ML19325E895
| ML19325E895 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 10/29/1986 |
| From: | Stello V NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS (EDO) |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19325E890 | List: |
| References | |
| FOIA-89-284, TASK-PINV, TASK-SE SECY-86-322, SECY-86-322-01, SECY-86-322-1, NUDOCS 8911090349 | |
| Download: ML19325E895 (17) | |
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POLICY ISSUE 0
N October 29, 1986 SECY-86-322 For:
The Comissioners From:
Victor Stello3 Jr.
Executive Director for Operations i
Subject:
OPERATING POWER REACT 0PS REOUIRING INCP. EASED NRC ATTENTION AND RESOURCES
Purpose:
To infom the Commission of the staff's list of operating
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power reactors requiring increased NRC atten"rn and to obtain Comission appreval for the Chairman to issue
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letters, that the Chaiman has advised me he wishes to sign, to those licensees identifying NRC concerns regarding their operations and perfomance.
Rackground:
Following the June 1985 loss of feedwater event at Davis-r Besse, one of the recorsnendations that evolved, was that I
senior NeC managers need to periodically meet to discuss the problem plants of greatest concern to the agency and to plan a coordinated course of action.
Such meetings o' the senior management were held in April and October 1986.
This initiative represents a new strategy on the part of the \\'RC to take early and effective regulatory actions in response to emerging trends in operational perfomance.
This effort represents a concerted effort by the NRC to focus t!RC resources on those plaats and issues of greatest safety and regulatory concerr.,
t Discussien On October 21-?2. 19R6, the EDO neld a meeting with Office Directors and Regionai Administrators and the Director. 01, 3
to review the operations and perfomance of all operating i
power reactors.
The purpose of this meeting was to inte-grate the observations and findings of the investigation, inspection, licensing, research, and data analysis offices and to focus the attention of the senior managers on those t
plants of greatest safety and regulatory concern to the NPC, The oiscussion on plant perforw nee was augmented by senior management review of performance indicator data, operational experience data, PRA insights, regional inspection findings I
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and SALP results.
first meeting was held in April 198C,This was the s management' meeting, six plants were identified by th managers as recuirini) increased NRC inspection and rev These plants were Pi grim, Peach Bottom, Turkey Point,
, tasalle, Femt and Rancho Seco, the TVA facilities and
( because of previously identified problems.
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d 'P'.he April meeting was forwarded to the Comission o A sumary of I
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\\ During the October meeting, the current status and per'orm ance of the plants identified during the April meeting were reviewed.
power reactors were reviewed.Adcitionally, performan enclosed (Enclosure 1).cussions on problem p It was the consensus of the senior' rianagers that some changes should be riade to the list of plants requiring increased NRC attention.
Three plants were removed from the List of Problem Plants and two plants (Fort St. Vrain and Palisades) were added to t
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Eight plants were identified as requiring increased NRC i
attention and resources:
l Plants Which the NRC Continues to Monttor Closely 1.
Plants w.ere the licensee has taken action or has I to take action whiuh should correct identified problem; but the effectivene'.s of this action has yet to be fully i
demnstrated.
The NRC has and will continue to have an increased level of Headquarters and Reotonal attention t
devoted to closely monitoring the licensee's performance.
Peach Bottom P11gris Fermi n
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Recomendation:
The headquarters and regional office managert ud stafi
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are proceeding to augment their inspectiori and review of the plan *$ which require increased NRC oversight.
To j
highlight to the licensees our concern over their perfom-ance, programs end status to date it is recomended tha i
the Chairmas. send letters to the Chief Fxecutive Officers of each of the plants identified as requiring increased NRC attention, t.ikewise, we believe it is appropriate to send letters to the licensees of the plants which have been G removed from the 1tst of Problem Plants. Proposed letters y'
are included in Enclosure 3.
These letters highlight the concern of the Comission on the operational performance d of the licensee's plant and the concern NRC has for the 1
j safety of their operetions.
I believe it; is important that these letters be promptly transmitted from the Chairman to i
s denote the seriousness of the Comission's concern over the plant's performance.
