ML17158A061
| ML17158A061 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Susquehanna  |
| Issue date: | 12/21/1993 |
| From: | Cooper R NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION I) |
| To: | Byram R PENNSYLVANIA POWER & LIGHT CO. |
| Shared Package | |
| ML17158A062 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 9312300009 | |
| Download: ML17158A061 (5) | |
See also: IR 05000387/1993080
Text
DEC a l ~
Docket No. 50-387
Mr. Robert G. Byram
Senior Vice President - Nuclear
Pennsylvania Power & Light Company
2 North Ninth Street
Allentown, Pennsylvania
18101
Dear Mr. Byram:
SUBJECT'RC AUGMENTED INSPECTION TEAM (AIT)REPORT NO. 50-387/93-80
This letter transmits the report for the Augmented Inspection Team (AIT) led by Mr. R.R.
Temps between October 29 and November 9, 1993. This inspection assessed
the circumstances,
causes,
corrective actions, safety significance, and generic implications of four fuel handling
incidents which occurred on October 6, 26, 27, and 28, 1993, at the Susquehanna
Steam Electric
Station Unit 1.
In addition, the AIT reviewed other refueling activities to determine if
management
had been
appropriately
involved with previous similar occurrences.
At the
conclusion of this inspection, a public exit meeting was conducted on November 22, 1993, at
the Susquehanna
Energy Information Center.
The AIT concluded that operator error was the immediate cause of the first three events, and
that the fourth event was caused by structural weakening of the refueling bridge mast which
resulted from a previous event.
The AITalso concluded that several of your short-term actions
taken immediately after each event were inadequate.
Further, the AITnoted that the recent four
events were similar to fuel handling events dating back to 1984.
The AIT concluded that the
root-cause evaluations performed for these earlier events lacked thoroughness and independence,
and that the corrective actions taken in those instances were insufficient to prevent recurrence.
Refuelings
are infrequently performed
evolutions which involve unusual
plant conditions,
potentially significant radiation exposures,
and the need for well-defined and well-coordinated
responsibilities among several organizations.
As such, refueling operations constitute a safety-
significant activity with the concomitant responsibility that it be treated
as
such by plant
management
and personnel.
In reviewing your response to these and previous events, the AIT
noted that you had not treated
some
areas of fuel handling activities as safety-significant
activities.
The AIT noted repeated
instances
in which past evaluations
stated
"no safety
significance" or "impact on schedule" as the consequence of the event reviewed.
In reviewing
your response to the repeated maintenance/replacement
of bent mast sections, your resolutions
appeared
to be more concerned with economic factors (i.e., maintaining the timeliness of core
offload/reload) than in treating the problem as one affecting a safety-significant activity. The
most telling evidence of this was the fact that for recent refueling outages,
a spare mast was
280023
9'3f2300009 93f221
ADOCK 05000387
8
2 l lcm
routinely maintained on the refueling floor due to your history of mast problems
and the
expectation that the spare would probably be needed.
The implied emphasis on production over
safety is of particular concern to NRC.
The AIT concluded
that management
visibility and direct involvement with fuel handling
activities was often insufficient and that previous failures in implementing effective corrective
actions from past similar events indicated that you permitted recurrent personnel errors and
equipment failures to continue.
Senior operations management delegated management oversight
of fuel handling activities to the refueling floor senior reactor operator.
This decision was
apparently made under the belief that having a higher management
presence
on the refueling
bridge would distract the operators from their duties.
However, although the desire to reduce
distractions was commendable, senior managers did not hold their people accountable, nor obtain
feedback, so senior managers remained unaware ofconcerns and practices known at the working
level.
Lastly, even though human performance errors have increased
during fuel handling
operations,
management did not increase its oversight.
The intent of this inspection was to determine the causes of these events and to identify any
potential generic safety issues.
Therefore, no attempt has been made at this time to characterize
the findings relative to regulatory requirements.
Any enforcement associated with the inspection
findings willbe sent to you in a separate letter.
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.790 of the NRC's "Rules of Practice," a copy of this letter and
enclosure willbe placed in the NRC Public Document Room.
lh
We appreciate your cooperation with our inspectors.
Sincerely,
Orig'",~l Sia~< ~y
Richard W. Cooper, Director
Division of Reactor Projects
Enclosure:
NRC Inspection Report No. 50-387/93-80
cc w/encl:
H. G. Stanley, Vice President - Nuclear Operations
J. M. Kenny, Nuclear Licensing
G. T. Jones, Vice President - Nuclear Engineering
M. M. Urioste, Nuclear Services Manager
D. F. McGann, Supervisor, Nuclear Compliance
H. D. Woodeshick, Special Office of the President
J. C. Tilton, HI, Allegheny Electric Cooperative, Inc.
Public Document Room (PDR)
Local Public Document Room (LPDR)
Nuclear Safety, Information Center (NSIC)
K. Abraham, PAO (2)
NRC Resident Inspector
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
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bcc w/encl:
Region I Docket Room (with concurrences)
The Chairman
Commissioner Rogers
Commissioner Remick
Commissioner de Planque
J. Taylor, EDO
T. Murley, NRR
DCD (OWFN Pl-37) (Dist. Code ¹IE10)
A. Chaffee, NRR/DORS/EAB
E. Jordan, AEOD
Paul Boehnert, Chairman, ACRS
Ken Raglin, Director, Technical Training Center
bcc via E-Mail:
Vf. Dean, OEDO
R. Clark, Project Manager, NRR
L. Nicholson, Acting PDI-2, NRR
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Region I Docket Room (with concurrences)
The Chairman
Commissioner Rogers
Commissioner Remick
Commissioner de Planque
J. Taylor, EDO
T. Murley, NRR
DCD (OWFN Pl-37) (Dist. Code ¹IE10)
A. Chaffee, NRR/DORS/EAB
E. Jordan, AEOD
Paul Boehnert, Chairman, ACRS
Ken Raglin, Director, Technical Training Center
bcc via E-Mail:
W. Dean, OEDO
R. Clark, Project Manager, NRR
L. Nicholson, Acting PDI-2, NRR
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OFFICIALRECORD COPY
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