ML17311A455
| ML17311A455 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Palo Verde  |
| Issue date: | 12/02/1994 |
| From: | Beach A NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION IV) |
| To: | Stewart W ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE CO. (FORMERLY ARIZONA NUCLEAR |
| Shared Package | |
| ML17311A456 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 9412060043 | |
| Download: ML17311A455 (12) | |
See also: IR 05000528/1994031
Text
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UN IT E0 STATES
C LEAR R EG ULATORY COMMISSI
REGION IV
611 RYAN PLAZA ORIVE, SUITE 400
ARLINGTON,TEXAS 76011.8064
2
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Dockets:
50-528
50-529
50-530
Licenses:
NPF-51
Arizona Public Service
Company
ATTN:
William L. Stewart
Executive Vice President,
Nuclear
P.O.
Box 53999
Phoenix,
85072-3999
SUBJECT:
NRC
INSPECTION
REPORT 50-528/94-31;
50-529/94-31;
50-530/94-31
(NOTICE OF VIOLATION) (NOTICE OF DEVIATION)
This refers to the inspection
conducted
by Nr. K. Johnston
and others of this
office on September
4 through October
15,
1994.
The inspection
included
a
review of activities authorized for your Palo Verde Nuclear Generating
Station,
Units 1,
2,
and 3, facility.
At the conclusion of the inspection,
the findings were discussed
with you and those
members of your staff
identified in the enclosed
report.
Areas
examined during the inspection
are identified in the report.
Within
these
areas,
the inspection consisted of selective
examinations of procedures
and representative
records,
interviews with personnel,
and observation of
activities in progress'he
purpose of the inspection
was to determine
whether activities authorized
by the license
were conducted
safely
and in
accordance
with NRC requirements.
Based
on the results of this inspection,
certain licensed activities appeared
to be in violation of NRC requirements,
as specified in the enclosed
Notice of
Violation (Notice).
Two of the violations, regarding
a Unit 2 operator
who
failed to ensure that
system dilution had terminated
and
a
Unit 2 operations
crew who failed to implement the actions required
when
removing
a startup nuclear instrument
from service,
were of concern
since both
were similar to violations which had occurred in the past year
and indicated
continued
weaknesses
in the area of conduct of operations.
These
two
problems,
and other recent
problems,
have highlighted that corrective actions
implemented
in late
1993
may not have
been fully effective.
We understand
that you have recently
issued
revised operations
standards
and have
reorganized
operations
to address
operations
performance.
We encourage
you to
continue to monitor the effectiveness
of these
actions.
9412060043
941202
ADOCK 05000528
8
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Arizona Public Service
Company
One violation, with two separate
examples,
concerned
the failure to take
timely action to correct conditions
adverse
to quality.
The examples
involve
previously identified problems
in risk signiFicant
systems
in which actions
were not taken to fully understand
the extent of the problem
and
proposed
corrective actions
were not pursued
in a timely manner.
While it has
been
recognized that problem identification has
improved in past years,
issues
regarding
the efFectiveness
of the corrective action
program continue to be
identified by both the
NRC and your staff.
Further,
we recognize that it is
considered
by APS Nuclear Assurance
as
a top ten issue
at Palo Verde
and
improvements
in the corrective action program
have received
recent priority.
We encourage
you to continue to place high priority on the resolution of
identified problems.
Another violation, concerning
the failure of maintenance
personnel
to fo'liow
work instructions,
was of concern since,
in addition to this failure, the work
involved
a maintenance
activity in which the instructions
were not clearly
written'hile this activity was conducted earlier this year, similar
weaknesses
have
been
observed
in recent activities, highlighting a need for
management
attention to the quality of work instructions.
Based
on the results of this inspection,
certain of your activities appeared
to deviate
from your commitments
in response
concerning
the inspection of the reactor coolant
system
components for
evidence of boric acid leaks
as specified in the enclosed
Notice of Deviation
{Notice).
Recent
inspections
have highlighted
a number of material condition
deficiencies
and the program
implemented
in response
demonstrated
a lack of commitment to resolving these
issues.
