ML17355A251

Comment Supporting Amend to Policy & Procedure for NRC Enforcement Actions Re Treatment of Severity Level IV Violations at Power Reactors.Util Also Endorses Comments of NEI on Revs

ML17355A251
Person / Time
Site:	Saint Lucie, Turkey Point
Issue date:	03/09/1999
From:	Gianfrancesco FLORIDA POWER & LIGHT CO.
To:	Meyer D NRC OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATION (ADM)
References
FRN-64FR6388 64FR6388-00002, 64FR6388-2, L-99-052, L-99-52, NUDOCS 9903220053
Download: ML17355A251 (6)

Text

CATEGORY 2 9

REGULA'i RY INFORMATION DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM (RIDS)

ACCESSION NBR:990322005'3 FACIL,:50-250 Turkey Point Plant, DOC.DATE: 99/03/09 NOTARIZED: NO Unit 3, Florida Power and Light C 05000250 DOCKET I 50-251 Turkey Point Plant, Unit 4, Florida Power and Light C 05000251

'50-335 St. Lucie Plant, Unit 1, Florida Power &. Light Co. 05000335 50-389 St. Lucie Plant, Unit 2, Florida Power & Light Co.- 05000389 AUTH. NAME AUTHOR AFFILIATION GIANFRANCECSO Florida Power &. Light Co.

RECIP.NAME RECIPIENT AFFILIATION MEYER,D.L. Rules & Directives Review Branch .(Post 920323)

SUBJECT:

Comment supporting amend to policy & procedure for NRC enforcement actions re treatment of severity level IV violations at power reactors. Util also endorses comments of NEI on revs.

D1STRIBUTION CODE: DS09D COPIES +ECEIVED:LTR ( ENCL 5 SIZE:

TITLE: SECY/DSB Dist: Public Coqune~n on Proposed Rule (PR) -Misc Notice;Reg GG NOTES:

'ECIPIENT COPIES RECIPIENT COPIES ID CODE/NAME LTTR ENCL ID CODE/NAME LTTR ENCL INTERN 'CRUX@. 15-B-18 NMSS/IMOB T8F5 OGC/DR RES DIR RES/DRA/DEPY RES/DST EXTERNAL: NRC PDR D

NOTE TO ALL "RIDS" RECIPIENTS:

PLEASE HELP US TO REDUCE WASTE. TO HAVE YOUR NAME OR ORGANIZATION REMOVED FROM'DISTRIBUTION LISTS OR REDUCE THE NUMBER OF COPIES RECEIVED BY YOU OR YOUR ORGANIZATION, CONTACT THE DOCUMENT CONTROL DESK (DCD) ON EXTENSION 415-2083 TOTAL NUMBER OF COP1ES REQUIRED: LTTR 7 ENCL

E.

r

P.O. Box14000, Juno Beach, FL 33408-0420 MAR 0 9 1999

!999!!t>R 16 All 9: 25 ~~$ P PPP/

RULES 5 DIR. BRANCH US NRC Mr. David L. Meyer Chief, Rules and Directives Branch Division of Administrative Services Office of Administration Mail Stop T6D59 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555 Re: Florida Power & Light Company Comments Amendment to Policy and Procedure for NRC Enforcement Actions Treatment of Severity Level IV Violations at Power Reactors (64 Fed. Reg. 6388 (Feb. 9, 1999))

Dear Mr. Meyer:

Florida Power &Light Company (FPL), the licensed operator of the St. Lucie Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2, and the Turkey Point Nuclear Plant, Units 3 and 4, hereby submits the following comments on the above-referenced revisions to the General Statement of Policy and Procedure for NRC Enforcement Actions (Enforcement Policy). FPL also endorses the comments of the Nuclear Energy Institute on the revisions to the Enforcement Policy.

In general, FPL'ndorses the amendment to the Enforcement Policy to the extent that it will reduce the number of Severity Level IV violations issued. FPL agrees with the Commission that the burden imposed by docketing responses to Severity Level IV violations, which are not safety significant issues, diverts licensee resources from higher priority issues with potentially greater safety significance.

Nonetheless, FPL has concerns regarding one aspect of the Enforcement Policy revision. FPL respectfully disagrees with the concept, as expressed in the Commission's Staff Requirements Memorandum dated january 22, 1999, and in the above-referenced Federal Register notice (64 Fed. Reg. at 6390) that Severity Level IV violations should be used to track licensee performance trends. FPL concurs with the view of the NRC Staff as stated in SECY-99-007, "Recommendations for Reactor Oversight Process Improvements," that "[e]nforcement actions taken... should not be an input into the assessment process." FPL believes that the mere fact that enforcement action has been pursued by the Staff is not an appropriate criterion for tracking licensee performance. The performance assessment process should be grounded in events and occurrences at nuclear plants, and not based on whether the Staff pursued enforcement action arising out of one of those facts or circumstances.

9903220053 990309 PDR ADOCX OS0002SQ l H PDR I

an FPL Group company

-~

tl II 4 ~

'I h P

N

Mr. David L. Meyer Page 2 I~

In this regard, FPL recommends that the Commission delete the third circumstance in which NRC will consider issuance of a Notice of Violation: "The violation is repetitive as a result of inadequate corrective action, and was identified by the NRC." FPL suggests that repetitive violations will be subject to appropriate regulatory scrutiny through the performance assessment process. In this connection, retention of this exception could result in enforcement and assessment to perform duplicative functions. FPL notes that this recommendation was also made by NRC Staff in Attachment 5 to SECY-99-007, and requests the Commission to reconsider the inclusion of this exception in the Enforcement Policy.

FPL appreciates the opportunity to comment on the changes to the Enforcement Policy. FPL also appreciates the continuing opportunity for dialogue between industry stakeholders and the NRC's Office of Enforcement on the overall NRC approach to enforcement matters.

Sincerely yours, R. John Gianfrancecso, Jr.

Manager Administrative Support and Special Projects

via I

))f I i i,lt

(