ML17228A441
| ML17228A441 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Saint Lucie  |
| Issue date: | 02/02/1994 |
| From: | NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION II) |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML17228A442 | List: |
| References | |
| 50-335-93-26, 50-389-93-26, NUDOCS 9402150093 | |
| Download: ML17228A441 (9) | |
See also: IR 05000335/1993026
Text
SALP REPORT - ST LUCIE NUCLEAR PLANT
50-335/93-26
AND 50-389/93-26
BACKGROUND
The
SALP Board convened
on January
20,
1994, to assess
the nuclear
safety performance of St. Lucie Units
1 and
2 for the period
May 3,
1992, through January
1, 1994.
The Board'as
conducted
per
NRC
"Systematic
Assessment
of Licensee
Performance."
Board members
were J. Philip Stohr (Board Chairperson),
Director, Division of Radiation Safety
and Safeguards,
NRC Region II
(RII); Ellis W. Herschoff, Director, Division of Reactor Projects,
NRC
RII; Johns
P. Jaudon,
Deputy Director, Division of Reactor Safety,
NRC
RII; and Herbert
N. Berkow, Director, Project Directorate II-2, NRC
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
This assessment
was reviewed
and
approved
by Stewart 0. Ebneter,
Regional Administrator,
NRC RII.
PLANT OPERATIONS
This functional
area
addresses
the control
and ex'ecution of activities
directly related to operating the plant.
It includes activities such
as
plant startup,
power operation,
plant shutdown,
and response to
It also includes initial and requalification training
programs for licensed operators.
Overall performance
in the Operations
area
has remained superior during
this assessment
period.
,Hanagement
oversight
and involvement have
been
very effective in assuring
safe facility operation.
Management
expectations
are clear
and have
been effectively conveyed to the
operating staff.
Conservative
operational
safety decisions
were made to
shut
down
a unit to repair degrading
equipment before it failed or
became
unable to adequately
perform its function.
Examples include
a
pump lubrication oil leak,
a pressurizer
safety valve
leak,
and increasing reactor coolant
pump vibration.
Also,
a unit
shutdown
was extended to facilitate the repair of leaking valves in the
reactor coolant gas vent system.
A unit startup
was delayed to evaluate
system operability when
a safety-related
electrical conduit was
discovered to be not attached to a seismic support.
Operator
performance during this period has
been excellent.
Operators
are well trained
and qualified, alert to plant conditions,
and well
supported
by management,
engineering,
maintenance,
and plant support
organizations.
Operator response
to transients,
abnormal conditions,
and equipment malfunctions
was excellent.
Of the seven
manual
and two
none were caused
by operator error.
Timely and
proper response
by operators
prevented
or minimized transients
during
various malfunctions, including:
the failure of a main turbine to trip
automatically following a reactor trip, failure of cooling water to a
main generator
hydrogen cooler,
and dropped reactor control element
assemblies
during plant operation.
Additionally, operators
were alert
in detecting
emerging equipment degradation
and initiating timely
m>>OO93 9~~0
ADO'< 0~033S
'DR
repairs,
including:
an emergency diesel
generator
fuel oil storage
tank
leak,
pump oil system leak,
and
system leak.
Operators typically displayed exceptional
attention to detail
and
control of plant configuration.
They performed
numerous reactor
startups
and shutdowns with no significant errors.
However, there were
three instances
of operator inattention,
occurring early in the period,
which underscore
the need for constant vigilance.
Specifically,
operators
inappropriately
removed
an emergency diesel
generator
from
service for maintenance
when
an opposite train source of reactor
coolant
system
emergency
boration
was already out of service,
an operator error
while cooling
a quench tank resulted in a ruptured
quench tank rupture
disk,
and
an operator error during
a unit cooldown resulted
in a safety
injection tank discharging into the reactor coolant system.
Control of outages
was excellent,
including operator
performance during
reduced reactor coolant system inventory conditions,
operator
knowledge
of refueling procedures,
and detailed
underwater
inspections of reactor
components
and fuel using
an underwater
submarine
video camera
and
radiation detector.
Plant conditions
and system alignments for
conducting maintenance
and installing modifications were well controlled
during scheduled refueling outages
and several
unscheduled
maintenance
outages.
guality assurance
was superior.
Audits were complete, clear,
and
contained significant findings.
Corrective actions for events
and
findings were effective and response
to industry events
was appropriate.
Company Nuclear
Review Board reviews
and the Nuclear Safety Speakout
Program for employee
concerns
were also effective.
The Operations
area is rated Category l.
Haintenance
This functional area
addresses
activities associated
with diagnostic,
predictive, preventive,
and corrective maintenance
of plant structures,
systems,
and components
and with the overall physical condition of the
plant.
It also
encompasses
all surveillance testing
and other tests
associated
with equipment
and system operability.
Overall performance
in this area continued to be superior during this
assessment
period.
Several
organizational
changes,
implemented during
this evaluation period, maintained the overall effectiveness
of the
Haintenance
Department.
