ML17264A695
| ML17264A695 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Ginna  |
| Issue date: | 10/21/1996 |
| From: | Bajwa S NRC (Affiliation Not Assigned) |
| To: | Bowe J AFFILIATION NOT ASSIGNED |
| Shared Package | |
| ML17264A697 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 9610240194 | |
| Download: ML17264A695 (7) | |
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UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISS49N WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001, October 21, 1996 Hr. Jerome P.
Bowe 104 Brentwood Drive
- Penfield, New York 14526
Dear Hr. Bowe:
I am responding to your letter of September ll, 1996, to Hr. Frank Hiraglia, Acting Director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, in which you expressed concern about the safety of the R.
E. Ginna Nuclear Power Plant, operated by Rochester Gas and Electric Corporation (RG8E).
In particular, you stated that the plant had been recently shut down four times for safety reasons since it returned to operation on June 10,
- 1996, and asked what the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is doing to protect you from a nuclear disaster.
- Further, you indicated concern about the financial aspects of the recent steam generator replacement project.
With regard to your concerns about nuclear safety, the risk to public health and safety is reduced through the application and enforcement of the requirements in Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR).
- Also, the regulatory philosophy of "defense in depth" a philosophy that ensures that complete reliance on safety will not be placed on any single element of the design, maintenance, or operation of a nuclear power plant - is applied to reduce the risk to public health and safety.
Defense in depth is maintained through regulatory requirements that encompass areas such as diversity and redundancy in design, training of the reactor operators, ongoing testing and maintenance activities, and regulatory oversight by the NRC.
As part of its oversight function, the NRC monitors the performance of each plant under a
comprehensive inspection program employing onsite resident inspectors, whose efforts are supplemented by inspectors from the NRC's regional office and Headquarters who focus on specific technical areas.
The NRC takes very seriously its regulatory and oversight mission to ensure that nuclear plants, including Ginna, are properly operated and maintained.
It has closely monitored plant operations and maintenance activities at Ginna and will continue to inspect plant systems to verify that they are properly installed, maintained, and operated.
The NRC routinely conducts inspections of Ginna's operations, maintenance, and engineering programs.
In addition, a
staff of two full-time resident inspectors is stationed at the site to respond to an off-normal incident and perform detailed inspections to ensure that regulations are being met and that public health and safety is protected.
As part of their routine duties, the resident inspectors verify that procedures are being followed and that equipment meets established specifications.
The results of the activities of both the specialists and the resident inspectors are available for your review at the Lncal Public Document Room (LPDR) located in the Rochester Public Library on 115 South Avenue.
lhe NRC also periodically assesses performance of each nuclear power plant under its "Systematic Assessment of Licensee Performance (SALP)" program.
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Bowe last assessment period covering September 1993 to March 1995, the NRC rated RG&E's overall performance at Ginna as good (NRC Inspection Report 50-244/
93-99, dated May 1, 1995).
If regulations are not being met or if the plant is not being safely operated, appropriate regulatory actions will be taken to correct the situation for the protection of public health and safety.
Me would like to provide you with the following information regarding the recent plant shutdowns.
On June 12, 1996, during a plant startup following the refueling/steam generator replacement
- outage, the operators found that the control rods were not properly aligned.
The reactor was not critical (the nuclear fission reaction was not self-sustaining) nor was it producing power at the time of discovery.
The operators systematically shut down the plant by inserting the control rods by means of a manual reactor trip.
The control rod sequencing problem was caused by a failure of an electronic circuit card in the rod control system.
Inspection Report 50-244/96-05 and LER 96-007 give further details of this problem.
On July 3,
- 1996, RG&E shut down the plant to replace a pressurizer safety valve that was leaking past the valve disc and seat to the pressurizer relief tank where the leakage was collected.
The details regarding the identification of this condition and the subsequent actions are contained in Inspection Report 50-244/96-06.
On August 2,
- 1996, RG&E shut down the plant to correct a design shortcoming in two core deluge valves; in certain situations, pressure in the piping to the normally closed valves in the low pressure safety injection system has the potential to prevent these valves from properly opening.
The problem was corrected by installing upgraded valve actuators that can handle the forecasted pressure.
The NRC's assessment of the control of operations regarding the plant shutdown is contained in Inspection Report 50-244/96-07, and details regarding the deficiency in the design of the valve operator are contained in Inspection Report 50-244/96-08.
On August 20,
- 1996, a main feedwater regulating valve that controls the flow to the "B" steam generator closed when an input signal to its valve positioner was lost.
