ML19325F287

Responds to 890914 & 19 Ltrs Forwarding Concerns from a Rich & K Mccook Re Licensing Process for Facility.Nrc Will Ensure That All Issues Important to Safe Operation of Plant Acceptably Resolved Before License to Load Fuel Granted

ML19325F287
Person / Time
Site:	Comanche Peak
Issue date:	10/16/1989
From:	Taylor J NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS (EDO)
To:	Bentsen L SENATE
Shared Package
ML19325F285	List: ML19325F284 ML19325F287 ML19325F289
References
NUDOCS 8911200078
Download: ML19325F287 (2)

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ENCLOSURE 1 M,

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UNITED STATES W,/

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION I' [

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OCT 10 533 n,

The Honorable Lloyd Bentsen United States Senator 961 Federal Building Austin, Texas 7870L

Dear Senator Bentsen:

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This letter responds to your letters of Septeder 14 and 1g,1989, which forwarded concerns from Ms. Andrea Rich of Fort Worth Texas, and Mr. and Mrs. Kendall McCook of Tolar, Peak Steam Electric Station.They raised concenis regarding th Texas.

i for the Comanche In part cular, they focused on t

i implitstions associated sith the dismissal of the adjudicatory hearines in 5

conjundton with the settlement agreement between the intervenor Association for Sound Energy (CASE), and Texas Ut111tiss Electric, Citlaens Company.

At the time of the dismissal of the proceedings, the Cittaens for Fair Utility Regulation (CFUR of Fort Worth' Texas Commission (NRC))to intervene iti the pr,oceeding in piece of CASE. pet:

The i

i Commission denied CFUR's request because they did not satisfy the criteria for late intervention set forth in Section 2.714 of Title 10gof the Code of Federal Retulations. We note that Mr. and Mrs. McCook were among those wne mee Order, CL!.88 porting the CFUR petition. We have enclosed the Commiission's i

aridavf ts sup 12, which details the consideration of and bases for the dental of CFUR's petition. Subsequently, CFUR filed a petition for review of the l

Cosnission's decision with the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (Dockets 894124and89-4310).

It is important to recognize that the dismissal of the adjudicatory proceedings does not dispose of the issues requiring resolution; in fact, the NRC staff has continued to pursue the resolution of concerns such as those expressed in the j

letters from Ms. Rich and the McCooks. The problems with design and construction deficiencies have been addressed extensively by the applicant.

Corrective actions have been reviewed and inspected by the NftC and are part of the pubite records as an exanple, we have enclosed copies of Supplement 20 to the NRC's Safety Evaluation Report for Comanche Peak for your information.

The Safety Evaluation Report, its supplements, and the NRC inspection reports l

for Comanche Peak are available to interested moders of the public at the Local Public Document Room at the somervell County Public Library in Glen Rose. Texas.

We responded to similar concerns you forwarded, related to' the findings of the AugmentedInspectionTeam(AIT),inourletterofSeptember 15, 1989. Concerns related to employee allegations and other current issues at Comanche Peak are addressed through our normal review and inspection activities in a manner consistent with our activities at other plants, with one significant exception.

t The Commission established a Special Projects organization 'n 1987 that was res >onsible for all licensing and inspection activities related to the Comanche l

Peat facility and the Tennessee Vality Authority facilities. This organization M 9 88M 8?s!8 6 H

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-t-The Nonorable Lloyd tentsen reported directly to the Executive Director for Operations through 1988 and then to the Director Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, beginning in 198g. A separate Comanche Peak Project Division continues to deal with the

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particularly complex regulatory problems confronting the Comanche Peak facility.

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As the completion of Comanche peak Unit I draws closer, we anticipate that i

public interest and concern, like that expressed by Ms. Rich and the McCooks, 1

c111 rise. We will ensure that all issues important to safe operation of the J

plant are acceptably resolved before a license to load fuel and b in startup j

testing is granted. Any concern brought to the attention of the N C that could affect the safe construction or operation of a nuclear power plant is pursued. In some cases issues can be resolved after licensing, as was 1splied in Mr. McCook's, conversation with Mr. McKee. The NRC 's responsible for the regulation of the cosmercial nuclear industry to ensure that the i

public health and safet Concerns or allegations of technical inadequacies,y are adequately protected.or other improprieties at the facilities are taken seriously.

