ML15110A373
| ML15110A373 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Oyster Creek |
| Issue date: | 04/21/2015 |
| From: | Nick Hilton NRC/OE |
| To: | Exelon Generation Co |
| Wray J | |
| References | |
| EA-14-178, EA-14-186 EN 15-018 | |
| Download: ML15110A373 (3) | |
Text
April 21, 2015 EN 15-018 OFFICE OF ENFORCEMENT NOTIFICATION OF SIGNIFICANT ENFORCEMENT ACTION Licensee: Exelon Generation Company, LLC EA-14-178 and EA-14-186 Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station Docket No.: 50-0219
Subject:
ISSUANCE OF FINAL SIGNIFICANCE DETERMINATION AND NOTICE OF VIOLATION This is to inform the Commission that two separate Notices of Violation (NOV), one associated with a Yellow Significance Determination Process (SDP) finding and one associated with a White SDP finding, will be issued on or about April 27, 2015, to Exelon Generation Company, LLC (Exelon) as a result of separate inspections at its Oyster Creek Nuclear Power Station.
The Yellow finding represents an issue of substantial safety significance. The White finding represents an issue of low to moderate safety significance. These findings will result in additional NRC inspection and potentially other NRC action.
The Yellow finding involved the failure by Exelon to establish adequate measures for the selection and review for suitability of application of materials, parts, equipment, and processes that are essential to the safety-related functions of the electromatic relief valves (EMRVs).
Specifically, since original installation of the EMRVs in 1969, until the valves were redesigned and reinstalled during the 2014 refueling outage, the EMRV actuators were inadequate because when they were placed in an environment where the actuator was subject to vibration associated with plant operation, the mechanical tolerance between posts and guides created a condition where the springs could wedge between the guides and the posts, jamming the actuator plunger assembly. In addition, given the original design of the valve, the maintenance refurbishing processes were not adequate to maintain the required internal tolerances to prevent excessive fretting and wear of the internal components. As a result, the staff determined that two EMRVs were inoperable for greater than the allowed Technical Specification outage time of 24 hours2.777778e-4 days <br />0.00667 hours <br />3.968254e-5 weeks <br />9.132e-6 months <br />.
The White finding involved the failure by Exelon to review the suitability of a new emergency diesel generator (EDG) belt maintenance process that was essential to a safety-related function of the EDGs and to verify the acceptance criteria of that process. Specifically, from May 13, 2005, to September 9, 2014, Exelon changed the method for tensioning the cooling fan belt on the EDG from measuring belt deflection to measuring belt frequency and did not verify the adequacy of the acceptance criteria stated for the new method. As a result, the specified belt frequency imposed a stress above the fatigue endurance limit of the shaft material, making the EDG cooling fan shaft susceptible to fatigue and failure which occurred on July 28, 2014. As a result, the staff determined that EDG No. 2 was inoperable for greater than the allowed Technical Specification outage time of 7 days.
Two separate NOVs are included based on the Exelons failure to establish measures for the selection, and review for suitability of application of materials, parts, equipment, and processes that are essential to the safety-related functions of the structures, systems, and components in accordance with 10 CFR 50, Appendix B, Criterion III, Design Control.
In separate letters dated February 11, 2015, Exelon was offered the opportunity to attend a regulatory conference or reply in writing to provide its position on the findings and their safety significance. In separate letters dated March 13, 2015, Exelon provided written responses to the staffs preliminary determinations. After considering the information developed during the inspections and the additional information provided in Exelons responses, the staff has concluded that the findings are appropriately characterized as Yellow and White respectively.
The licensee has not yet been informed of the specific nature of the enforcement action. The schedule of issuance and notification is:
Mailing of Final Significance Determination April 27, 2015 Telephone Notification of Licensee April 27, 2015 The State of New Jersey will be notified.
CONTACTS: John Wray, OE/EB Nick Hilton, OE/EB (301) 415-1288 (301) 415-3055
Distribution: EN-15-018, April 21, 2015 OWFN OWFN TWFN 3WFN Regional Offices Chairman Burns EDO OCFO NMSS RI RII Comm. Svinicki DEDR OIS NSIR RIII RIV Comm. Ostendorff DEDMRT RES OP Center Comm. Baran OE ACRS MAIL SECY OGC NRO ADAMS OCA NRR OE staff OPA OI OIP OIG Electronic DISTRIBUTION:
P. Holahan, OE N. Hilton, OE J. Wray, OE R. Carpenter, OE OE r/f EN binder X PUBLIC X NON-SENSITIVE ADAMS ML15110A373 OFFICE OE:ES OE: BC NAME JWray NHilton DATE 4/20/2015 4/21/2015 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY