ML18149A539
| ML18149A539 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Surry, North Anna, 05000000 |
| Issue date: | 02/13/1987 |
| From: | Vollmer R Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| To: | Cory T, Zwelling J Citizens Association for Sound Energy |
| Shared Package | |
| ML18149A540 | List: |
| References | |
| 2.206, NUDOCS 8702270413 | |
| Download: ML18149A539 (7) | |
Text
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e UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D. C. 20555 Mr. Thayer Cory Ms. Judy Zwelling February 13, l 987 Citizens Action for a Safe Environment 121 Oak Road Williamsburg, Virginia 23185
Dear Mr. Cory and Ms. Zwelling:
This is in response to your petition filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on December 11, 1986, as supplemented-January 20, 1987, pursuant to 10 C~R
§2.206 requesting that both reactors at Surry Power Station remain shutdown until Virginia Electric and Power* Company (the licensee) takes a number of actions discussed in your petition.
You presented several bases for your requested actions, including the following:
- 1.
the December 9, 1986, pipe-break accident at Surry Unit 2;
- 2.
an alleged ongoing pattern of violations in areas such as plant operations, surveillance, fire protection, radiological control, emergency preparedness, security and safeguards, quality assurance and administrative control of quality assurance;
- 3.
inadequacies in the emergency alert system and evacuation plans for the Surry Power Station; and
- 4.
alleged falsification of welder verification and an allegedly poor quality assurance program.
In your petition you requested that both reactors at the Surry Power Station remain shutdown until the licensee has fully inspected all pipes and publicly issued a complete report on the December 9, 1986, accident. In addition, *you asked the NRC to order the licensee to keep the Surry Power Station shutdown until the licensee demonstrates that the plant complies with NRC regulations and can be operated with reasonable assurance of safety*.
You also requested that, before the Surry Power Station is allowed to resume operation, the NRC condition the Surry operating license to require the licensee to inspect all piping handling condensate and feedwater during each refueling outage, including inspection of the check valves.
The cause of the pipe failure in Surry Unit 2 is believed to be from pipe thinning due to corrosion/erosion phenomena.
The pipe failure that occurred during the December 9, 1986, accident was in piping that is not needed to shut down the reactor or to prevent or to mitigate the consequences of an accident.
The NRC does not classify this piping as safety-related piping and therefore, imposes on its licensees no specific requirements to inspect such piping.
In contrast, the NRC considers reactor coolant piping as safety-related and specifically requires its licensees to inspect such piping periodically as required by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Boiler and PressureQ Vessel Code.
Reactor coolant piping is fabricated from stainless steel _a:(l
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Mr. Cory and Ms. Zwelling February 13, 1987 and is not considered to be susceptible to deqradation by corrosion/erosion mechanisms such as occurred in the carbon steel feedwater piping at the Surry facility. Experimental results and field experience have shown that stainless steel exposed to reactor coolant flow is highly resistant to corrosion/erosion.
The loss of normal feedwater events have been analyzed in the Final Safety Analysis Report for Surry and there is no reason to conclude that the recent Surry 2 event exceeded those anal.vses.
The licensee has put into place an inspection plan at the Surry facility to assess safety-related and non-safety-related plant piping for degradation bv corrosion/erosion. The licensee des.igned the plan to include sufficient inspection of piping to verify the extent of any degradation of plant piping at both units.
By a letter dated January 14, 1987, from W. L. Stewart to Dr. J. Nelson Grace, the licensee submitted a report entitled "Surry Unit 2 Reactor Trip and Feedwater Pipe Failure Report, Revision 0, January 14, 1987." This report provides detailed information on the December 9, 1986, accident, the licensee's recovery plan and corrective actions. The ffP.C reviewed their action plan before the licensee planned to restart the Surry Power Station.
On review of this report, we conclude that the licensee has taken appropriate steps to inspect the piping systems that are susceptible to corrosion/erosion phenomena, and to identify the extent of the degradation of piping in both units.
The licensee has planned future actions, which will be completed prior to restart, to provide reasonable assurance that both units can be operated without any undue risk to the health and safety of the public. The corrective actions include piping replacement and piping redesign, as well as additional inspections, as appropriate.
The NRC staff continues to evaluate the generic implications of the corrosion/
erosion phenomena which occurred at the Surry plant.
On January 15, 1987~ the NRC staff met with experts from several engineering disciplines to discuss the failure mechanism in feedwater piping at Surry Unit 2.
From the panel discussion, it was generally agreed that the important variables influencing the corrosion/
erosion phenomena are: material, local fluid velocity/turbulence, water chemistry and operating temperature of the system.