Full implementation of the "component
engineers"
concept in maintenance
shops
enhanced
accountability
and
"ownership" of specific components.
Transfer of planners
from a
separate
organization to the maintenance
shop crews
gave the cognizant
line managers full control of all necessary
functions.
This resulted in
better availability of parts
and better contingency plans.
Also,
management
developed
and implemented
a number of organizational
and
programmatic
changes
which were effective in improving control over
il
L
3
contract maintenance activities since the last
SALP period.
The Preventive
Maintenance
Program focused
on several
specific
maintenance
problems
and produced
good results.
Specifically, the Leak
Reduction
Program significantly reduced the number of leaks throughout
the plant; the Check Valve Inspection
Program resulted in a computerized
data base,
detailed inspection
procedures,
and plant modifications in
response
to trends discovered
by the Program;
the Small Diameter Valve
Improvement
Program resulted in identification and replacement of
problem valves with standardized,
qualified valves;
and the Rotating
Equipment Reliability Program addressed
improvements
in original motor
alignment,
pump bearing installation,
and mechanical
seal
and bearing
lubrication.
I
St. Lucie's aggressive
Predictive Maintenance
Program,
which includes
monitoring and trending of numerous
major pieces of plant equipment
using vibration analysis, oil analysis,
and thermography
as tools,
detected
several
incipient, potential
problems.
This permitted orderly
shutdown of the plant for repairs
and averted
equipment failures.
Three
examples
included
a degraded thrust bearing in the IB main feed
pump
,
a
cracked shaft in the 2Al reactor main coolant
pump,
and
a dislodged
strainer in the
2B component cooling water pump.
The Failure Analysis
Group, which monitor s multiple equipment failures
and tracks the issues
to resolution,
provided
an effective feedback loop to Maintenance
Department supervisors.
The Maintenance
organization
was staffed with qualified, competent,
and
well-trained individuals.
System Supervisors
had significant technical
expertise
and took the lead in addressing
maintenance
problems with
design
changes,
as demonstrated
in the successful
effort to resolve
a
long-standing
problem of dropping control rods.
Aggressive,
in-depth
probing into the root cause of multiple capacitor failures in inverters
led to the discovery of a mounting problem which the licensee
then
corrected,
working jointly with the vendor.
The Electrical
Department
developed
an innovative methodology for rewinding large Class lE motors
by local vendors,
thereby shortening repair time and minimizing
equipment unavailability.
Maintenance exhibited generally excellent
Operations
and Engineering organizations.
forced outage
caused
by the unlatched
rod
the search for, and subsequent
repair of,
refueling water tank.
coordination with the
This was evident during a
event
on Unit I, as well as
a pin-hole leak in the
In order to improve the adequacy of and adherence
to work control
procedures,
the licensee
implemented
a number of effective improvements
during this period including:
changing to an automated
work control
process;
introduction of quality control holdpoints in the Passport
program which generates
work requests,
wor k orders,
and control
documents;
and post-maintenance
test procedure
improvements.
Notwithstanding the effectiveness
of these
improvements,
there were
still several
lapses
during the period attributable to inadequate
procedure quality and/or adherence
such
as the failure to reattach
a
~ I
seismic support following maintenance;
failure of a bearing
due to
improper reassembly of a gearbox oiler; and inadvertent wetting down of
an emergency
diesel generator while hosing
down the room.
Surveillance activities continued to be
a strength during this period.
Surveillances
were timely and of professional
quality.
The philosophy
of scheduling surveillance activities repetitively on the
same
day of
the week and
same
week of the month gave the program structure
and
predictability.
Other activities were worked around scheduled
surveillances.
The licensee
had
a good self-assessment
program in the Maintenance
area.
Corporate guality Assurance
conducted
bi-annual
audits of the
Maintenance
Department
and the Department
conducted
several
of its own
audits
each year.
The audits conducted during this period appear to be
technically sound
and comprehensive.
The Maintenance
area is rated Category l.
ENGINEERING
The functional area of Engineering
addresses
the adequacy of technical
and engineering
support for all regulated plant activities
and
interfaces.
Design control
and modifications are encompassed,
as is
engineering
support for operations,
maintenance,
outages,
testing,
and
licensing-related activities.
The design
change
process
functioned well during this period.
Modifications were technically adequate
and sufficiently documented.
Plant
and engineering priorities were effectively correlated,
and the
backlog of design
change
requested
actions
was significantly reduced.
The documentation of changes
made under the provisions of lOCFR50.59
improved,
although there
was
one issue resulting from a lack of
sensitivity to the need to perform such
reviews for temporary
modifications.
The engineering
support for operations,
maintenance,
and radiation
control activities was effective.
Although this support resides
in
several distinct groups (e.g.,
Maintenance
Department,
Technical
Support,
and Engineering),
the cooperation
among these
groups
and the
resulting synergism
produced
a consistently superior level of support
for both routine events
and emergent
issues.
Consolidation of.
engineering
management
at the site
and the physical proximity of the
various engineering
managers
and supervisors
onsite appear to have
improved the effectiveness
of the organization.
