ML17320A840

Public Meeting Summary - Status of Tennessee Valley Authority'S Action to Address Chilled Work Environment at the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant

ML17320A840
Person / Time
Site:	Watts Bar
Issue date:	11/16/2017
From:	Masters A NRC/RGN-II/DRP/RPB5
To:	James Shea Tennessee Valley Authority
References
Download: ML17320A840 (20)

Text

UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION REGION II 245 PEACHTREE CENTER AVENUE NE, SUITE 1200 ATLANTA, GEORGIA 30303-1257 November 16, 2017 Mr. Joseph W. Shea Vice President, Nuclear Licensing Tennessee Valley Authority 1101 Market Street, LP 3D-C Chattanooga, TN 37402-2801

SUBJECT:

PUBLIC MEETING

SUMMARY

- STATUS OF TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITYS ACTION TO ADDRESS CHILLED WORK ENVIRONMENT AT THE WATTS BAR NUCLEAR PLANT, DOCKET NO. 50-390 AND 50-391

Dear Mr. Shea:

This refers to the meeting conducted at our request at the Comfort Inn in Athens, TN on November 2, 2017, at 6:00 p.m. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the licensees chilled work environment issue at Watts Bar Nuclear Plant and discuss the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) actions associated with the chilled work environment. The NRC issued the Chilling Effect Letter (CEL) and a Confirmatory Order to Watts Bar Nuclear Plant in an effort to ensure that the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) understands the seriousness of the work environment issues and ensure that TVA will take appropriate steps to promote openness and prompt resolution of safety issues. Enclosed are a list of attendees and the presentation handouts.

The NRC discussed the history, basis of the CEL and Confirmatory Order, as well as NRC activities after issuance of the CEL and a Confirmatory Order. These activities included the increase in inspector emphasis on Safety Conscious Work Environment (SCWE), the additional NRC and TVA management engagement, additional NRC inspections related to SCWE, and continued NRC actions to confirm safe operations. The NRC noted that the chilled environment at Watts Bar has improved since the last November 3, 2016, public meeting and the NRC plans to conduct a team inspection in 2018 to assess the status of licensees actions and implementation to address the NRCs CEL and Confirmatory Order items. The TVA management discussed their Watts Bar Nuclear Plant chilled work environment update which included a supplemental response letter for focus areas, additional focus area, and assessment of progress. Topic focus areas included: 1) Safety has priority over production, 2) Corrective Action Program is effective, 3) Management and employee mutual respect; 4) Nuclear Safety Culture is understood and reinforced, and 5) Leadership Safety Values and Actions. The TVA management just completed the third party safety culture survey and they have not completely reviewed or analyzed the survey results.

J. Shea 2 In closing, the NRC acknowledged that TVA actions have resulted in some improvements in the SCWE, however, sustaining these improvements remains a focus of the NRC. The NRC noted that no serious safety violations or instances involving significant plant safety issues associated with the work environment were identified. The NRC will continue increased management and inspection focus on Watts Bar Nuclear Plant SCWE.

This letter, its enclosures, and your response (if any) will be made available for public inspection and copying at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html and at the NRC Public Document Room in accordance with 10 CFR 2.390, Public Inspections, Exemptions, Requests for Withholding (Public Electronic Reading Room).

Should you have any questions concerning this meeting, please contact Anthony Masters at (404) 997-4465.

Sincerely,

/RA/

Anthony D. Masters, Chief Reactor Projects Branch 5 Division of Reactor Projects Docket No.: 50-390, 50-391 License No.: NPF-90, 96

Enclosures:

1. List of Attendees

2. NRC Meeting Slides

3. TVA Meeting Slides cc w/encls Distribution via ListServ

ML17320A840 OFFICE RII: DRP RII: DRP NAME SNinh AMasters DATE 11/16/2017 11/16/2017 LIST OF ATTENDEES NRC MEETING SLIDES TVA MEETING SLIDES NRC PARTIPANTS C. Haney, Regional Administrator, Region II A. Masters, Chief, Reactor Projects Branch 5, DRP, RII J. Nadel, Senior Resident Inspector, Watts Bar, DRP, RII Stephanie Morrow, Human Factors Engineer, RES TVA PARTICIPANTS P. Simmons - TVA, WBN Site VP Tom Marshall, Plant Manager B. Jenkins - TVA, Engineering Director K. Hulvey - TVA, WBN Site Licensing Manager Member of Public on the bridge call J. Palmer M. Snyder G. Stoner S. Sweet Enclosure 1

