ML20023C906
| ML20023C906 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 05000000, South Texas |
| Issue date: | 07/29/1980 |
| From: | Ahearne J NRC COMMISSION (OCM) |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20023A411 | List: |
| References | |
| FOIA-82-603 NUDOCS 8305180254 | |
| Download: ML20023C906 (6) | |
Text
{{#Wiki_filter:~.. . -{., STATEMENT OF JOHN F. AHEARNE, CHAIRMAN U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION . u".g
- C TO THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT & INVESTIGATIONS
/ REP. BOB'ECKHARDT, CHAIRMAN k HOUSE COMMITTEE ON INTERSTATE AND l l FOREIGN COMMERCE l "N JULY 29, 1980 i I r 9305180254 830309 ~ PDR FOIA LINDEMA82-603 PDR L
- ~
e ^ Mr. Chairman and Membars of the Subcommittee, I am pleassd to appear before you to discuss the South Texas nuclear power plant and other related subjects identified in your July 11 letter inviting me to testify. The NRC's principal mission is to protect the public health and safety in the field of nuclear energy. This is accomplished through the processes of licensing and regulation coupled with an inspection program to monitor licensee compliance with the terms of the license and with the regulations. These NRC processes have been applied to the South Texas project. NRC's inspection .Z q activities led to the enforcement action against South Texas which is the -d subject of principal interest today. I have with me Victor Stello, Jr., Director of the Office of Inspection and Enforcement. Mr. Stello will provide details of problems at the project. Karl Seyfrit, Director of Region IV, where the South Texas plant is located, is also here. The three of us will \\. respond to any questions you may have. l l As background, construction at the South Texas project started in late 1975 following issuance of a Limited Work Authorization by the NRC. Construction 1 permits were issued by the NRC in December 1975. The pressurized water 2 i. reactors used in the plant are of Westinghouse design. The licensee is Houston i Lighting and Power Company. Brown and Root, Inc., is the architect / engineer as well as the constructor. At this time construction of the first of two units at the site is somewhat more than 50% complete. l As perceived by the NRC the basic problem at South Texas can be summarized as inadequate licensee control of the construction process, leading to serious I deficiencies in the quality assurance program. As a result, we have taken a
j number of enforcement actions in this case including the issuance of immediate action letters'and a show cause order, and the imposition of civil penalties. Mr. Stello will provide details concerning our inspection and enforcement effort in his testimony. Your letter of July 11 asked for comment concerning the different forms of project management employed by utilities in the construction of a nuclear _.e. c_ power plant and their relative merits. Houston Lighting and Power has employed -e the same firm as both architect / engineer and constructor.- Some other licensees have used a similar approach. There are a number of variaticns in project management involving licensee, architect / engineer and constructor; for example, TVA. frequently acts in all three capacities while other licensees employ / architect / engineers who are independent from its constructor. It has been NRC's experience that any project structure can be effective if it is directed bly a licensee who is committed to a strong quality assurance program. In NRC's judgment a successful licensee is one whose own technical and quality assurance staff, supplemented where necessary by consultants or contractors, can ' ass,ess 3 whether quality work is being done at its facility. Our regulations make it .. _c clear that the licensee is responsible for determining that a nuclear power plant is constructed and operated in compliance with all appropriate standards and requirements. l t ( You also asked for comments concerning tha c'.oper organizational structure l for assuring that quality assurance and quality control programs are carried l out properly. As related to South Texas there are two aspects worth noting. First, NRC regulations require the licensee to insure that its quality assurance l -s l l t
3-people have sufficient independence from cost and schedule considerations to do their job. At South Texas the NRC found that quality control inspectors were subject to production pressure, lack of support by their own management, harassment, intimidation, and threats. Second, NRC regulations also require that the quality assurance organization report to sufficiently senior manage-ment within each organization involved in quality assurance. to give it the 1 freedom to identify quality problems; to initiate, recommend, or provide - 1 -me. q solutions; and to verify implementation of solutions. NRC's inspections at ,d South Texas indicate licensee senior management was. insufficiently involved in quality assurance actions at the site to provide the quality organization . freedom from influences datrimental to its functions. [- You also asked for comments concerning the ability of nuclear power plant s constructors to attract qualified craftsmen and any problems that they might face in that regard. This is not an area for which we have specific responsi-bilities and is best addressed by the constructors themselves. . _s Your staff also expressed an interest in the impact that.the NRC Action Plan, I resulting from its assessment of the Three Mile Island accident, might have on the South Texas project. The so-called TMI Action Plan, formulated as a result of the TMI-2 accident, was developed to provide a comprehensive and L integrated plan for the actions judged. necessary by the NRC staff to correct it or improve the regulation and operation of nuclear facilities based on the experience from the accident at TMI-2 and the official studies and investiga-tions of the accident. - Most of the specific actions are directed to operating V = ,w ,e- - - - ~ --..,,--m-
4-plants so there is little immediate applicability of those items to South Texas. Where any plant system modifications are found to be applicable to South Texas, these modifications and the schedules for implementation will'be-addressed during the staff's review of the application for an operating license. Those Action Plan items, which do involve the construction process, have specific applicability to South Texas only to the' extent that, when implemented, . a. c they %dl1 improve selected features of the licensee's quality assurance activi- 'C ties or redirect the NRC's own inspection activities. For example, action has been. initiated which will require an upgrading in the qualifications of licensee quality assurance personnel. NRL has revised its inspection proce-dures to apply more inspection effort to licensee's quality assurance actions [ earlier in the construction cycle and has initiated development to perform s independent measurements at construction sites. In addition, NRC is expanding its resident inspector program to place inspectors at construction sites. The resident assigned to South Texas reported onsite in September 1979. 15 There are other TMI Action Plan items related to construction which, when implemented, could affect NRC oversight of nuclear power plant construction. l These tasks involve such things as examining the possibility of requiring the licensees to perform the entire QA/QC function at construction sites and requiring that substantive changes to the licensee's approved program be i i; I submitted to NRC for review. The NRC has begun work on some, but not all, of the Action Plan items related to construction. "d ,_m.._
( 5 The NRC is concerned that problems similar to those at South Texas may exist j I at some other plants under construction and is reviewing how to apply the " lessons learned" from South Texas to other construction sites. Mr. Stello r will subsequently describe how a team approach to evaluate quality assurance effectiveness was used at South Texas. That sort of approach is now being considered for use -in construction inspection elsewhere. The timing of a: team inspection is critical since sufficient, diverse production work must be ,.id u,nderway to permit assessing quality cssurance. Initially, the use of construc- -c tion inspection teams would be on a trial basis since personnel to support this would be drawn from the routine inspection program, where normally a single inspector is involved. Ultimately, additional personnel. resources may be necessary to permit the best combination of team and routine inspections. Such resources would-be requested in the normal budget process. ,'l k-kr. Stello will discuss.the requirements we have imposed upon Houston Lighting and Power with regard to South Texas. I will be glad to-answer any questions you may have, either now or after Mr. Stello completes his testimony. . en
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