ML17298B875
| ML17298B875 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Palo Verde  |
| Issue date: | 02/07/1985 |
| From: | Taylor J NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE) |
| To: | ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE CO. (FORMERLY ARIZONA NUCLEAR |
| Shared Package | |
| ML17298B873 | List: |
| References | |
| EA-83-030, EA-83-130, EA-83-30, NUDOCS 8502110547 | |
| Download: ML17298B875 (11) | |
Text
UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION In the Matter of ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station Unit No.
1
)
Docket No. 50-528
)
Construction Permit No.
CPPR-141
)
License No. NPF-34 EA 83-30 EA 83-130 ORDER IMPOSING A CIVIL MONETARY PENALTY Arizona Public Service
- Company, P. 0.
Box 21666, Phoenix, Arizona, 85036 (the "Licensee" ) was the holder of Construction Permit CPPR-141 issued by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
("NRC" or the "Commission" ).
The Construction Permit authorizes construction of the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station facility in Maricopa County, Arizona.
The Construction Permit was issued on May 25,
- 1976, and terminated upon issuance of NRC License No. NPF-34, dated December 31, 1984.
A special inspection of the licensee's activities under the Construction Permit was conducted at the Palo Verde plant during the period of June 1,
1982
- March ll, 1983.
As a result of the inspection, the NRC staff determined that the licensee had not conducted its activities in full compliance with NRC requirements.
A written Notice of Violation and Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalties was served upon the licensee by letter dated December 12, 1983.
The Notice stated the nature of the violations, the provisions of the NRC regulations violated, and the amount of the civil penalties proposed for each of the violations.
The licensee responded to the Notice of Violation and Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalties in letters dated January 31, 1984 and December 26, 1984.
The violation identified in Paragraph I.A of said Notice 8502110547 850207 PDR
- DOCK 05000528
. 8 PDR
was the subject of NRC's Order Imposing a Civil Monetary Penalty dated April 3, 1984, which was timely paid by the licensee.
Upon consideration of the licensee's replies to the Notice of Violation and Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalties and argument for remission of the proposed civil penalty for Item I.B in the Notice on the ground that the admitted violation did not constitute a Severity Level III Violation, the Director, Office of Inspection and Enforcement, for the reasons set forth in the Appendix to this Order, has determined that the penalty proposed for the identified violation did occur as set forth in the Notice and that these is no adequate basis for mitigation or remission of the proposed penalty.
IV In view of the foregoing and pursuant to Section 234 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as
- amended, 42 U.S.C.
- 2282, PL 96-295, and 10 CFR 2.205, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT:
The licensee pay a civil penalty in the amount of Forty Thousand Dollars
($40,000) within 30 days of the date of this Order, by check, draft, or money order, payable to the Treasurer of the United States and mailed to the Director of the Office of Inspection and Enforcement,
- USNRC, Washington DC 20555.
t The licensee may, within 30 days of the date of this Order, request a hearing.
A request for a hearing shall be addressed to the Director, Office of Inspection and Enforcement.
A copy of the hearing request shall also be sent to the Executive Legal Director, USNRC, Washington, D.C. 20555.
If a hearing is requested, the Commission will issue an Order designating the time and place of hearing.
Upon failure of the licensee to request a hearing within 30 days of the date of this Order, the provisions of this Order shall be effective without further proceedings; if payment has not been made by the time, the matter may be referred to the Attorney General for collection.
VI In the event the licensee requests a hearing as provided above, the issues to be considered at such hearing shall be:
(a) whether the licensee violated Appendix 8 requirements as set forth in'aragraph I.B. of the Notice of Violation and Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalties; and (b)
- whether, on the basis of such violation, this Order should be sustained.
FOR THE NUCLFAR REGULATORY COMMISSION J
mes M. Taylor, Director ffice of Inspection and Enforcement Dated at Bethesda, Ma ry1 and this l+ day of February 1985
APPENDIX EVALUATION AND CONCLUSION The NRC staff's evaluation and conclusions regarding the licensee's response dated December 26, 1984, pertaining to the violation and proposed civil penalty identified in Item I.B of the Notice of Violation and Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalties dated December 12, 1983 ("Notice" ) are as follows:
Restatement of Violation I.B.
Item I.B. of the Notice of Violation dated December 12, 1983 provides as follows:
"I.
Violations Assessed Civil Penalties B.
Criterion V of Appendix B to 10 CFR Part 50 requires that, "Activities affecting quality shall be prescribed by documented instructions...and shall be accomplished in accordance with these instructions..."
Also, Criterion XVII requires that, "Sufficient records shall be maintained to furnish evidence of activities affecting quality..."
Bechtel work plan procedures/quality control instruction WPP/gCI-255.0, "Cable Terminations," requires that termination installation cards be completed for all Class 1E electrical terminations.
These cards include the signature of the electrician making the termination and the crimp tool number of the crimp tool used to make the termination.
Contrary to these requirements, the record of Unit 1 Class 1E electrical termination 1E2I22AC1RE2 dated November 13, 1981 was signed by an individual other than the person who actually performed the work as documented.
Additionally, the serial number of the crimp tool used on this termination record appears not to be the serial number of the crimp tool actually used to make the termination.
Approximately 50 to 100 of the estimated 7,000 to 8,000 termination cards for the Class 1E electrical terminations may have been similarly completed by individuals other than those who had performed the work.
This is a Severity Level III Violation (Supplement VII). (Civil Penalty
$40,000)."
Licensee Admissions On the basis of the Investigation Report, the Special Inspection Report of Region V and the licensee's own investigations, the licensee admitted that:
1.
Prior to July 12,
- 1982, a very small number'f Class g nuclear safety-related replacement termination installation cards (TICs) may have been signed by some electricians who did not perform the terminations identified by such TICs.
2.
Each such instance constituted a violation of WPP/gCI-255.0.
Appendix 3.
The root cause for such violations of WPP/QCI-255.0 was that WPP/QCI-255.0 did not provide adequate directions and instruction for the preparation of replacement TICs.
Licensee Denials On the basis of the Investigation Report, the Special Inspection Report of Region V and the licensee's own investigations, the licensee denied that:
1.
Any violations of WPP/QCI-255.0 violated any requirement imposed by any NRC regulation that an electrician sign a TIC and identify the crimp tool used in making terminations.
2.
Any violation of WPP/QCI-255.0 was committed with the intent or purpose of circumventing any quality control inspection or requirement imposed by any NRC regulation.
3.
Any violation of WPP/QCI-255.0 had any safety significance.
Licensee's Re vest for Remission of Pro osed Civil Penalt The licensee requested remission of the proposed civil penalty of $40,000 on the grounds that the admitted violations of WPP/QCI-255.0 do not constitute Severity Level III violations and asserted that:
1.
All investigations of the matter demonstrated that the root cause of violations of WPP/QCI-255.0 was the inadequacy of the procedure itself.
2.
WPP/QCI-255.0 was promptly corrected on July 12, 1982 when its inadequacy came to the attention of the licensee management.
3.
The inadequacy of WPP/QCI-255.0 prior to July 12, 1982 did not constitute a breakdown in the licensee's quality assurance program or involve deficient construction or construction of unknown quality which, under Supplement II to Appendix C of 10 CFR Part 2, are prerequisites of a Severity Level III violation.
4.
The improper completion of replacement TICs by electricians did not have any safety significance.
Licensee's Corrective Action and Results Achieved The licensee asserted that WPP/QCI-255.0 was revised on July 12, 1982 to require that each TIC prepared to replace a lost TIC must be marked "DUPLICATE" and the termination identified by the DUPLICATE TIC must be reperformed by the electrician signing such DUPLICATE TIC.
Training in the use of the revised WPP/QCI-255.0 by electricians performing terminations and their supervisors has been completed.