The NRC staff is in the process of collecting additional information from various plants and will make appropriate
~eneric reconmendations after analyzing all pertinent data collected from the industry. The staff understands the corrosion/erosion phenomena that caused this accident sufficiently to have reasonable assurance that safety-related piping at Surry is not subject to the type of degradation that occurred in the feedwater piping. While the licensee did not inspect all piping at the Surry facilities as requested in your petition, the NRC finds the scope of those inspections sufficient to permit restart of the facility. The NRC, on February 10, 1987, issued the Augmented Inspection Team fAIT) report which addresses restarting the units. A copy of the report will be sent to you under separate cover.
- ~
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Mr. Cory and Ms. Zwelling February 13, 1987 In addition, you alleged an ongoing pattern of violations in the areas of plant -
operation, surveillance, fire protection, radiological control, emergency preparedness, security and safeguards, quality assurance and administrative control of quality assurance for which you believe the licensee should take actions before restarting the units.
As you know, these violations have been identified by the NRC staff in the Systematic Assessment of Licensee Performance
{SALP) reports, and these violations have been factored into the evaluation of the licensee's performance.
Even though these violations are important consider-ations in assessment of the licensee's performance, they do not warrant suspension of plant operation.
As indicated in a recent SALP report, the staff found the licensee's overall performance to be satisfactory in all areas.
You also raised the issue of plant aging by referring to a report from the National Research Council of the National Academy of Science, entitled "Revitalizing Nuclear Safety Research" and requested that before re-opening the plant, the licensee should be required to work with the NRC and the Department of Energy (DOE) to implement an extensive plant aging research program. It should be noted that the report which you referenced discussed the research activities required to extend the lifetimes of the plants beyond the current license periods. Moreover, the licensee already actively participates in a research program for extending the lifetimes of existing facilities in cooperation with NRC and DOE. Therefore, I do not believe it is appropriate to delay the restart for generic aging considerations which you have mentioned.
You have also raised the issue of allegations brought against the licensee by members of the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers that raised the issues of falsification of welder certifications, poor workmanship and health and safety concerns at the Surry Power Station. Because the Office of Investigations is currently reviewing these allegations, and because no significant safety concerns have been identified at* this time, it is not proper to delay the restart of the Surry Power Station, based on this issue.
Additionally, in your petition you expressed concerns over high radiation exposure to the workers in the Surry Power Station, the potential deficiencies in the quality assurance program, and alleged inadequacies in the emergency alert system and evacuation plans for the Surry Power Station. The fir.st two issues have been addressed in detail in our recent SALP report dated December 11, 1986.
The NRC staff found the licensee's overall perfonnance in these two areas satisfactory and rated the licensee's perfonnance in these areas at SALP level 2.
Such ratings indicate licensee performance at the industry average and better than minimally satisfactory. In the area of emergency planning, 10 CFR §50.47 requires the licensee to have a satisfactory emergency plan which meets certain criteria. While some potential deficiencies may exist in the plan, I do not believe they pose an immediate threat to the health and safety of the public, and therefore do not warrant suspension of,plant operation until our evaluation is completed. However, if deemed appropriate after further NRC review, these issues will be referred to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Finally, you requested copies of correspondence and meeting notices relevant to the issues you raise in the petition. The NRC does not routinely add persons
e Mr. Cory and Ms. Zwelling February 13, 1987 to its distribution list for such correspondence. However, you can find all the documents you request, including documents previously published, in the Commission's Public Document Room at 1717 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.
?.0555, and in the Local Public Document Room for the Surry Power Station, located at Swem Library, Documents Department, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia ?.3185.
Some of these may appear in the Federal Register.
Of course, you may participate in, or comment on, any proceeding the NRC conducts for which the law provides for public intervention or comment.
The Commission intends to hold a public meeting tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, February 24, 1987, at 2:30 p.m., in the Commissioner's Conference Room at 1717 H Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20555, concerning the pipe-break accident at Surry.
In sum, based on the inspection report, we have reasonable assurance that the licensee can operate the plant safely. Accordingly, delaying the restart of plant operation at the Surry Power Station pending resolution of all the issues you have mentioned in your petition is not warranted.
Your petition is being treated under 2.206 of the Commission's regulations and a final decision will be issued in accordance with that regulation within a reasonable time. A copy of the notice that is being filed with the Office of the Federal Register is enclosed for your information.
Enclosure:
Federal Register Notice cc w/enclosure: See next page Licensee DISTRIBUTION Docket File w/incoming ltr NRC PDR Local PDR EDO #2430 EDO Rda HDenton/RVollmer TNovak CRossi LRubenstein DMiller CPatel OPA DMossburg (ED0#2430)
- See previous concurrence
- LA:PAD#2 *PM:PAD#2 *OGC DMiller CPatel 2/ /87 2/ /87 2/ /87 Sincerely_,
/s/
Richard H. Vollmer, Deputy Director Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
,JL ieberman ASLAB ASLBP ACRS ( 10)
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e Mr. Cory and Ms. Zwelling to its distribution list for such correspondence.
