ML19225A229
| ML19225A229 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Zion File:ZionSolutions icon.png |
| Issue date: | 05/18/1979 |
| From: | Essig T, Oestmann M NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION III) |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19225A206 | List: |
| References | |
| 50-295-79-07, 50-295-79-7, 50-304-79-08, 50-304-79-8, NUDOCS 7907180587 | |
| Download: ML19225A229 (8) | |
See also: IR 05000295/1979007
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U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
OFFICE OF INSPECTION AND ENFORCEMEh7
REGION III
Report No. 50-295/79-07; 50-304/79-08
Docket No. 50-295; 50-304
Licensee: Commonwealth Edison Company
Post Office Box 767
Chicago, IL 60690
Facility Name:
Zion Nuclear Power Station, Units 1 and 2
Inspection At:
Zion Site, Zion, Illinois and Corporate Office,
Chicago, Illinois
Inspection Conducted: April 10-12, 16 and 18, 1979
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Inspector:
M. J. De tmann
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Approved By:
T. H. EWig, Chief
% nvironmental and Special
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Projects Section
Inspection Summary
Inspection on April 10-12, 16 and 18, 1979 (Report No. 50-295/79-07
50-304/79-08)
Areas Inspected: Routine, unannounced inspection of environmental
protection of Units 1 and 2 including:
administrative and procedural
controls; licensee internal audits; implementation and results of the
radiological and nonradiological environmental monitoring program;
review of meteorological program; review of corrective actions for
enforcement items from a previous inspection; review of licensee
environmental event reports; and sample collection for the confir-
matory measurements program.
The inspection involved 30 inspector-
hours on site by one NRC inspector.
Results: Of the nine areas inspected, no items of noncompliance or
deviations were found in eight areas; one apparent item of noncompli-
ance was identified in one area (infraction - failure to collect and
analyze fish semiannually - Paragraph 5.a) and a deviation in the same
(failure to place the TLDs at two onsite stations adequately for
area
air exposure - Paragraph 5.b).
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DETAILS
1.
Persons Contacted
- J. Golden, Administrator, Radiological Environmental Monitoring
Program, Production Systems Analysis Department (PSA), CECO
P. Howe, Supervisor in Biology, Environmental Aff airs
Department (EAD), CECO
R. Kunshek, Staff Biologist, (EAD), CECO
G. Abrell, Manager, Quality Assurance Department (QAD), CECO
A. Saller, Quality Assurance Engineer, (QAD), CECO
- L. Soth, Administrative Assistant , Zion Station
T. Parker, Assistant Technical Staff Supervisor, Zion Station
- S. Miller, Rad / Chem Supervisor, Zion Station
- F. Rescek, Lead Health Physicist, Zion Station
- G. Tryzina, Health Physics Engineer, Zion Station
- S. Gurunathan, Lead Chemist, Zion Station
T. Lehmann, Chemist, Zion Station
T. Prince, Operations Engineer, Zion Station
- denotes phone contact on April 19, 1979.
- denotes those present at the exit interview on April 18, 1979.
The inspector also interviewed 14 other licensee employees during
the course of the inspection, including health physics and chemistry
technicians, members of the security force, and general office
personnel.
Other Personnel
F. Magliery, Associate Administrator, Director of General Services
Division, Victory Memorial Hospital, Waukegan, Illinois
2.
Licensee Action on Previous Inspection Findings
(Open) Deficiency (50-295/77-10 and 78-12; 50-304/77-13 and
78-14): Excess annual boric acid use.
The licensee continues to
operate the Station using more boric acid than provided for by
Appendix B, Technical Specification 1.3.B.
Request for a Technical
Specifications amendment dated September 23, 19'/u, has not yet
been approved.
The licensee exceeded Section 1.3.B using 122,700
pounds in 1977, and 3000 pounds as of January 16, 1978. This
item will remain open pending action by the Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation on the request for the amendment.
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065
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(Closed) Infraction (50-295/78-12; 50-304/78-14):
Prompt noti-
fication and subsequent 10-day written report of the excess boric
acid usage. Review of licensee event reports, LER Nos. 78-51, 78-76
and 79-17 indicated that the licensee has submitted the required
prompt and 10-day written reports in a timely manner in accordance
with Section 3.4 of Appendix B, Technical Specifications.
(Closed) !afraction (50-295/78-12; 50-304/78-14): The rate of
temperature change of 8 F per hour limit was exceeded on June
17, 1977. Examination of selective temperature recordings for
1978 indicated no other instances of this rate of temperature
change being exceeded in accordance with Section 1.1B of Appendix
B, Technica Specifications.
(Open) Unresolved Item (50-295/79-03; 50-304/79-03):
Inadequate
familarization training provided for the emergency staff at the
Victory Memorial Hospital and poor condition of the decontami-
nation treatment room at the hospital.