The loss of this signal occurred because of the failure of a current-to-pressure transducer that converts an electronic signal to the appropriate air pressure used by the positioner.
The reactor automatically shut down as designed when a low level set point in the "B" steam generator was reached.
The licensee found that the transducer problem was caused by a maintenance error -
a screw was not installed on an electrical terminal board.
Inspection Report 50-244/96-07 and LER 96-012 give additional details on this problem.
On September 12,
- 1996, RG&E systematically took the plant offline to repair a
small leak in the safety injection accumulator
- system, a leaking feedwater isolation valve, and to make adjustments to the auxiliary feedwater system.
Inspection Report 50-244/96-07 contains details regarding the off-normal conditions and the subsequent actions taken.
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4 Mr. Jerome P.
Bowe Overall, the NRC staff found that RG&E took action'o correct the identified conditions and that the plant systems and personnel properly responded.
In your letter, you also expressed concerns about electric rates and the prudency of utility expenses with respect to Ginna.
The NRC recognizes that safe, reliable, and economical performance cannot-be attained without adequate financial expenditures to maintain and operate a facility., The NRC is also concerned about the ability of its licensees to pr'o'vide adequate funds for decommissioning of their nuclear plants, and'RGEE currently meets the NRC's regulations in this area.
However, the NRC does not have the'authority to determine how and to what extent funds for operation and decommissioning expenses are recovered from ratepayers or stockholders of RG&E.
Thus,'our concerns about electric rates and prudency of,utility expenses, are beyond the NRC's authority and should be addres'sed to 'the New York State Public Service Commission, who have ratemaking authority..over'RG&E.
e Should you have any additional questions on Ginna,, or. if we can be of further assistance, please write me or call Hr. Lawrence T. Doerflein'tat (610) 337-5378.
Hr Doerflein is the Region I Branch Chief who is responsible for overseeing Ginna inspection activities.
W I trust that this information will be helpful-inddressing your concerns.
Sincerely, S. Singh Bajwa, Acting Director Project Directorate I-I Division of Reactor Projects
- I/II Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation L. Doerflien, R-I T. Hoslak, R-I J.
DOCKET File (with R.
Zimmerman incoming)
T. Hartin PUBLIC (with incoming)
B. Sheron PDI-I Reading File S. Varga (w/1 nc)
J. Zwolinski EDO ¹YT 960170 S.
Bajwa F. Miraglia G. Vissing A. Thadani S. Little DOCUMENT NAME: YT96170.YEL
- See previous concurrence To receive a copy of this document, indicate in the box:
"C" - Copy without attachment enclosure "E" - Copy with attachment/enclosure "N" = No copy OFFICE PM:PD1-1 E
LA:PD1-1 N PD:PD1-1 E TechEd N BC:Rl b/phone E
D:DRPE E
NAME DATE GVisslng SLlttle 10/02/96 10/02/96 SBajwa 10/04/96 MMejac 10/02/96 LDoerflein" 10/02/96 SVarga" 10/08/96 OFFICE ADPR OGC NAME Rzimmerman*
J Moo DATE 10/11/96 10/+
/96 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY
Mr. Jerome P,
Bowe Overall, the NRC staff found that RG&E took action to correct the identified conditions and that the plant systems and personnel properly responded.
In your letter, you also expressed concerns about electric rates and the prudency of utility expenses with respect to Ginna.
The NRC recognizes that safe, reliable, and economical performance cannot be attained without adequate financial expenditures to maintain and operate a facility.
The NRC is also concerned about the ability of its licensees to provide adequate funds for decommissioning of their nuclear plants; RG&E currently meets the NRC's regulations in this area.
- However, the NRC does not have the authority to determine how and to what extent funds for operation and decommissioning expenses are recovered from r atepayers or stockholders of RG&E.
Thus, your concerns about electric rates and prudency of utility expenses are beyond the NRC's authority and should be addressed to the New York State Public Service Commission, who have ratemaking authority over RG&E.
Should you have any additional questions on Ginna, or if we can be of further assistance, please write me or call Mr. Lawrence T. Doerflein at (610) 337-5378.
Mr Doerflein is the Region I Branch Chief who is responsible for overseeing Ginna inspection activities.
I trust that this information will be helpful in addressing your concerns.
Sincerely,
~ig+C /v" S.
Singh Bajwa, Acting Director Project Directorate I-I Division of Reactor Projects
- I/II Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
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UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION DIVISIONOF REACTOR PROJECTS
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