This corrective action has eliminated the root cause of the previous violations of WPP/QCI-255.0.
Appendix NRC Evaluation The information provided in Section III of 10 CFR Part 2, Appendix C describes the severity levels of violations.
As'tated therein, Severity Level III includes those violations that are cause for significant concern.
Supplements I
thru VIII of the policy provide examples of violations for determining the appropriate severity level of a violation and are neither exhaustive nor controlling.
The examples are designed to illustrate the significance which NRC places on a particular type of violation of NRC requirements.
Supplement VII of the policy, referred to in the Notice of Violation, provided examples of material false statements at the time of issuance of the Notice of Violation.
Since that time, examples of violations involving falsification of records were included on Parch 8, 1984.
The Supplement now contains an example under the heading of Severity Level III which reads:
"2.
Deliberate falsification, or falsification by or with knowledge of management, of records which the NRC requires be kept that did not involve significant information."
The licensee's response dated December 26, 1984 state on page 4 of Attachment F
in part:
The crimp tool serial number and date recorded on the front of termination cards provides a means for identifying specific crimps accomplished during certain time periods.
By utilizing this number and dates a total listing of all terminations made by a specific tool during a given time period may be obtained from the computerized data base developed from the information on the front of the termination cards.
The capability to obtain such a listing is not required or useful for quality control purposes.
It can be useful, however, if or when a
crimping tool is found to be out of calibration, to identify the terminations made by that tool in the period between calibrations which will have to be reinspected.
The termination identified in the Notice of Violation; has been inspected and was found to be acceptable.
The management of any organization involved with NRC licensed activities must create a working atmosphere such that all employees understand the importance of not only performing quality work but also the need for maintaining the accuracy of the related records.
The NRC must rely on licensees to develop adequate procedures to assure that quality related activities are properly performed, inspected and documented.
As indicated by the licensee, the record containing false information could have and would have been used for a quality related check had a termination tool been found out of calibration.
Since the tool number shown on the record was false, had the tool that had been actually used to make the termination been subsequently found to be out of calibration, the subject termination would not have been rechecked as required by the licensee's guality Assurance Program which is required to be implemented by the NRC requirements of 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix B.
~ '
Appendix The inspection and investigations reports of this matter show that recording of false information was not limited to the knowledge of the craftsman but was known or should have been known by several levels of lower management, i.e.,
- Foremen, the General Foreman and the Field Superintendent responsible for the subject electrical terminations.
Therefore, even though the number of electrical terminations containing false information was small and, fortuitously, the consequences were nil, the fact that individuals including members of management evidently believed it to be permissible to enter false information on a quality record is a matter of significant concern to the NRC.
Such action shows that upper management had neglected to create the necessary environment to assure that the employees would exercise the necessary care and discipline in their activities of the type expected from those responsible for the adequacy of constructing nuclear power plants; i.e.,
under no circumstances can falsification of quality records be condoned or justified by anyone in an organization conducting NRC licensed activities.
NRC Conclusion After carefully reconsidering the circumstances of this case, the staff has concluded that the violation did occur as cited and that the amount of the civil penalty originally proposed is appropriate.
Arizona Public Service Company Distribution PDR LPDR SECY CA ACRS JHTayloer, IE RVollmer, IE
- JMartin, RV'Axelrad, IE:'Klingler,IE JLieberman, ELD
- VStello, DED/ROGR
- HDenton, NRR
- FIngram, PA Enforcement Coordinators RI, RII, RIII, RI'V, RV
- BHayes, OI SConnelly, OIA
- JCrooks, AEOD
- EJordan, IE
- JPartlow, IE
Esq.
/ 'GKlin e0 Mar n
JLieberman k/2// /85 2/b /85 2/g/85 JA41rad RV m
J aylor 2/'8 /85 2/ 4,/85 2/ +85
t
$ F l
L P
~
~ '"
7 4
'f ll I
I 'l L