ML15203A110
| ML15203A110 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Beaver Valley |
| Issue date: | 07/28/2015 |
| From: | Taylor Lamb Plant Licensing Branch 1 |
| To: | Emily Larson FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co |
| Lamb T, NRR/DORL/LPLI-2, 415-7128 | |
| References | |
| TAC MF6157, TAC MF6158 | |
| Download: ML15203A110 (9) | |
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UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 July 28, 2015 Mr. Eric A. Larson, Site Vice President FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company Beaver Valley Power Station Mail Stop A-BV-SEB1 P.O. Box 4, Route 168 Shippingport, PA 15077 SUBJECT BEAVER VALLEY POWER STATION, UNIT NOS. 1AND2-AUDIT OF THE LICENSEE'S MANAGEMENT OF REGULATORY COMMITMENTS (TAC NOS. MF6157 AND MF6158)
Dear Mr. Larson:
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) informed licensees in Regulatory Issue Summary (RIS) 2000-17, "Managing Regulatory Commitments Made by Power Reactor Licensees to the NRC Staff," dated September 21, 2000 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML003741774), that the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) document NEI 99-04, "Guidelines for Managing NRC Commitment Changes" (ADAMS Accession No. ML003680088), contains acceptable guidance for controlling regulatory commitments. RIS 2000-17 encouraged licensees to use the NEI guidance, or similar administrative controls, to ensure that regulatory commitments are implemented and that changes to the regulatory commitments are evaluated and, when appropriate, reported to the NRC.
The NRC Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation has instructed its staff to perform an audit of licensee commitment management programs once every 3 years to determine whether the licensee programs are consistent with the industry guidance in NEI 99-04 and that those regulatory commitments are being effectively implemented.
An audit of Beaver Valley Power Station, Unit Nos. 1 and 2, commitment management program was performed onsite during the period of July 7 - 8, 2015. Based on the audit, the NRC staff concludes that FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company has (1) implemented NRC commitments on a timely basis, and (2) implemented an effective program for managing NRC commitment changes. Details of the audit are set forth in the enclosed audit report.
If you have questions or concerns, please contact me at (301) 415-7128 or Taylor.Lamb@nrc.gov.
Docket Nos. 50-334 and 50-412
Enclosure:
NRC Audit Report cc w/enclosure: Distribution via Listserv Sincerely, Taylor A. [ amb, Project Manager Plant Licensing Branch 1-2 Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
ML15203A110 OFFICE DORL/LPLl-2/PM DORL/LPLl-2/LA DORL/LPLl-2/BC NAME Tlamb LRonewicz DBroaddus (REnnis for)
DATE 7/27/15 7/28/15 7/28/15
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UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 AUDIT REPORT BY THE OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION LICENSEE MANAGEMENT OF REGULATORY COMMITMENTS BEAVER VALLEY POWER STATION, UNIT NOS. 1 AND 2 DOCKET NOS. 50-334 AND 50-412
1.0 INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) informed the licensees in Regulatory Issue Summary 2000-17, "Managing Regulatory Commitments Made by Power Reactor Licensees to the NRC Staff, dated September 21, 2000 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML003741774), that the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) document NEI 99-04, "Guidelines for Managing NRC Commitment Changes" (ADAMS Accession No. ML003680088), contains acceptable guidance for controlling regulatory commitments. RIS 2000-17 encouraged licensees to use the NEI guidance, or similar administrative controls, to ensure that regulatory commitments are implemented and that changes to the regulatory commitments are evaluated and, when appropriate, reported to the NRC. NEI 99-04 describes a "regulatory commitment" as an explicit statement to take a specific action agreed to, or volunteered by, a licensee by a certain date and submitted in writing on the docket to the NRC.
The NRC Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) has instructed its staff to perform an audit of licensee commitment management programs once every 3 years to determine whether the licensee programs are consistent with the industry guidance in NEI 99-04 and that those regulatory commitments are being effectively implemented. An audit of Beaver Valley Power Station, Unit Nos. 1 and 2 (BVPS-1 and 2), commitment management program was performed onsite during the period of July 7 - 8, 2015. The audit reviewed commitments made since the previous audit during the period of March 21 - 22, 2012.
NRR guidelines direct the NRR project manager to audit the licensee's commitment management program by assessing the adequacy of the licensee's implementation of a sample of commitments made to the NRC in past licensing actions (e.g., amendments, reliefs, exemptions) and activities (e.g., bulletins, generic letters).
2.0 AUDIT PROCEDURE AND RESULTS The audit consisted of three major parts: (1) verification of the licensee's implementation of NRC commitments that have been completed, and (2) verification of the licensee's program for managing changes to NRC commitments, and (3) verification that all regulatory commitments reviewed were correctly applied in NRC staff licensing action reviews.