The letters to the three plants taken off the list convey the NRC's recognition of improved per-formance and of the comitment of licensee management to l
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j improved progress and operations. A draft press release is included as Enclosure A to announce the revised list of problem plants requiring increased NRC attention.
The press relese also discusses the new initiative by the NRC to integrate the perspectives of the senior NRC managers to give the NRC a more coordinated #ocus in identifying those l
plants o' highest concern to ERC and to put programs and plans in place to address and resolve the problems, i
Victor $tello, Jr.
Executive Director for Operations j
Enclosures:
1.
NRC Management Meeting i
Sunnary 2.
Plant-Specific Background i
Data 3.
Proposed Letters to Licensees 1
4.
Proposed Press Release commissioners' comments or cc,nsent should be provided directly i
to the Office of the Secretary ASAP.
Commission Staff office comments, if any, should be submitted to the Commissioners ASAP, with an information copy to the Office of the Secretary.
If the paper is of such a nature that it requires additional time for analytical review and the Commissioners and the Secretariat should be i
- comment, apprised of when comments may be expected.
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DISTRIBUTION:
Commist'oners OGC (H Street) i OI OCA OIA OPA REGIONAL OFFICES EDO OGC (MNBB)
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NRC Management Meeting Sumary I
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l NPC Panagement Meeting Summary i
October 21-20, 1986 l
Pegion V j
The ECO opened the meeting, welecmed the Chairman, and expressed the ED0's and the staf"s apcreciation that *be Chairman could be present tn participate in t
the discussions. The Chaimen conveyed his appreciation for the performance of the senior staff and indicated his interest in the discussion to be held on problem plants, problem issues and management decisions to addrtss these i
problems. The Chairman commented that as the senior managers discuss the j
problem plants and issues, the following three principle regulatory peals be i
foremost in our deliberations.
(1)
Continue to safely operate facilities, I
i (2) Achieve quality construction of facilities, ar.d i
(3) Standardize the process 'or the future.
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a The Chairman stated thet these goals are complimented by the conclusf as he has
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observed from visits to many domestic plants and plants abroad where he found i
that good plant design is a must, that plants must be constructed properly, a.'d i
that plants must be operated safely, further, the Chainnan comented that the pisnts and issues to be discussed during this meeting tend to typify these goals and conclusions; namely, problem plants have spptoms of bad design, poor cont truction :nd/or peor opet ational performance.
t Focus on Licensee Performance l
t Following the Jur.e 1985 loss of feedwater e"ent at Davis-Besse, one of the L
recomendations that evolved was that seninr NRC managers need to periodically l
rieet to discuss the problem plants of greatest concern to the agency and to i
plan a coordinated course of action.
The first such senior management meeting was held in Region !!! in April 1985.
From that meeting, six plants were identi'ied as requiring an augmented NRC review and inspection (Pilgrim, Penh Bottom. Turkey Point, Fermi. LaSalle, Rancho Seco).
The TVA facilities anc Davis-Besse were already receiving increased NPC attention because of a
previously identified problems.
The meeting in Region V on October 21-22, 1986 was the second such meeting of senior NRC managers and was strudered to review the status of the plants discussed at the April 1986 meeting and to review the performance of other plants to determine if there should be any changes, additions or deletions to the list of problem plants.
L In preparation for the meeting, IE, in coordination with the five regional l
offices, NRR, AE00 and RES prepared background documents un the plants to be discussed at the meeting.
Further, IE expanded the pilot prograc on trending l
performance dtta to include sumary analyses for all operating power reactors.
These documents were distributed to all meetina attendees _pr.ior to.the meeting AndJrny.ided.the.benchinar,UorJeview and discussloftoteach nlant% per_ form-ance and for the senior management 7dentification of those plants warranting iricreasedlRTaHenBon.
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_Cateeorizing NRC Concerns j
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In reviewing the plants that have experienced significant perfomance problems, l
it was clear that there were various levels or categories of perfomance for these plants based upon their actions to date to correct the problems an:! to schieve 'moroved operations.