Examples of good engineering
support were:
technical
assistance
for
reactor startup
and physics testing, modification of the emergency
diesel
generator radiator fans to reduce vibration,
and
an innovative
program to deal with identified leaks.
Also, maintenance
problems
were
addressed
with design
changes,
as discussed
in the Maintenance section.
5
Technical
leadership
and innovation were demonstrated
in determining
effective methods to address
equipment-related
issues.
An example of
this was:
The modification to the main turbine trip to allow on-line
testing
and operability verification.
There was,
however,
an example where engineering
support
was inadequate.
In this instance,
a contractor provided the licensee with inadequate
instructions to perform American Society of Mechanical
Engineers
Code
repairs of pressurizer
instrument nozzle cracks.
Despite extensive
review by the licensee's
engineering
and technical
support
organizations,
this error was not detected until an
NRC inspector
identified it.
This happened
early in the assessment
period,
and the
licensee
conducted
an effective review of procedures
and practices to
preclude recurrence.
Licensing submittals
were generally of superior quality.
They seldom
required clarification and were always timely.
The licensee
was also
effective in communicating the facts for events
and the bases for
licensing requests
to the
NRC staff.
The Engineering
area is rated Category
1.
V.
PLANT SUPPORT
The Plant Support functional area
addresses
all activities related to
radiological controls, chemistry,
emergency
preparedness,
security, fire
protection,
and housekeeping.
In the radiological controls area,
external
and internal
exposure
were
well controlled during the period.
Collective dose goals were
established
and adjusted consistent with the changing workload;
During
1992, collective dose
was limited to 246 person-rem,
and during 1993, it
was limited to 460 person-rem.
Although" both years
included dose for
one refueling outage,
1993 also reflected significant dose associated
with an unscheduled
outage.
Overall, doses
were consistent with the
work performed.
The respiratory protection
program was
a strength.
Engineering controls were instituted along with the respirator reduction
effort to effectively limit total effective dose.
Radiological work was
appropriately controlled with close
adherence
to radiation work permits
by knowledgeable workers.
During the period, there
was effective
control of contamination
and
a reduction of existing contaminated
areas.
This effort was supported
by a good housekeeping
program.
Personnel
contamination
events
were maintained at less than annual goals.
Management
support for training and professional
qualification was
evidenced
by the number of radiation control technicians
pursuing
and
achieving national certification.
The ALARA program was effective, with
several initiatives this period, including the use of robotics for high
dose rate applications
and the use of new nozzle
dams to save exposure.
Audits in this area
were adequate.
The program to control radiological effluents was effectively
implemented this period.
Radiation
and process
monitors were well
maintained.
Good agreement
was noted
between licensee analytical
results,
independent
cross-checks,
and confirmatory measurement
samples.
A well-run environmental
monitoring program confirmed the low level of
radiological effluents,
which caused virtually no dose to offsite
environs.
The comparison of results for independent
environmental
samples
showed
good confirmation.
Primary and secondary
chemistry
programs
were effectively implemented.
The training program in this
area
helped to maintain
a high skill level
among chemistry technicians.
The licensee's
audit program in this area
was effective in identifying
weaknesses
when they existed
and in recommending corrective actions.
Performance
in the area of emergency
preparedness
continued to be strong
this period, but there were several
issues that arose which required
resolution.
For example,
the overall performance of the emergency
response
organization during the annual
exercise
was good;
however, the
Emergency Operations Facility was not activated in a timely manner.
An
issue also arose
concerning the need to update the State with emergency
information periodically during the exercise.
Notwithstanding the
aforementioned
issue,
the licensee
maintained
an excellent working
relationship with offsite agencies.
The emergency
response facilities
and equipment
were excellent
and well maintained.'rompt
and effective
support
was provided for the Turkey Point plant following Hurricane
Andrew,
and St. Lucie has significantly upgraded their own preparedness
as
a result of the lessons
learned.
The audits in this area
and the
exercise critique were considered
adequate.
The physical security program continued to be well implemented during
this period.
Security personnel
were well qualified and trained.
There
was close
adherence
to security plans
and procedures.
The 'personnel
access
control
program
was well managed
during the period.
The
licensee's
access
authorization
program was effective.
In this area,
the licensee
was proactive with regard to the extent of testing
and
agency record checks,
and the staff was well qualified.
Safeguards
information was appropriately controlled and,,in general,
plan changes
were appropriate
and timely.
Audits in the overall security area were
thorough,
complete
and effective.
Corrective actions to findings were
thorough
and timely.
Security systems (i.e., barriers,
alarms,
cameras,
etc.)
were well maintained with excellent testing
and repair support.
The fire protection program continued to be effectively implemented
during this period.
Personnel
responded
well to drills, tests,
and
an
actual fire.
A strong training program helped to maintain
a high level
of proficiency in this area.
Equipment was well maintained,
and control
over flammable material
storage
was excellent.
The overall physical condition of the plant was excellent during the
period, reflecting management's
attention to the continuing upkeep
and
housekeeping.
The Plant Support
area is rated Category I.