Enclosure 2.1 Verification of Licensee's Implementation of NRC Commitments The primary focus of this part of the audit is to confirm that the licensee has implemented commitments made to the NRC as part of past licensing actions/activities. For commitments not yet implemented, the NRC staff determines whether they have been captured in an effective program for future implementation. The audit also verifies that the licensee's commitment management system includes a mechanism to ensure traceability of commitments following initial implementation. This ensures that licensee personnel are able to recognize that future proposed changes to the affected design features or operating practices require evaluation in accordance with the commitment change control process.
2.1.1 Audit Scope The audit addressed a sample of commitments made during the review period. The audit focused on regulatory commitments (as defined above) made in writing to the NRC as a result of past licensing actions (e.g., amendments, exemptions) or licensing activities (e.g., bulletins, generic letters). Commitments made in licensee event reports or in response to notices of violation may be included in the sample, but the review will be limited to verification of restoration of compliance, not the specific methods used. Before the audit, the NRC staff searched ADAMS for the licensee's submittals since the last audit and selected a representative sample for verification.
The audit excluded the following types of commitments that are internal to licensee processes:
(1)
Commitments made on the licensee's own initiative among internal organizational components.
(2)
Commitments that pertain to milestones of licensing actions/activities (e.g., response to an NRC request for additional information by a certain date). Fulfillment of these commitments was indicated by the fact that the subject licensing action/activity was completed.
(3)
Commitments made as an internal reminder to take actions to comply with existing regulatory requirements such as regulations, technical specifications, and updated final safety analysis reports. Fulfillment of these commitments was indicated by the licensee having taken timely action in accordance with the subject requirements.
2.1.2 Audit Results The attached audit summary provides details of the audit and its results. The NRC staff found that Nuclear Operating Business Practice (NOBP)-LP-4004, "FENOC [FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company] Regulatory Commitment Management Program," Revision 00, acceptably implements the NEl-99-04 guidelines and that the BVPS staff is generally following the guidance of NOBP-LP-4004.
2.2 Verification of the Licensee's Program for Managing NRC Commitment Changes The primary focus of this part of the audit is to verify that the licensee has established administrative controls for modifying or deleting commitments made to the NRC. The NRC staff compared the licensee's process for controlling regulatory commitments to the guidelines in NEI 99-04, which the NRC has found to be an acceptable guide for licensees to follow for managing and changing commitments. The process used at BVPS-1 and BVPS-2 is contained in NOBP-LP-4004, Revision 00. The audit reviewed a commitment change that will not be reported to the NRC (Item No. 4 in attached Audit Summary table). The audit also verifies that the licensee's commitment management system includes a mechanism to ensure traceability of commitments following initial implementation. This ensures that licensee personnel are able to recognize that future proposed changes to the affected design features or operating practices require evaluation in accordance with the commitmentchange control process.
During the audit one inconsistency was noted. A note in the change process used in NOBP-LP-4004, Revision 00, states, in part, that, "Regulatory commitments with due dates specified in docketed correspondence may not be changed without prior NRC notification. The responsible section is required to complete the committed activity before the specified due date."
Contrary to the above, the licensee did not provide prior NRC notification with one of the docketed commitments. Furthermore, form NOBP-LP-4004-02, Revision 00, "Request to Change Commitment Tracking Item, does not include a provision that requires prior notification to the NRC when changing the due date of a commitment that was specified in docketed correspondence as stated in the note outlined above. This inconsistency could cause a commitment change to be reported to the NRC when not required by the commitment change form. However, the licensee's commitment procedure and form still follow the NEI guidance.
Additionally, procedure Normal Operating Procedure-SS-3007, "General Skill Reference,
step 4.5.3 states, in part, "A note is used to present advisory or administrative information useful for performance of the subsequent step(s)."
The licensee explained that the note located in procedure NOBP-LP-4004 is provided for advisory and administrative information, as outlined in the statement above, and does not represent an inconsistency. Further, the NRC staff noted that if the note was followed in place of form NOBP-LP-4004-02, this would require a conservative report to the NRC. This issue was brought to the licensee's attention and the licensee has entered the issue into its procedure change system to modify the note. As such, the NRC staff has no further comments on the issue.
2.2.1 Audit Results The attached audit summary also provides details of this portion of the audit and its results. The NRC staff found that NOBP-LP-4004 acceptably implements the NEl-99-04 guidelines pertaining to commitment changes. The BVPS staff is generally following the guidance of NOBP-LP-4004 in regard to commitment changes.
2.3 Review to Identify Misapplied Commitments The commitments reviewed for this audit were also evaluated to determine if they had been misapplied. A commitment is considered to be misapplied if the action comprising the commitment was relied on by the NRC staff in making a regulatory decision such as a finding of public health and safety in an NRC safety evaluation (SE) associated with a licensing action.
Reliance on an action to support a regulatory decision must be elevated from a regulatory commitment to a legal obligation (e.g., license condition, condition of a relief request, regulatory exemption limitation or condition). A commitment is also considered to have been misapplied if the commitment involves actions that were safety significant (i.e., commitments used to ensure safety).
Each of the commitments selected for the audit sampled were reviewed to determine if any had been misapplied. The NRC staff found that BVPS-1 and BVPS-2 acceptably implemented NOBP-LP-4004 and had no misapplied commitments.