Some licensees have implemented corrective actions and programs and have demons *. rated improved perfomance while in other i
cases some licensees are still trying to define and understand the problems.
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?n these latter cases, substantial improvemant in per#crmance is yet to be l
('emons t ra ted, for purposes of aiding the senior managers in identifying the r.last *r category of these plants, the following three plant categories were es tatd i;,hed:
i P1ar;ts Which Have Peen Itemoved From tho list of Problem Facilities y[t Plants where the licensee has taken effective action to correct identified
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problems ard to implertent programs for improved perfomarce.
No further NRC di special attention is necessary beyond the Pegioral Office's current level of g:
monitoring the improved situati0n to ensurs the improvement continues.
Plants Vhich the PPC Continues to Monitor Closely Plants where the licensee has taken action or has comitted to take action which shoul.1 correct identified problems but the ef'ectiveress of this action l
has yet tt ! a fully demonstrated.
The NRC has and will continue to have an increased :evel of Headquarters and Re monitoring the licensee % performance.gional attention devoted to closely Plants that Require Substantial Improvement Plants that have experienced degradation in performance and where the licensee has yet to fully establish a viable program for correcting the problems.
These i
plants are shutdown and will require NRC review and approval for startup.
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- o approval for startup, tne licensee will have to establish an acceptable i
program to ensure substantial improvement in plant perfomance.
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Sumiry of Plant Discussions A brief sumary of the plants discussed at'the April 1986 management meeting and new plants identified by the senior managers which requirt increased NRC management attention is provided below.
The plants are listed according to the category to which they were assigned by the senior management at the meeting.
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Peach Bottom
$tatus:
The most recent SALP report noted declining perfomance in operation and maintenance and Category 3 ratings were assigned in security ano a of quality.
In particular, inattention to detail have been observed. poor work practices, procedure noncomp i'
team inspection including resident inspectors from various Regi concluded that while the plant appeared to be operating safelv Ipersonnel
%() dependency on third parties to identify probl programs were sound) certain underlying factors, such as the itcensee's Q aggressively followup on corrective actions, inhibit improved perfortnance August 1 19Pf On N concerns,on ope. the EDO met with senior licensee management te discuss NRC rations and performance at Peach Bottori.
ance, that improvement has not yet been detected.While lice will continue to closely monitor the licenste's performance and the regi 1 ns to assign a third resident to the site.
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6.
C P1ert Sumary and Review
,VThree plants (Fermi, Pilgrim, and Peach Bottom) requira a con level of headquartars and regional monitoring of licensees' performanc j plants have taken action er committed to take a ti These Q problems, but improved performance has not y c on to correct identified The i
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I Peach Bottom Units 2 and 3-e
- n early 19P6 the NRC staff conducted a Systematic tssessment of Ferfomance (sat.P) 'or the Peach Bottom Units 2 and 3 for the te e
from April 1,1985 through January 31, 1985.
i and continued poor performance in the security evaluation period, on March 18, 1986, violating the plant Technical Specificationsthe control room i
the NPC staff concluded that, "These personne.
In investigating this incident individuals indicate that a problem of inattentil errors by four licensed performance of their duties continues to exist at Peac toward The NPC staff held an enforcement conference and a SALP meeting with Philadelphia Electric Company (PECO) to discuss the problems with tions at Peach Bottcm.
On August 1,1986, the Executive Director for Operations met with the Chairman of the Board, the President and ot PECO executives to stress the NRC's concern about the apparent ma
't deficiencies at the Peach Pottom site, PEC0 management has been responsive to NRC concerns and has imp Although recent NRC inspections have noted some is too early to tell whether these PECO actions will be fully effective in
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improving the management deficiencies that have been observed at Pi in recent years.
The NRC Region I staff is augmenting the inspection coverage at Peach ment review meetings with PECO to continue to m l
F ment program.
