ML17228B397
| ML17228B397 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Saint Lucie  |
| Issue date: | 02/08/1996 |
| From: | NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION II) |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML17228B398 | List: |
| References | |
| 50-335-95-99, 50-389-95-99, NUDOCS 9602210277 | |
| Download: ML17228B397 (6) | |
See also: IR 05000335/1995099
Text
REPORT - ST.
LUCIE
50-335;
50-389
JANUARY 2
1994 - JANUARY 6
1996
I.
BACKGROUND
The
SALP Board convened
on January
18,
1996, to assess
the nuclear
safety performance of St. Lucie Units
1 and
2 for the period of
January
2,
1994,
through January
6,
1996.
The Board Meeting was
conducted
pursuant to
"Systematic
Assessment
of Licensee
Performance."
Board members
were Ellis W.
Herschoff (Chairperson),
Director, Division of Reactor Projects,
Region II (RII); Johns
P. Jaudon,
Deputy Director, Division of Reactor
Safety, RII; and David B. Matthews, Director, Project Directorate II-1,
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
The performance
category ratings
and the assessment
functional
areas
used
below are defined
and described
in NRC Management Directive 8.6,
"Systematic
Assessment
of Licensee
Performance
(SALP)."
II.
PERFORHANCE ANALYSIS - PLANT OPERATIONS
This functional area
assesses
the control
and execution of activities
directly related to operating the plant.
It includes activities such
as
plant startup,
power operation,
plant shutdown,
and response
to
Overall performance
in the operations
area
has declined
from its
previous superior level to an overall rating of good.
The plant has
been operated
safely,
although there
has
been
an increase
in the number
of operational
events.
This increase
is attributable to the following:
weaknesses
in operator performance,
the acceptance
of long standing
deficiencies
in plant equipment,
management
expectations
not effectively
communicated
to personnel
and enforced,
weaknesses
in procedural
adequacy
and adherence,
and the implementation
and adequacy of
corrective actions.
guality Assurance activities associated
with
Operations
remained
strong
and effective in identifying areas for
improvement.
Operator performance
during the period has, overall,
been
good,
and
continued to be strong during unusual
plant events or evolutions.
Operators
showed alert
and proper response
to ten reactor trips,
reflecting well upon the licensee's
training program
and individual
capabilities.
Similarly, operator performance during twelve observed
startups
and
seven monitored entries into reduced
inventory conditions
were typified by excellent
command
and control
and thorough operator
knowledge.
However, operator
performance during less
demanding
or less
focused evolutions
showed weaknesses
in procedural
adherence,
the
identification and correction of deficiencies,
and attention to detail.
9602210277
960208
ADQCK 05000335
6
Of particular concern,
procedural
adherence
and adequacy
issues
resulted
in, or contributed to,
an increase
in the number
and severity of
operational
events.
The lack of overall quality in plant procedures
was
underscored
by the shear
volume of procedural
changes
required
when
a
policy of verbatim compliance
was adopted.
The ability of Operations to identify and correct problems in a manner
sufficient to prevent recurrence
was also of concern.
This issue
was
compounded
by identified weaknesses
in communications
across
organizational
interfaces,
in that failures in informal communications
were not compensated
for by programmatic methods.
Finally, operator attention to detail
has declined during this
period.
Given that issues of procedural
inadequacies
existed,
the
importance of attention to detail
by operators
was amplified, in that it
represents
an important barrier to failures.
The decline in attention
to details
was indicative of an onset of complacency
through the
period,
a trend which operations
management
failed to identify and
remedy in a timely manner.
The Plant Operations
area is rated Category 2.
III.
PERFORNNCE ANALYSIS - MAINTENANCE
This functional
area
assesses
licensee activities in the areas of
testing
and maintaining plant structures,
systems,
and components.
Activities assessed
include preventive, predictive,
and corrective
maintenance,
as well as surveillance,
post-modification,
and post-
maintenance
testing.
Overall performance
in the maintenance
area declined from its previous
superior level to an overall rating of good.
Haintenance
provided
generally effective support for plant operations
on
a day-to-day basis.
However, there were problems with equipment that adversely affected
overall plant performance
and provided unnecessary
challenges
to
operations.
Significant problems related to maintenance
were manifested
by an
operability issue with pressurizer
power-operated relief valves, reactor
coolant
pumps seal failures,
and inadequate
post-maintenance
test
determinations.
There were also procedural difficulties encountered,
especially in surveillance
and preventive maintenance
procedures.
These
issues
had been present
but unrecognized
previously,
and the licensee's
remedial
actions
included
an attempt to utilize a "verbatim compliance"
approach.
However, the older procedures
were not written to a level of
detail that would support this methodology,
and the plant rank and file
were not well oriented in the concept of procedural
adherence;
therefore,
the use of verbatim compliance did not resolve the problems
emanating
from weak procedures.
3
Management of the maintenance
area
changed
during this assessment
period,
and by the end of the assessment
period, the new management
appeared
to be providing the leadership
necessary
to reverse the
observed
negative trends.