2.3.1 Review of the Safety Evaluation Reports for Licensing Actions since the Last Audit to Determine if They are Properly Captured as Commitments or Obligations In addition to the commitments selected for the audit sample, all license amendment SEs, exemptions, and relief request SEs that have been issued for a facility since the last audit were identified. These documents were evaluated to determine if they contained any misapplied commitments as described above. The NRC staff found that BVPS-1 and BVPS-2 acceptably implemented the NOBP-LP-4004 and had no misapplied commitments in any of the license amendment SEs, exemptions, and relief request SEs that have been issued for a facility since the last audit.
3.0 CONCLUSION
Based on the above, the NRC staff concludes that (1) BVPS-1 and BVPS-2 have implemented NRC commitments on a timely basis, and (2) BVPS-1 and BVPS-2 have implemented an effective program to manage regulatory commitment changes.
4.0 LICENSEE PERSONNEL CONTACTED FOR THIS AUDIT Phil Lashley Kathleen Nevins Principal Contributors: T. Lamb J. Whited Date: July 28, 2015
Attachment:
Audit Summary
AUDIT
SUMMARY
Item No.
Licensee Submittal Subject Commitment Commitment Status I (ADAMS Acc. No.)
(Licensee Tracking No.)
Audit Results 1
August 17, 2005 Submit revised Within 6 months following NRC and Closed (ML052350256)
Emergency Plan to include Federal Emergency Management Due Date/Closed Date:
terrorist-based event drills Agency endorsement of the new 5/17/2012 and evaluated exercise process, the 5/15/2012 Emergency Plan will be revised to include provisions for drills and No issues.
exercises using terrorist-based-events.
Standard post-drill/exercise critique processes will be followed for security-based drills during the implementation phase.
(BV-L-05-136-06) 2 June 29, 2011 Submit license FENOC will submit the application for Closed (ML1111800765) amendment request (LAR) license amendment to implement Due Date/Closed Date:
to implement Title 1 O of 10 CFR 50.48(c) at BVPS-1 and 2 on 9/30/2012 and the Code of Federal before September 30, 2012.
9/21/2012 Regulations (BV-L-11-106-01)
(10 CFR) 50.48(c)
No issues.
3 August 29, 2012 Submit LAR to implement FENOC will submit the application for Closed (ML12243A245) 10 CFR 50.48(c) license amendment to implement Due Date/Closed Date:
10 CFR 50.48(c) at BVPS-1 and 2 on 12/31/2013 and before December 31, 2013.
12/30/2013 No issues.
4 May 16, 2013 Replace or modify Insulation for the BVPS-1 pressurizer Open/Changed (ML13136A144) insulation for BVPS-1 safety relief valve inlet lines will be Due Date:
pressurizer safety relief replaced or modified as appropriate if it End of the refueling valve inlet lines.
is determined that the Pressurized-outage in the spring of Water Reactor Owners Group 2018, if needed.
(PWROG) in-vessel effects testing (Original commitment effort does not support closure of date was fall of 2016.)
Generic Safety Issue 191 and Generic Letter 2004-02 for BVPS-1.
(BV-L-13-176-02)
No issues.
Attachment
5 May 16, 2013 Provide final Generic The final Generic Letter 2004-02 Open (ML13136A144)
Letter 2004-02 supplemental response for BVPS-1 will Due Date: 12/12/2016 supplemental response for be provided to the NRC.
BVPS-1.
(BV-L-13-176-03)
No issues.
6 May 16, 2013 Emergency Operating The BVPS-1 emergency operating Closed (ML13136A144)
Procedures (EOPs) will be procedures will be revised using recent Due Date/Closed Date:
revised to use guidance guidance from the PWROG to 11/15/2013 and from the PWROG for implement early switchover to hot leg 11/13/2013 BVPS-1.
recirculation should plant parameters indicate that core blockage is No issues.
occurring. This action will be taken prior to transfer to the existing "Response to Degraded Core Cooling" procedure. Appropriate operator training will be completed to address this emergency operating procedure revision prior to implementation.
(BV-L-13-176-05) 7 May 16, 2013 Provide final Generic The final Generic Letter 2004-02 Open (ML13136A144)
Letter 2004-02 supplemental response for BVPS-2 will Due Date: 12/12/2016 supplemental response for be provided to the NRC.
BVPS-2.
(BV-L-13-176-06)
No issues.
8 May 16, 2013 Emergency Operating The BVPS-1 emergency operating Closed (ML13136A144)
Procedures (EOPs) will be procedures will be revised using recent Due Date/Closed Date:
revised to use guidance guidance from the PWROG to 11/15/2013 and from the PWROG for implement early switchover to hot leg 11/13/2013 BVPS-2.
recirculation should plant parameters indicate that core blockage is occurring.
No issues.
This action will be taken prior to transfer to the existing "Response to Degraded Core Cooling" procedure. Appropriate operator training will be completed to address this emergency operating procedure revision prior to implementation.
(BV-L-13-176-08)