Both Peach Bottom Units are currently in operation, i
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f Plants Which the NRC Continues f
to Monitor Closely Peach Bottom Pilgrim i
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Proposed Press Pelease e
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NEW NRC $AFETY INITIAT!YE IDENTIFIES NUCLEAR REQUIRING INCREASED LEVEL OF REGULATORY ATT Chaiman Lando W Zech, sir. of the Nuclear Pegulatory Comission announced today that the NRC has launched a new initiative aimed at identification of problems at nuclear power plants which require an increa level of NRC )ttention.
This new effort is based on infomation and data on plant performance from the NRC's inspection, licensing, investigation, re and safety analysis programs.
The goal is to focus regulatory attention on the resolution of problems at an early stage through the use of these perfeman indicators developed by the NRC staff.
"We want to detect deterioration in perfomance at a nuclear power plan as soon as possible so that we can call it to the attention of the top manage ment of the utility promptly, and, at the same time bring in additional NRC j
resc-ces to oversee the utility's resolution of the problems.
Our goal is to improve safety and contribute to substained and reliable service from nuclear facilities," Chairman Zech said.
Trends in perfomance at nuclear power plants are reviewed by senior NRC headquarters managers and officials from the Comission's five regional offices.
Nuclear plants tnd safety issues are identified where additional NRC inspection and review should be focused.
In Ap*11 of 1986 NRC senior managers held their first meeting to review the overall operating performance of operating nuclear power plants.
At that time, plants at six sites were' singled out for augmented review and inspection i
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Those plants were Ptigrim, operated by Boston Edison at Plymou(
Mass.; Peach Bottom, operated by Philadelphia Electric Company at Peach
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Pa.; Turkey Point, operated by Florida Power and Light Company in Da 1
Fla.; Enrico Fermi, operated by Detroit Edison at Monroe, Mich.; LaSalle,
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eperated by Comonwealth Edison Company at LaSalle, Ill.; and Rancho Seco, 1
i operated by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District at Sacramento, Calif.
1 Plants operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority at Browns Ferry in Alabama j and Sequoyah in Tennessee and the Davis-Besse plant of the Toledo Edison Company in Ohio were not included on the April 1986 list in view of the high l
I 1evel of NRC attention already in place to oversee those facilities, i
In October 1986, the second such meeting of the senior managers took place.
The following changes were made to the list of plants requiring increased NPC attention and resources.
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Three plants (Turkey Point, LaSalle, and Davis-Besse) have been removed from the list of problem facilities because the licensees have taken effective action to correct identified problems and to implement programs for improved
'No further NRC special attention is necessary at these three performance.
facilities beyond the current level of monitoring by NRC regional offices to assure that the improvement continues.
It should be noted, however, that the Commission still has to authorize the restart of Davis Pesse.
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Two plants (Palisades and Fort St. Vrain) were added to the list of plants
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requiring increased NRC attention.
There are now eight plants on this Ifst.
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, regional and-headquarters inspectors and review teams and by regional and rs ernagement.
Three of those plants -- Fermi, Pilgrim and Peach BottomI taken actions or committed to take actions which e
i problems, but the effectiveness of their actions has yet to be ful A monstrated.
The remaining five plants -- Browns Ferry; Sequoyah; Ranc at Fort St. Vrain, operated by Public 3ervice Company of Colorado Platteville, Colorado; and Palisades, operated by Consumers Power C pany of Pichinan at South Haven, Michigan -- have experienced degradation performance and the licensees have yet to fully establish a viab or correcting the identified problems.
All five of these plants are shut down and I
NRC. approval is required for startup, y'
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While these eight plants will receise special NRC attention
, all operating plants will continue to be reviewed by NRC for indications of de performance.
The NRC will act promptly to take appropriate action when E
declining performance is detected.
As part of this new initiative by the NRC, the senior managers pla to meet at approximately 6-month intervals to review the operationa erfonn-ance of all operatins
>>1 ants.
At thse meetings, the senior ma.. agers will determine what changes, additions or deletions should be made to
!!RC plants requiring Mcreased NRC attention and resources i
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