In the area of procedures,
the
new management
team instituted
a dual
approach of correcting the procedures
and
training the personnel
to use
them which has
seen
some preliminary
successes.
The surveillance
program was implemented satisfactorily,
but the
procedural
problems discussed
above kept it from rising to the superior
level.
Corrective maintenance
was performed acceptably
and generally
had strong
management
involvement.
In addition to the apparent
strength of the
new management
team, the
predictive maintenance
group was considered
a strength.
The group was
adept at vibration analysis,
and lubrication analysis.
The predictive maintenance
group
had strong
and positive interactions
with the operations
and maintenance
programs
and, furnishing early
warning of incipient equipment failures,
and long-term degradation of
important components.
Licensee preparations
to implement the new maintenance
rule were
successful
in identifying equipment
such
as the radiation monitoring
system
and the emergency diesel
generators
which were not performing to
the licensee's
expectations.
The Maintenance
area is rated Category 2.
- IV.
PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS - ENGINEERING
This functional
area
assesses
activities associated
with the design of
plant modifications
and engineering
support for operations,
maintenance,
surveillance,
and licensing activities.
The overall performance
in the Engineering
area
remained superior.
The strength of the engineering
group was
shown in the area of design
and installation support.
This was manifested
by a number of well
engineered
and implemented plant modifications.
In the area of design
control
and maintenance
of the current licensing basis,
the engineering
organization typically performed well with occasional
weaknesses.
The plant's operations
were supported successfully
throughout the
assessment
period.
Of particular note was the design
and installation
on Unit 2 of the condenser
tube cleaning system.
In addition, the
licensee
has
undertaken
several initiatives to reduce the number of
jumper/lifted leads,
eliminate operator work-arounds,
reduce the number
of old work orders,
and to improve the performance of contractors.
The
fuel vendor independence
program will result in better control of core
design,
improved support for the plant and enhanced
fuel utilization.
The support of maintenance activities remained strong.
The 45th Street
Laboratory provided good support with component specialists
along with
effective nondestructive
examination services.
A comprehensive
program
of monitoring Alloy 600/690 applications
focused
on the pressurizer,
reactor vessel
and loop piping penetrations.
The recently implemented
maintenance
specification
program should result in effective maintenance
support, efficient engineering,
and enhanced
plant safety.
In light of
the weaknesses
discussed
in the Haintenance
section,
the support of
maintenance
activities by engineering is an area
where
improvements
could be achieved.
Throughout the assessment
period, licensing submittals
have
been
consistently of high quality, reflecting sound engineering
judgment
and
appropriate
attention to detail.
Safety evaluations
demonstrated
the
licensee's
commitment to safety
and compliance with regulations.
The Engineering
area is rated Category I.
V.
PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS - PLANT SUPPORT
This functional
area
addresses
radiological controls, radioactive
effluents,
chemistry,
emergency
preparedness,
security, fire protection,
and housekeeping
controls.
The overall performance
in the Plant Support area
has
remained superior.
The radiation protection
program received strong
management
support.
The accumulated
dose goal
was met for the first year of the assessment
period but not for the second year.
This was the result of the
maintenance
problems
and the resulting increased
outage time.
The
radiation protection organization continued to implement strong
initiatives in the "as low as reasonably
achievable"
(ALARA) program
through the use of remote monitoring of potentially high radiological
dose work and the introduction of electronic dosimetry.
Management
involvement
and support
was evidenced
by the small
amount of surface
area contamination,
a significant reduction in the volume of solid
waste,
and the readiness
of the post accident
sampling system.
Training
and self-assessments
were found to be effective.
Thus, the combination
of management
support
and
an innovative health physics organization
resulted in superior performance.
Security maintained
an excellent level of performance
during a staff
reduction of the guard force and the introduction of biometrics.
Measures
used included effective training, which included the use of a
combat firing range
and good self-assessments.
Changes
to the security
plan were both appropriate
and made in a timely manner.
However, there
were
some performance
problems
such
as
a repeat
instance of failure to
compensate
in a timely manner for a computer failure; this suggested
a
problem with the effectiveness
of corrective action from a previous
event.
In the fire protection area,
combustible control
was effective and the
fire brigade
performed well during drills and during an actual
event.
However, observation of surveillance testing of the fire protection
I
J
systems
revealed
weak procedures,
poor attention to detail,
as well as
minor past errors that had gone uncorrected.
On balance,
procedural
and
surveillance
problems detracted
from the otherwise excellent level of
performance
in the fire protection area.
In the emergency
preparedness
area,
the full participation exercise
conducted in 1994 was successful,
and appropriate
emergency
classifications
were made.
Overall exercise
performance
was rated
as
good.
The status of equipment
and supplies
needed to support
emergency
preparedness
was found to be adequate.
The emergency
preparedness
program maintained
a good state of readiness
for event response.
The Plant Support area is rated Category 1.