ML15103A289
| ML15103A289 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Duane Arnold  |
| Issue date: | 04/13/2015 |
| From: | Nick Hilton NRC/OE |
| To: | |
| Wray J | |
| References | |
| EA-14-237 EN-15-015 | |
| Download: ML15103A289 (2) | |
Text
April 13, 2015 EN 15-015 OFFICE OF ENFORCEMENT NOTIFICATION OF SIGNIFICANT ENFORCEMENT ACTION Licensee:
NextEra Energy Duane Arnold, LLC EA-14-237 Duane Arnold Energy Center Docket No.: 50-331
Subject:
ISSUANCE OF FINAL SIGNIFICANCE DETERMINATION AND NOTICE OF VIOLATION This is to inform the Commission that a Notice of Violation (NOV) associated with a White Significance Determination Process finding will be issued on or about April 16, 2015, to NextEra Energy Duane Arnold, LLC, (licensee) as a result of an inspection at the Duane Arnold Energy Center. The White finding, an issue of low to moderate safety significance, will require additional inspections. This White finding involved the licensees failure to establish adequate quality controls during the application of a torus coating which resulted in an unqualified torus coating in excess of the emergency core cooling system suction strainer design debris loading margin. This finding did not present an immediate safety concern because the unqualified torus coating in excess of the design margin was removed during an outage before the reactor resumed operation. As a result of Duane Arnolds performance, including this White finding, the staff has assessed the unit to be in the Regulatory Response column of the NRCs Action Matrix.
A Notice of Violation is included based on the licensees failure to meet 10 CFR 50, Appendix B, Criterion IX, Control of Special Processes, which requires that measures be established to assure that special processes, including welding, heat treating, and nondestructive testing, are controlled and accomplished by qualified personnel using qualified procedures in accordance with applicable codes, standards, specifications, criteria, and other special requirements.
Specifically, from November 5 to 10, 2012, the licensee did not control the application of the torus coating, a special process, because the requirements associated with wet film thickness measurements and conditions for recoat application were not contained in design specifications and vendor documentation, nor were they included in qualified procedures. In accordance with the NRC Enforcement Policy, the NOV is considered an escalated enforcement action because it is associated with a White finding.
In response to the preliminary determination letter, NextEra did not contest the characterization of the risk significance of the finding and declined the opportunity to discuss this issue in a Regulatory Conference or provide a position on the finding in writing. After reviewing the information developed during the inspection, the staff concluded that the inspection finding is appropriately characterized as White.
It should be noted that the licensee has not been specifically informed of the enforcement action. The schedule of issuance and notification is:
Mailing of Final Significance Determination April 16, 2015 Telephone Notification of Licensee April 16, 2015 The State of Iowa will be notified.
CONTACTS: John Wray, OE, (301) 415-1288 Nick Hilton, OE, (301) 415-2741
- ML15103A239 OFFICE OE:ES OE:BC NAME JWray NHilton DATE 4/13/2015 4/13/2015