You identified that
a Unit I Shift Supervisor
had not followed procedures
for
maintaining the unit logs. and failed to recognize that
he
had briefly entered
a Technical Specification action statement
for two auxiliary feedwater
pumps
concurrently inoperable.
This violation is not being cited because
the
criteria in paragraph
VII.B.2 of Appendix
C to 10 CFR Part 2 of the NRC's
"Rules of Practice,"
were satisfied.
One unresolved
item was identified concerning
the calibration of the reactor
coolant
system
boronometer
in Unit 2.
This matter is discussed
in Section 4.4
of the enclosed
inspection report.
Another unresolved
item was identified
concerning
the ability of a Unit I letdown isolation valve to perform its
design function.
This matter is discussed
in Section
2.5 of the enclosed
inspection report.
You are required to respond to this letter
and should follow the instructions
specified in the enclosed
Notice when preparing your response.
In your
response,
you should
document
the specific actions
taken
and
any additional
actions
you plan to prevent recurrence.
Included in your response
should
be
discussion
of actions
taken in the areas of conduct of operations
and the
corrective actions
program.
After reviewing your response
to this Notice,
including your proposed corrective actions
and the results of future
)
l'
I
Arizona Public Service
Company
inspections,
the
NRC will determine
whether further
NRC enforcement
action is
necessary
to ensure
compliance with NRC regulatory requirements.
In accordance
with 10 CFR 2.790 of the NRC's "Rules of Practice,"
a copy of
this letter and its enclosures will be placed
in the
NRC Public Document
Room.
The responses
directed
by this letter
and the enclosed
Notice are not subject
to the clearance
procedures
of the Office of Management
and Budget
as required
by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980,
Pub.
L. No. 96.511.
Should you have
any questions
concerning this inspection,
we will be pleased
to discuss
them with you.
Sincerely,
A. Bill Beach,
Director
Division of Reactor Projects
Enclosures:
1.
Appendix
2,
Appendix
B - Notice of Deviation
3.
Appendix
C -
NRC Inspection
Report
50-528/94-31;
50-529/94-31;
50-530/94-31
cc w/enclosures:
Arizona Corporation
Commission
ATTN:
Mr. Steve
Olea
1200
W. Washington
Street'hoenix,
85007
Southern California Edison
Company
ATTN:
T.
E. Oubre,
Esq.
P.O.
Box 800
Rosemead,
91770
ABB Combustion
Engineering
Nuclear
Power
ATTN:
Charles
B. Brinkman,
Manager
Washington Nuclear Operations
12300 Twinbrook Parkway,
Suite
330
Rockville, Maryland
20852
Arizona Radiation Regulatory Agency
ATTN:
Aubrey V. Godwin, Director
4814 South
40 Street
Phoenix,
85040'
0
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II
Arizona Public Service
Company
Maricopa County Board of Supervisors
ATTN:
Chairman
ill South Third Avenue
Phoenix,
85003
Palo Verde Services
ATTN:
Curtis Hoskins,
Executive
Vice President
and
Chief Operating Officer
2025
N. 3rd Street,
Suite
220
Phoenix,
85004
Akin, Gump, Strauss,
Hauer
and Feld
El
Paso Electric Company
ATTN:
Roy P.
Lessey, Jr.,
Esq.
1333
Avenue, Suite
400
D.C.
20036
Arizona Public Service
Company
ATTN:
Angela K. Krainik, Nanager
Nuclear Licensing
P.O.
Box 52034
Phoenix,
85072-2034
I
Arizona Public Service
Company
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MS:
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Branch Chief (DSS/NRR 0-8E23)
Resident
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(PAO,
WCFO)
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DRSS-FIPB
Branch Chief (DRP/F,
WCFO)
Senior Project Inspector
(DRP/F,
WCFO)
Leah Tremper
(OC/LFDCB,
MS:
TWFN 9E10)
Branch Chief (DSS/NRR 0-8E23)
Resident
Inspector
MIS System
RIV File
Branch Chief (DRP/TSS)
B. Henderson
(PAO,
WCFO)
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