I We hope that this information is responsive to your request.

sincerely, l

Originnt slped 8p James W.Taylu James M. Taylor Acting Czecutive Director

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for Operations i

L Enc 1csures i

1.

NRC Memorandum and Order l

CLI-88-12, dated 12/21/88 i

2.

Supplement 20 to Comanche i

peak Safety Evaluation Report dated 11/88 (3 copies) a t

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ENCLOSURE 3 a

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UNITED STATES

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The Honorsble Lloyd Bentsen United States Senator I

961 Federal Bulding Austin Texas 78701 Dear Senator Bentsent t

This responds tn your letter of August 21, 1989 kept apprised of the continuing status of the Comanche Peak power plantwh discussed the request with your staff and we understand that you are par.

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i of check valve failures durininterested in the results of the Augmented Inspec ticularly of the licensing activities. g ' hot functional testing." and the general status We have enclosed a copy of the AIT report and TU Electric's response to that responding to the cor.cerns raised by your constituent. J. C. D report.

The AIT's findings have raised two concerns.

forward hardware problem, the failure of the check valves.The first is a fairly straight-relates to broader organizational weaknesses divulged by this event.The seccnd concer!

In both cases, we are following TU Electric's corrective actions, as we would with any other significant inspection findings, to assure that these problems are effec-tively resolved before we would grant a license.

TU Electric has indicated that they expect to complete all of the construction work and operational preparations for licensing in October 1989.

is carefully monitoring all of these activities. There is still a considerable The NRC staff amount of work to be completed before TU Electric will be able to certify that the plant has been completed in accordance with their license application; however, they are continuing to make substantial progress.

send an O The NRC staff will October. perational Readiness Assessment Team to the plant in the middle of Based on that inspection, we will detemine the extent to which the plant is ready for a low-power license (for,the purpose of loading fuel and conductingstart-uptesting).

Our decision on whether to grant a low-power license will also depend on satisfactory resolution of the issues that have been raised during the course of the staff's technical review and inspection activ-ities. including the check valve failures and the organizational weaknesses

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identified by the AIT.

We hope that this infomation is responsive to your request.

Sincerely Original Signed Byi lames M. Taylor '

James M. Taylor Acting Executive Director

Enclosures:

for Operations 1.

AIT Report 2.

TU Electric Letter. W. J. Cahill to USNRC dated 8/18/89

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Juu o as In Reply Refer To:

1 Dockets:

50-445/89-30 50-444/89-30 i

Mr. W. J. Cahill, Jr.

Executive Vice President TU Electric i

400 North Olive street, Lock Box 81 Dallas, Texas 75201 a

Dear Mr. Cahill This refers to the inspection conducted by Mr. N. Livermore and other members of the Augmented Inspection Team during the period May 15 through June 16, 1989 concerning the check valve failures which allowed backflow throug,h the auxiliary feedwater system during J

hot functional testing of Unit 1 at the Comanche Peak Steam Electric Station.

The team's findings as described in this report were i

presented to you and other members of your staff at the conclusion i

of the inspection.

1 The enclosed copy of our AIT ins examined during the inspection. pection report identifies areas Within these areas, the inspection consisted of selective examination of procedures and representative records, interviews with personnel, and observations by the inspectors.

As a result of this inspection, the AIT has. identified a number of i

weaknesses in your procedures for evaluating and correcting equipment failures and malfunctions, and weakaesses in your organisational comunications.

Further, while your subsequent assessment of the check valve failures has been comprehensive, the AIT has identified a number of reconsnendations which should be L

addressed in your corrective action efforts.

Accordingly, we request that you submit a report sunenarising the lessons learned from these events and the corrective actions you plan to take, concurrently addressing the weaknesses and recommendations i

identified by the AIT.

This report should also distinguish between those actions which need to be completed before the plant is ready l

to load fuel and the longer-tern programatic enhancements.

Please notify us, within two weeks following your receipt of this letter, of your schedule for the submittal of such a report.