A visit by the inspector
to the hospital on April 16, 1979, indicated the licensee's
medical procedures were found. However, the hospital staff had
not straightened out the emergency treatment room in that the
shipping boxes containing footlockers and plastic bags of medical
supplies had not been removed nor placed properly. The hospital
staff stated that these items would be remaved promptly so that
the treatment room would be available to handle a contaminated
victim from the plant.
3.
General
The licensee's 1978 radiological and 1977 - 78 nonradiological
environmental monitoring programs, including implementation,
sampling equipment and locations, and program results, were
reviewed during this inspection.
Corrective actions performed by
the licensee for items of noncompliance from a previous inspection 77
were reviewed. Environmental event reports were also reviewed.
Radioactive samples for the Confirmatory Measurements inspection
program were obtained from the licensee. The licensee was als
provided spiked samples as discussed in a previous inspection.gj
1/
IE Inspection Reports No. 50-295/78-12 and No. 50-304/78-14.
2/
IE Inspection Reports No. 50-295/79-03 and No. 50-304/79-03.
-3-
6
066
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4.
Administrative and Procedural Controls
The licensee's administrative and procedural controls for imple-
mentation of the radiological and the nonradiological environ-
mental monitoring program were reviewed with the licensee. The
radiological and the meteorological program remains under the
program management of Dr. J. Golden. Eberline Instrument Company
is the licensee's radiological environmental monitoring contractor
and Murray and Trettle, Inc. the meteorological contractor.
R. Kunshek is the Staff Biologist in Environmental Affairs Depart-
ment responsible for the overall direction of the biological
monitoring program. The biological program was completed on
September 30, 1978, and the final report for the five year program
is under preparation. Hazelton Laboratory, who purchased Nalco
Environmental Sciences on November 1, 1978, is the licensee's
contractor for this program.
No items of noncompliance or deviations were identified.
5.
Implementation of the Radiological Environmental Monitoring
Program
The inspector examined the ?icensee's radiological environmental
monitoring program results for calendar year 1978 for compliance
with monitoring and reporting requirements. This included exami-
nation of the annual report submitted to the NRC and detailed
monthly reports containing specific analytical data.
Examination
of the operability, maintenance and calibration of selected
radiological environmental monitoring stations was also conducted
during a tour of site and environs.
a.
Environmental Monitoring Program
The 1978 monitoring results were examined for compliance
with the requirements in Table 4.16-1 of the Appendix A,
Technical Specifications. The examination revealed that
fish samples had not been collected for the second half of
1978 for the semiannual requirement.
The gamma isotopic
analysis of the fish, therefore, was not conducted as
required. This omission constitutes an item of noncom-
pliance and will be examined during a subsequent inspection.
The samgjitem was also discussed in a previous inspection
report.-
The licensee stated that steps will be taken to
assure that fish will be collected as required.
3/
IE Inspection Reports No. 50-295/78-12 and No. 50-304/78-14.
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067
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Review of the results indicate the licensee discharged
elevated tritium concentrations in its cooling water on May
29 - June 4 and July 3 - 9, 1978. A licensee representative
stated that these results were probably a function of the
sampling techniques. The sampler is located in the discharge
pipe where only a small volume of liquid may be available
for dilution when the other unit is shut down. The remaining
samples may yield tritium results which do not accurately
reflect " environmental" concentrations. An analysis by the
licensee to establish a representative " environmental"
sampling system will be required.
This matter will be
examined further in future inspections.
The licensee also reported elevated radioactivity concen-
trations found in milk, air particulate filters, and
charcoal adsorbers due to atmos,aneric weapons testing by the
Republic of China during the fall of 1977 and spring of
1978. The licearee utilizes indicator radionuclides to
discriminate wt pons fallout from plant effluent effects and
provides for a referenced analysis for each determination
where quantifiable levels of radioactivity were observed in
environmental media.
Other than these items discussed above, review af the results
indicated no unusual results or trends ascribable to plant
operations were observed.
The licensee also submitted the Environmental Dose Pathway
Study in accordance with Section 3.16 of Appendix A, of the
Technical Specifications. The report is being evaluated by
the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
b.
Sample Collection Stations
The inspector toured selected radiological environmental
monitoring stations and observed that thenmoluminescent
dosimeters (TLDs) at Onsite Stations #1 and 3 were located
in the steel air sampler housing, thereby precluding exposure
to the 81-kev gamma radiation from Xe-133.
As a result, the
licensee has not adequately measured any changes in the
levels of environmental radioactivity due to plant effluents
as required in the Objectives of Section 4.16 of Appendix A,
Technical Specification. This item is a deviation and will
be examined during a subsequent inspection. The air sampling
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stations containing air particulate filters and charcoal
adsorbers were operating properly. Municipal water intakes,
fish, and cooling water sampling stations were also observed.