However, you can find all the documents you request, including documents previously published, in the Commission's Public Document Room at 1717 H Street, N.W., Washington, n.c.
20555, and in the Local Public Document Room for the Surry Power Station, located at Swem Library, Documents Department, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia 23185.
Some of these may appear in the Federal Reqister.
Of course, _you may participate in, or comment on, any proceeding the NRC conducts for which the law provides for public intervention or comment.
The Commission intends to hold a public meeting tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, February 24, 1987, at 2:30 p.m., in the Commissioner's Conference Room at 1717 H Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20555, concerning the pipe-break accident at Surry.
In sum, we will not permit restart of the Surry facility unless we have reasonable assurance that the licensee can operate the plant safely. Accordingly, delaying the restart of plant operation at the Surry Power Station pending resolution of all the issues you have mentioned in your petition is not warranted.
Your petition is being treated under 2.206 of the Commission's regulations and a final decision will be issued in accordance with that regulation within a reasonable time. A copy of the notice that is being filed with the Office of the Federal Register is enclosed for your information.
Enclosure:
Federal Register Notice cc w/enclosure: See next page Licensee DISTRIBUTION Docket File w/incoming ltr NRC PDR Local PDR EDO #2430 EDO Rdg HDenton/RVollmer TNovak CRossi LRubenstein DMiller CPatel OPA DMossburg (ED0#2430)
- See previous concurrence
- LA:PAD#2 *PM:PAD#2 *OGC DMiller CPatel 2/ /87 2/ /87 2/ /87 Sincerely, Harold R. Denton, Director Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Jlieberman ASLAB ASLBP ACRS ( 10)
JResner (2) aTaylor JGrace, R-H PAD#2 Rdg LHarmon VStello BClements A,Johnson
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Mr. Cory and Ms. Zwelling located at Swem Library, Documents Department, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia 23185.
Some of these may appear in the Federal Register.
Of course, you may participate in, or comment on, any proceeding the NRC conducts for which the law provides for public intervention or comment.
The Commission intends to hold a public meeting on Monday, February 23, 1987, at 2:30 p.m., in the Commissioner's Conference Room at 1717 H Street, N.W.,
Washington, DC 20555, concerning the pipe-break accident at Surry.
In sum, we will not permit restart of the Surry facility unless we have reasonable assurance that the licensee can operate the plant safely. Accordingly, delaying the restart of plant operation at the Surry Power Station pending resolution of all the issues you have mentioned in your petition is not appropriate.
Your petition is being treated under 2.206 of the Commission's regulations and a final decision will be issued in accordance with that regulation within a reasonable time.
A copy of the notice that is being filed with the Office of the Federal Register is enclosed for your information.
Sincerely, Harold R. Denton, Director Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
Enclosure:
Federal Register Notice cc w/enclosure:
See next page Licensee DISTRIBUTION Docket File w/incoming ltr NRC PDR Local PDR EDO #2430 EDO Rdg HDenton/RVollmer TNovak CRossi LRubenstein DMi 11 er CPatel OPA DMossbur (ED0#2430)
PM'(fAfu12 CPatel 2/ *1< /87 DD/NRR D/NRR RVollmer HDenton 2/ /87 2/ /87 JLieberman ASLAB ASLBP ACRS (10)
JResner (2)
JTaylor JGrace, R-II PAD#2 Rdg LHarmon VStell o BClements AJohnson
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Mr. w. L. Stewart Virginia Electric and Power Company cc:
Mr. Michael W. Maupin Hunton and Williams Post Office Box 1535 Richmond, Virginia 23213 Mr. Robert F. Saunders, Manager Surry Power Station Post Office Box 315 Surry, Virginia 23883 Resident Inspector Surry Power Station U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Cormnission Post Office Box 166, Route 1 Surry, Virginia 23883 Mr. Sherlock Holmes, Chairman Board of Supervisors of Surry Co~nty Surry County Courthouse Surry, Virginia 23683 W. T. Lough Virginia Corporation Cormnission Division of Energy Regulation Post Office Box 1197-Richmond, Virginia 23209 Mr. J. T. Rhodes Senior Vice President - Power Ops.
Virginia Electric and Power Company Post Office Box 26666 Richmond, Virginia 23261 Regional Administrator, Region II U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 101 Marietta Street, Suite 3100 Atlanta, Georgia 30323 James*s. Kenley, M.D., Commissioner Department of Health 109 Governor Street Richmond, Virginia 23219 e
Surry Power Station Attorney General Suprem~ Court Building 101 North 8th Street Richmond, Virginia 23219