plant organizations. Management's
emphasis on work cooperation resulted in effective refueling outage
execution.
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Management consistently provided support and oversight for the safe
operation of the plant. Licensee self-assessments in the operations
area were effective in identifying and correcting program and human
performance related problems. Nuclear Assessment Section audits were
critical and produced findings which resulted in improved operations
performance. The Plant Nuclear Safety Committee contributed to improved
facility oversight. The Operating Experience program was effective in
highlighting and incorporating experience data into daily plant
operating activities.
Although overall performance was superior, operations had some
challenges in operator attention to detail, particularly in procedural
compliance, and in correcting operator licensing and qualification
program weaknesses.
The Plant Operations area is rated Category 1.
III.
MAINTENANCE
This functional area assesses activities associated with diagnostic,
predictive, preventive, and corrective maintenance of plant structures,
systems and components: maintenance of the physical condition of the
plant; and training of the maintenance staff. It also assesses
surveillance testing, inservice inspection and testing, instrument
calibration, operability testing, post-maintenance testing, post-outage
testing, containment leak rate testing, and special testing.
Management support and involvement were evident in the maintenance area.
Maintenance activities were well-planned and controlled. This
involvement was demonstrated by the successful completion of outages and
several major maintenance evolutions.
The control of contractor work was a problem during the start of the
last refueling outage, but management took strong and effective actions
to remediate the problems. The results were effective as demonstrated
by the immediate and sustained reduction in the number of contractor
errors.
The support to operations was demonstrated by the continued reductions
in the number of operator workarounds and the size of the maintenance
backlog. The surveillance, inservice inspection and testing programs
continued to be effectively implemented. There were no maintenance
errors identified which resulted in a reactor trip.
The predictive maintenance program was still evolving after a
reorganization and was not a significant contributor to maintenance
performance during the assessment period. Safety related equipment
performance was very good.
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Self-assessments, corrective actions, and root cause analysis of
maintenance issues continued to evolve as an effective management tool.
The corrective actions addressed immediate needs, and the long term
actions were appropriately based on root cause evaluations. The
licensee made good progress in dealing with the challenge of aging
equipment in the area of electronic circuitry.
The material condition of the plant has improved over the assessment
period. However, the material condition of the containment was an
exception and requires additional management attention.
The Maintenance area is rated Category 2.
IV. ENGINEERING
This functional area assesses activities associated with the design of
plant and plant modifications in addition to engineering support for
operations, maintenance, surveillance, testing, procurement, and
licensing activities. Included in these activities are configuration
control; design basis maintenance and retrievability; the design change
and 10 CFR 50.59 processes; and engineering training.
Performance improved in the Engineering area. Support for plant
operations, outages, design control, and licensing was good and usually
effective. Engineers exhibited a questioning attitude. In the latter
part of the assessment period the licensee was proactive in reorganizing
the corporate and plant engineering organization to focus resources more
effectively. While procedural compliance issues decreased, they remain
a challenge. Additionally, some problems that could have been resolved
by earlier engineering involvement persisted. In
some instances,
engineering'support had not identified and properly resolved issues in a
timely manner. Design review and configuration control remain
challenges. Some engineering evaluations were inadequate and could have
led to plant operational problems.
Self-assessments were generally effective, becoming stronger during the
assessment period. Some corrective actions,.as a result of self
assessments and other activities, could be strengthened by management
attention to assure that they are timely and comprehensive. For
example, corrective actions to assure the accuracy of the Updated Final
Safety Analysis Report and the design basis documentation validation
were not pursued as vigorously as were corrective actions resulting from
other self-assessments.
Support for licensing activities and communications between the licensee
and the NRC were good. Occasional submittals were made lacking key
information. Licensee submittals were usually timely. The licensee
took the initiative to establish meetings on special topics and worked
effectively to resolve NRC staff concerns. Of particular note was the
responsiveness and coordination relative to the submittal to convert to
the imoroved standard technical specifications in spite of initial
quality assurance problems. The licensee was very effective in
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incorporating the experiences of other licensees, thereby making the
conversion process more efficient.
Management involvement was effective in upgrading performance. Problems
were identified at appropriate thresholds. Engineering backlogs were
reduced, and engineering became a more active participant in supporting
plant operations.
The Engineering area is rated Category 2.
V.
PLANT SUPPORT
This functional area assesses activities related to the plant support
function including radiological controls, radioactive effluents,
chemistry, emergency preparedness, security, fire protection and
housekeeping.
Radiation dose, collectively and to individuals, was aggressively
controlled throughout the assessment period. Management and staff
participation contributed to significant collective dose reductions from
the previous assessment period. The As Low As Reasonably Achievable
(ALARA) program was strong. Lessons learned were used to reduce
radiation source terms from one refueling outage to the next. Although
proactive steps were taken to maintain radioactive sources of
contamination at a low level, personnel contamination was not well
controlled.
Programmatic controls in the chemistry and radiological effluents areas
were strong and effective in accomplishing desired goals. Management
attention and participation was focused on high standards of
performance. Training and qualifications programs resulted in staff who
were knowledgeable of controls and safety hazards.
Responses to events and emergency drills continued to show a well
equipped and qualified response organization. Emergency preparedness
and response was thorough and well coordinated among site organizations
and with offsite response organizations.
The security and safeguards control program performance in the latter
part of the assessment period improved significantly from that noted
earlier in the period. Problem identification and resolution were
generally good with few issues escaping identification during the latter
six months of the period. Management was proactive in providing skills
and training needed to support a well-qualified staff.
The fire protection program was effective in providing readily available
response equipment. Response by fire brigades was excellent and timely.
Responsibilities for fire.protection program positions were not well
defined. Housekeeping fostered excellent control of combustibles and
loose materials at the plant site.
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In general, a superior level of safety performance was observed in all
areas. There were, however, isolated cases exhibiting a lack of
thoroughness or completeness in accomplishing some tasks.
Independent and line organization self-assessment efforts were very
effective in identifying problems. Management and staff maintained a
low threshold for identifying issues, which resulted in the timely
response to emergent issues.
The Plant Support area is rated Category 1.