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P In ecoordance with 10 CFR 2.790 of the comunission's regulations copy of this letter and the enclosed ina i

placed in the NRC Public Document Room. pection report will be, a will be pleated to discuss them with you.Should you have any furth!

i Sincerely, j

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R. F. Warnick, Assistant Director i

for Inspection Programs Comanche Peak Project Division i

Enclosure office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation i

Inspection Report 50-445/89-30s 50-446/49-30 oc w/ enclosures See next page I

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August It,1989 D.D U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Atta: Document control Desk Washington, D. C.

20555 I

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SUSJECT:

COMANCHE PEAK STEAN ELECTRIC STATION (CpSES)

DOCKET NOS. 50 445 AND 50 444 Resp 0NSE TO NRC INSPECTION REPORT NOS.

50 445/89 30: 50 444/89 30 AUGNENTED INSPECTION TEAN (AIT) INSPECTION l

OF CHECK VALVE FAILUkES REF:

1)

Letter free R. F. Warnick, k$NRC, to W. J. Cahill, TU Electric dated July 10, 1989 2)

TU Electric letter logged TKX 89492, W. J. Cahill to USNRC.

I dated July 24, 1989 8entlemen:

Reference 1 requested that TU Electric submit a report summarizing the lessons i

learned from the Auxiliary Feedwater (AFW 5, 1989 and the corrective actions TU Elec)tric planned to take. backflow av

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acknowledged the Reference 1 request and stated a report would be subm Reference 2 l

August 18, 1989.

The report is attached.

l As this report discusses, the cause of the backflow events was backflow through hung open Sorg Warner / International Pump Inc. (BW/IP) pressure seal valves in the sequence specified by procedures. check valves co TU Electric is taking corrective action for the affected hardware, inclu inspection and, as necessary, rework of BW Additionally, TV Electric is taking action /IP check valves at CPSES.

to address the cause of the events and prevent reevrrence of similar events.

There actions include the following:

The reassembly procedure for the SW/IP check valves has been revised o

to ensure that the valve disc will properly seat.

Administrative procedures have been revised to clearly state that o

the tasks in a procedure are to be performed in the sequence specified unless certain exceptions are satisfied.

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' August 18, 1989 i

page t of 3 Operations personnel are receiving and will continue to receive 4

e training in the revised administrative procedures, in the need to comply with procedures in general, and in avoidance of the type of noncompliances with precedures that occurred during the April 23 and May 5 events.

i TV Electric has also evaluated the backflow events en April 23 and May 5 precursors to these events, and the Company's response to these events to i

detemine lessons learned and identify corresponding improvements.

perfoming this evaluation. TU Electric also accounted for the conclusions and In at a meeting on the CPSES power ascension program on i

Based upon its evaluation warranted in four general, areas before fuel load.TU Electric has concludi These areas, and the corresponding improvements that TU Electric is making, are discussed below.

The attached report provides a more detailed description of the improvement Mannennent and tunervinian av onorattenn. TU Electric is taking e

act'on to expedite the trans' tion free a construction to an l

operating attitude, to provide Operations with greater control of failures to Operations management and supervisio management's awareness of time and manpower needs for specific i

tasks.

i corrective Actinns and Evaluation of plant Events and feuinment o

i Fa11uren. TU E'ectric is taking action to improve the documentation and reporting of plant events and equipment failures, to increase the aggressiveness and timeliness of investigations of plant events i

Electric.and equipment failures, and to improve future team evaluations l

l connuntentions ? no onoratern and shifts - TU Electric is taking o

action to improve communications among operators and connunications 1

between shifts.

4 personnel Awarenett of Ooeratine Evenus and Eauinment Failures and e

Their.'enlientions for System Doerabi'ity TU E'ectric is taking Work Requests and their impitcations for plant ope r

improve the availability of information regarding plant events anu equipment failures to Operations personnel.

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The taprovements discussed above are only one part of a larger effort to ensure that TV Electric will be ready to operate Cp5ES Unit 1.

For example, l

l TU Electric has established an Operational Readiness Program and management of the transition free construction to operations has been placed under the direction of the Vice President. Nuclear Operations.

together with the taprovements discussed in the attached report, util helpT ensure that TV Electric will be ready to aperate upon completion of Unit 1 construction.

In summa on Aprill$ and May 5,198g, is taking corrective action for the including action to address root causes and prevent recurrence of similar i

events and is teslementing improvements based on lessons learned.