The licensee representatives expressed a need to accompany
the Eberline sample collector during sample collections to
be better acquainted with the location and status of the
sampling stations.
This item will be examined during a
future inspection.
One apparent item of noncompliance and one deviation were
identified.
6.
Implementation of the Meteorological Monitoring Program
Review of the CY 1978 meteorological monitoring reports prepared
by the licensee's meteorological consultants showed an overall
data recovery rate of 98.0%.
This inspection revealed that the
contractor had maintained and calibrated the meteorological
recording equipment on a bimonthly basis. The inspector toured
the meteorological tower and observed the monitoring equipment.
All equipment was found to be operable and in good order.
No items of noncompliance or devations were identified.
7.
Implementation of the Nonradiological Monitoring Program
The inspector selectively reviewed the results of the nonradio-
logical environmental monitoring program for the second half of
1977 through March 1979 for compliance with monitoring and
reporting requirements of Appendix B, Technical Specifications.
a.
Boric Acid Usage
Reportable occurrences LER Nos. 78-51, 78-76 and 79-17 for
excessiv; usage of boric acid greater than twice the 1000
pounds per year in accordance with Section 1.3.B, Table B.4
of Appendix B, Technical Specifications were reviewed.
The
records revealed a total usage of boric acid of 85,500
pounds during CY 1978 and 2,100 pounds as of March 22, 1979.
As stated in Paragraph 2, the licensee has requested relief
from Table B.4 requirement from NRR. This item will be
examined during a subsequent inspection.
These licensee event reports were submitted in a timely
manner in accordance with the reporting requirements of
Section 3.4 of Appendix B, Technical Specification. This
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item was discussed in a previous inspection report. /
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The
inspector has no further questions concerning this matter.
b.
The rmal
The inspector noted that the licensee received a technical
specification change, effective April 25, 1978, del. ting the
requirement of reporting the instances of exceeding.
(1)
the maximum temperature differential of 20 F and (2) the
maximum winter discharge temperature of 55 F.
The inspector selectively reviewed the recordings of rate of
temperature change of 8 F /hr during CY 1978 and found no
instances were recorded that exceeded this limit.
c.
Biological Monitoring Program
The licensee completed the 5-year biological monitoring
program on June 30, 1978 and is in process of writing up a
final report for the program. The inspector reviewed
selected data in the four-volume report covering data from
July 1977 to June 1978, for the fifth year of this program.
The data presented included lake current measurements, field
chemistry, adult fish, phytaplankton, zooplankton populations,
and benthic faunal collections. The requirements for sampling
locations and frequencies presented in 2.C of Appendix B,
Technical Specifications, have been satisfied by the licensee's
contractor.
The inspector also reviewed the licensee's supplemental
reports on the environmental monitoring program which
extended the program through September 30, 1978. This
extension resulted ftom the technical specification change
issued by the NRC oa April 25, 1978 deleting the thermal
discharge limits. The extended program confirmed the pre-
diction that no mersurable effects on the lake biota occurred
from station operation.
No items of noncompliance or deviations were identified.
8.
Licensee's Internal Audit
The inspector reviewed the licensee internal audits of the
environmental monitoring program. The audit conducted by the
4/
Ibid.
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Quality Assurance Department in April 26, 1978 of the 1977
results identified the omission of collection of fish the second
half of 1977.
An audit of the 1978 program had not been con-
ducted at the time of this inspection but is scheduled for later
on in the spring of 1979.
The licensee also conducted an audit on July 27, 1978, of the
1977 results by the licensee's radiological environmental moni-
toring contractor. The audit traced the paperwork for 30
randomly selected samples from all Ccmmonwealth Edison plants.
The audit also reviewed logbooks and calibration procedures. No
significant problems were identified.
No items of noncompliance or deivations were identified.
9.
Confirmatory Measurements Program
Effluent samples consisting of particulate filter, charcoal
adsorber, waste gas and liquid waste were collected from the
licensee for the Confirmatory Measurements inspection program.
They will be analyzed by the NRC Reference Laboratory and the
results compared with the licensee's. -In addition, two spiked
liquids, two charcoal adsorbers and a particulate filter were
provided the licensee for analysis as a further test of the
licensee's analytical capability.
The results of the comparisons
will be reported in a subsequent inspection report.
10.
Exit Inte rview
The inspector met with licensee representatives (denoted in
Paragraph 1) at the conclusion of this inspection on April 18,
1979. The inspector summarized the purpose and scope of this
inspection and its findings. The licensee acknowledged that:
(1) Fish should have been collected semiannually (Paragraph 5.a);(2)
the TLDs will be properly mounted for complete air exposure
(Paragraph 5.b); (3) the plant personnel will accompany the
contractor personnel on her rounds to collect environmental
samples (Paragraph 5.b).
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