-o ci)

Enclosure 1 0

U)

U) ci)

I-

-o

-D 0

C 0

0 U) 0

-c D

H >

U)

(3 w >

Q ci)

Z G)5 z - E LU cD(I cci H H -

H -o -

CD U) c3 C ci)

N cJ .t cJ Dcci 0 C

ci) LU ci 0 D -J Q c

ci) HO O

. z 0> 0 z zc LU H LU H <

H 0

ATTENDANCE LIST DATE: November 2, 2017 MEETING TITLE/PURPOSE: Status of Tennessee Valley Authoritys Action to Address Chilled Work Environment at the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant.

LOCATION: Comfort Inn in Athens, Alabama Name Organization 5/ fr

/______________

1Cv Ser M Yc4/

3_ -çsb ft{u/te -

t/E9Zkk-

/REL TV

ATTENDANCE LIST DATE: November 2, 2017 MEETING TITLE/PURPOSE: Status of Tennessee Valley Authoritys Action to Address Chilled Work Environment at the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant.

LOCATION: Comfort Inn in Athens, Alabama Name Organization Ui({ei 1

Watts Bar Chilled Work Environment November 2, 2017 Nuclear Regulatory Commission - Region 2

Agenda Introduction/Meeting Purpose Summary of Issue and NRC Actions Update from TVA NRC On-going / Future Activities Questions

Meetings Purpose Discuss the licensees chilled work environment issue at Watts Bar Discuss NRC actions associated with the chilled work environment

Chilled Work Environment Summary and NRC Actions

• Chilling Effect Letter

• NRC Inspections

• Confirmatory Order

TVA Presentation NRC On-going / Future Activities

• Resident Inspectors

• Weekly discussions with the Site VP or Plant Manager

• Regularly attend the Nuclear Safety Culture Monitoring Panel meetings for safety conscious work environment insights

• Heightened sensitivity to chilled work environment issues when performing field inspections and engaging with plant employees one-on-one

• Frequent observations of major plant evolutions

• Frequent interaction and observation of the control room and plant

• Monitoring and assessment of inspections and resources

• January 2018 - Team Inspection

• 1st Quarter of 2018 - Watts Bar Units 1 & 2 End of Cycle Assessment

NRC Social Media Channels Blog: http://public-blog.nrc-gateway.gov/

Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nrcgov/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/nrcgov YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/NRCgov RSS: http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/listserver.html#rss 7

End of Presentation Nuclear Regulatory Commission Region #2 Athens, TN November 2, 2017

11/2/2017 Opening Remarks Paul Simmons, Site Vice President Watts Bar Nuclear Plant I I Simmons Enclosure 3 1

11/2/2017 Supplemental Response Letter Focus Areas

• Safety has priority over production

• Corrective Action Program is effective

• Management and employee mutual respect

• Nuclear Safety Culture is understood and reinforced Metrics developed to measure progress Hulvey Supplemental Response Letter Additional Focus Area

• Leadership Safety Values and Actions

- Reflection of progress

- Workforce feedback

- Recommended by external oversight Hulvey 3

11/2/2017 Assessment of Progress Survey Comparison of Workforce to Leadership 4.Leadership *Workfcrte Jenkins Assessment of Progress Safety has priority over production Positive feedback

- Shift manager clearly in charge of plant operations

- Workforce willingness to raise safety concerns without fear of retaliation

• Continuous Improvement Opportunities

- Timeliness of issue resolution

- Work procedures too general Jenkeos WFlP5n I 0 5

11/2/2017 Assessment of Progress Nuclear Safety Culture is understood and reinforced Positive feedback

- Teamwork between workgroups during outage

- Reinforcement of expectations at turnovers and key meetings

• Continuous Improvement Opportunities

- Timeliness of issue resolution

- Challenge work activities and schedule

- Communication overly positive and optimistic Jenkins Assessment of Progress Leadership Safety Values and Actions

• Positive feedback

- Shift manager clearly in charge of plant operations

- Increased positive recognition

- Personal Accountability and Questioning Attitude

• Continuous Improvement Opportunities

- Resources Qualified Personnel

- Work procedures too general

- Field Presence Jenkins V,aIfl Ba .r*a B 7

6