1 Consequ,ently, TV t1ectric belteves that it is adequately addressing the events, and that upon completion of the corrective and preventive actions and taplementation of referenced improvements, the events should not pose acy l

impediment to the issuance of an operating license for CPSES Unit 1.

$1ncerely.-

Villiam J.

ahill, Jr.

l TLH:daj c - Mr. R. D. Martin, Region IV ResidentInspectors,CPSES(3) t p

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es 6/ enclosures Roger D. Walker W tiectric Manager, Nuclear Licensing W slectrie c/o Bethesda Licensing 3 Metro Center. Suite 610 Skyway fewer Sothesda, Maryland 20814 40c North Olive Street, L.B. 81 Dallas,.M 75201 l

l E. F. ottney P. O. Dos 1777 Juanita Ellis Glen Rose, Texas 76043 President - CASS 1426 South Polk Street Dallas, H 15224 Joseph F. Fulbright l

Fulbright 4 Jewerski 1301 NcKinney Street susan N. Beisen Nouston, Texas 77010 Assistant Attorney General 3

Environmental Protection Division Geeree A. Parker, Chairman l

P.O. Som 12548, capitol Station Public Utility committee Austin, TX 78711-1548 Senior Citisens Alliance of i

Tarrant County, Inc.

ODS Associates, Inc.

4044 Wonder Drive i

1850 Parkway Place, suite 720 Fort Worth, Texas 76133 I

l Marietta, GA 30067-8237 t

Lanny A. Sinkin Jack R. Newunan, Esq.

Christic Institute Newman & Roltsinger, P.C.

Suite 1000 i

1324 N. Capitol Street 1615 L. Street M.W.

Washington, DC 20002 Washington, D.C. 20034 Ms. Billie Pirner Garde, Esq.

Garde Law office 104 Sast Wisconsin Avenue l

Appleton, WI

$4911 j

Regional Administrator, Region IV U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Consnission i

611 Ryan Plasa Drive, Suite 1000 i

Arlington, Tomas 76011 William A. Durchette, Esq.

Counsel for Tea La Electric Cooperative of Texas Heron, Durchette, Ruckert & Rothwell 1025 Thomas Jefferson St., NW Washington, DC 20007 I

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EDO Principal Correspondence Contro!

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FROM:

DUE: 10/16/09 EDO CONTROL: 0004792 DOC DT: 09/22/09

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I FINAL REPLY

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Sen. Lloyd Bentsen n

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FOR SIGNATURE OF

• • GRN CRC NO: 69-1084 I

Executive Director j

ROUTING:

DECC:

ENCLOSES LETTERS FROM HARRIET IRBY AND RMartin, RIV

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DILL NUCKOLS CONCERNING ISSUING A LOW-POWER Scinto, OGC LICENSE TO COMANCHE PEAK NUCLEAR POWER PLANT e

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DATE: 10/03/89 A; SIGNED TO:

CONTACT:'

NRR Murley 3

CPECIAL INSTROCTIONS OR REMARKSt REPLY'TO AUSTIN, TEXAS OFFICE.

NRR RECEIVED: OCT. 3, 1989 ACTION:

ADSP

CRUTCHFIELD NPR ROUTING:

MURLEY/SNIEZEK i

MIRAGLIA PARTLOW GILLESPIE M0SSBURG j

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OFFICE OF THE' SECRETARY CORRESPONDENCE CONTROL TICKET-PAPER NUMBER:

CRC-89-1084 LOGGING DATE: Oct-2 89 ACTION OFFICE:-

EDO AUTHOR:

Lloyd Bentsen--Const Refs

- AFFILIATION:

UNITED STATES DENATE i

LETTER DATE:

Sep 22 89.

FILE CODE: ID&R-5 ComanchePeak i

SUBJECT:

Urges the Comm not to issue a low-power lic to load-fuel at the Comanche Peak plant until ruling has been made re public hearing on se. fey issues ACTION:

Direct Reply DISTRIBUTION:

OCA to Ack, DSB e

SPECIAL HANDLING: None NOTES:

Bill'Nuckols & Ms. Harriet Irby

' DATE DUE:

Oct 18 89 SIGNATURE:

DATE SIGNED:

AFFILIATION:

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