ML20034A930
| ML20034A930 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Point Beach  |
| Issue date: | 04/17/1990 |
| From: | Davis A NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION III) |
| To: | Fay C WISCONSIN ELECTRIC POWER CO. |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20034A931 | List: |
| References | |
| EA-89-254, NUDOCS 9004250078 | |
| Download: ML20034A930 (4) | |
Text
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d April 17,1990 Docket Nos.
50-266 and 50-301 License Nos.
DPR-24 and DPR-27 EA 89-254 Wisconsin Electric Power Company ATTN:1 Mr. C. W. Fay, Vice President Nuclear Power Department 231 West Michigan, Room 308 Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53201 Gentlemen:
SUBJECT:
NOTICE OF VIOLATION AND FR0 POSED: IMPOSITION OF CIVIL PENALTY --
$87,500 (NRC Inspection Reports 50-266/89032; 50-301/89032 and 50-266/89033; 50-301/89033)
This refers to the routine and special safety--inspections _ conducted by Messrs. C. L. Vanderniet and J. Gadzala' of. this office from November =7 through.
January 18, 1990, at the Point Beach Nuclear. Power 1 Plant Units-1 and 2. _The -
inspections included a review of your correctiveL actio'n program. _ Copies.of the: inspection reports pertaining to the. issue were mailed to-you on-January 12 and February 6, 1990. An enforcement conference was held'with you and members of your staff on January 16,1990, at which time the violation,:itsicauses, and your. corrective actions were discussed. ;A follow-up conference was held by:
telephone on January 22,1990, with Mr. ' J. J. Zach and other members of your -
staff.
The enclosed Notice of Violation [(Notice)-concerns the failure'to effectively-implement a corrective action program that results in timely identification and correction of deficiencies. The Monthly;0 pen Item Status Report (M0lSR),
issued by the Nuclear Quality Assurance Department (NQAD), listst and_ categorizes all-open items in the plant deficiency log. The M0ISR dated December 8 1989.
indicated that 75% of the "Significant Open-Items" being tracked were either categorized as having no response or as having-corrective' actions overdue.-
Those overdue actions involve various ' safety-related systems and functions-including AC and DC electrical systems, safety-injection system and the radio _-
logical effluent system. The deficiencies that were to'be corrected may_ impact system operability. Yet _no evaluation or immediate corrective action has:been-taken to disposition the identified deficiencies.. Additionally,,a QA memorandum:
concerning the SSFI and Vertical Slice Audit followup, dated May 2,1989, identi-fied 20 open items as having the highest priority. As of December'1989,:the MOISR still noted that most of the corrective actions associated-with those:
items remained delinquent.
This is indicative of a breakdown in your corrective'-
action system.
CERTIFIED MAIL RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED 4
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r Wisconsin Electric Power Company April 17, 1990 Based upon the percentage of delinquent items,. it appears that the present method used to track and control the completion of corrective actions is not.
working in a timely manner to resolve issues. This is a concern to the NRC because the possibility exists'that items with possible safety significance may not be promptly addressed. The examples listed in the enclosed Notice are not intended to be exhaustive.
Rather, they are intended to highlight the type of issues that have not received adequate attention by.the licensee's staff for timely resolution of identified weaknesses.
While the procedural controls for documenting, tracking, and resoldng identified deficiencies appear to be adequate, imp 1_ementation of these procedural controls-appears to be inadequate.
The root cause-of the corrective action-problem was attributed to the apparent failure on the part of the responsible organizations to manage their assigned open items to take-the-necessary actions to. resolve the open issues in a timely manner. Also contributing to the problem was the.
apparent. lack of or inadequate use of resources necessary to accomplish prompt-corrective' action.
To emphasize the need for timely corrective action of identified deficiencies,.
I have been authorized, after consultation with the Director, Office of-Enforcement, and the Deputy Executive Director for Nuclear Materials Safety, Safeguards and Operations Support, to issue the enclosed. Notice of Violation and Proposed Imposition of. Civil Penalty in the amount of $87,500 for the.
violation described in the enclosed Notice.
In.accordance with the " General Statement of Policy and Procedure for NRC Enforcement Actions, 10 CFR Part 2, 1
Appendix C (1989) (Enforcement Policy), Supplement I, the violation has been I
categorized at Severity Level III.
.f The base value of a civil penalty for a Severity Level III violation isc$50,000.
The escalation and mitigation factors in the enforcement policy were considered:
and the base civil penalty was escalated 50 percent' because the NRC; identified the weakness in your' corrective action program for obtaining timely corrective action of identified deficiencies.
The base civil penalty was also; escalated 1
25 percent because your corrective actions, while satisfactory,.were initially j
not timely and only minimally acceptable.
Ilowever, since the enforcement j
conference, you committed to hiring additional permanent staff to improve your regulatory performance including the control of your corrective action program.
This is recognized as a positive step to improve your performance; therefore, j
full escalation for this factor is not warranted.
The remaining escalation j
and mitigation factors were considered and further-modification of the penalty was not warranted.
You are required to respond to this letter and should-follow the' instructions-a specified in the enclosed Notice when preparing.your response.
In your
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response, you should document the specific actions taken and any additional actions you plan to prevent recurrence. After reviewing your response to the l
Notice, including your proposed corrective actions and the results of future j
inspections, the NRC will determine whether further NRC enforcement action is
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necessary to ensure compliance with NRC regulatory requirements, j
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- i Wisconsin Electric F9wer C'ompany. pril-17i1990!
In-.accordance with Section 2.790 of the NRC's " Rules of Practice," Part.2 Title 10 Code of _ Federal Regulations, a' copy of this' 1etter and its.
enclosures will be placed in the NRC Public. Document Room.
The' response directed.by:this. letter and the enclosed Notice'are not' subject lto the clearance-procedures of the Office _of Management and Budget, as required by
-the Paperwork Reduction Action of-1980, Public Law 96-511.-
Sincerely,.
Crittinn1 in ense v h DCI:Davita, t
A. Bert Davis Regional Administrator-
Enclosures:
1.
Notice of Violation and Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalty 2-,_
Inspection Report Nos. 50-266/89032;-
50-301/89032 l
3.
Inspection Report Nos.. 50-266/89033; 50-301/89033' l-See Attached Distribution
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(Concurred by FAX 4/12/90) l JLieberman HThompson
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Wisconsin Electric Power Company
- l April;!17, 1990 D'istfibution -
cc w/ enclosures:
J. J. Zach, Plant Manager DCD/DCB.(RIDS).-
Licensing fee Management' Branch Resident Inspector, RIII
- Virgil; Kanable,- Chief -
. Boiler Section
- Charles: Thompson, - Chairman ?
' Wisconsin-Public Service-
. Commission' R.1..Braund-(SLO),-
WI Div. of Emergoney Government Teri.L'. Vierima, Chief'
, Radiation-Protection Section.
.WI Department of Healthiand:
SocialiServices,' Division ~
of Health:
LPDR SECY
' CA -
J. Tay1or..-EDO H. Thompson, DEDS J. Sniezek,-DEDR J. Lieberman,-DE-.
L., Chandler; OGC' T. - Murley, NRR J. Partlow, NRR:
Enforcement Coordinators-RI, RII, RIV, RV-Resident Inspector F. Ingram..GPA/PA B. Hayes, 01 E. Jordan, AE0D-D. William, OIG J. Sharkey, OEE OE:Chron OE:EA RA0:RIII
'PA0:RIII~
SLO:RIII M.:Stahulak i
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