ML20044F849
| ML20044F849 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Vermont Yankee File:NorthStar Vermont Yankee icon.png |
| Issue date: | 05/24/1993 |
| From: | Hodges M NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION I) |
| To: | Reid D VERMONT YANKEE NUCLEAR POWER CORP. |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20044F850 | List: |
| References | |
| EA-93-112, NUDOCS 9306010119 | |
| Download: ML20044F849 (4) | |
See also: IR 05000271/1993009
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Docket No. 50-271
Mr. Donald A. Reid
Vice President, Operations
Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corporation
RD 5, Box 169
Ferry Road
Brattlebom, Vermont 05301
Dear Mr. Reid:
,
SUBJECT:
SAFETY INSPECTION AT VERMONT YANKEE
INSPECTION REPORT NO. 50-271/93-09, EA-93-112
This letter refers to the announced safety inspection conducted by Mr. Peter D. Drysdale of
this office on April 14 - 16,1993, at the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station in Vernon,
Vermont, and on April 19 through May 11,1993, in the NRC Region 1 Office in King of
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Prussia, Pennsylvania. Mr. Drysdale discussed the preliminary inspection findings with
Mr. J. Herron and other members of your staff on April 16, 1993. This inspection
concluded on May 11,1093, during a telephone conversation to review the status of the
findings with Mr R. Wanczyk and other members of your staff.
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The purpose of this inspection was to assess your evaluations and corrective actions for the
control rod scram insertion times that exceeded the Technical Specification limits during
surveillance tests conducted in October 1992 and April 1993. Specific areas important to
public health and safety were examined during this inspection and are described in the
Inspection Report 50-271/93-09 that is enclosed with this letter. Within these areas, the
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inspection consisted of selective examinations of procedures and representative records,
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interviews with personnel, and observations by the inspector.
Our inspector concluded that your investigations adequately determined the root cause of
deficient control rod scram insertion times and identified the required repairs to plant
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equipment. Your subsequent actions to repair the scram solenoid pilot valves on all
eighty-nine reactor control rod hydraulic control units effectively corrected these equipment
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Mr. Donald A. Reid
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deficiencies prior to resumption of power operations. In addition, your short term corrective
actions adequately assured the proper understanding by your staff of Technical Specification
Limiting Conditions for Operation and related surveillance test requirements prior to
returning the plant to power operations.
However, it is apparent that a violation of your Technical Specification requirements
occurred during and after control rod surveillance testing on October 15, 1992. Specifically,
the reactor should have been shut down immediately upon determination that the average
control rod scram time for one two-by-two array of 0.391 seconds was in excess of the
Technical Specification limit of 50.379 seconds. Also, no immediate actions were taken to
identify the root cause of the deficient control rod performance, nor were corrective actions
taken to 2ssure that the future performance of the control rod drive equipment would be
adequate. The reactor continued to operate for approximately six months until deficient
control rod performance was again observed during surveillance testing on April 6,1993.
The reactor was then shut down for unrelated problems in the feedwater system.
In accordance with the " General Statement of Policy and Procedure for NRC Enforcernent
Actions" (Enforcement Policy),10 CFR Part 2, Appendix C (1992), an enforcement
conference to discuss the apparent violatioc(s) is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. on June 15, 1993,
in the NRC Region I Office in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. Since an enforcement
conference will be held, no Notice of Violation is presently being issued for this finding.
The purposes of this conference are to discuss the causes and safety significance of the
apparent violation (s), to review your completed short-term actions and your proposed
long-term corrective actions, to provide you the opportunity to point out any errors in our
report, and to discuss any other information that will help us determine the appropriate
enforcement action in accordance with the Enforcement Policy. In particular, we expect you
to discuss: (1) the corrective actions you plan to take to address the programmatic issues
identified, (2) the specific reasons for not shutting down the plant when required by the
Technical Specifications and the approved test procedure, (3) the reasons for not pursuing a
root cause determination and corrective actions for approximately six months, (4) the results
of your historical reviews of control rod testing to determine if there were previous Technical
Specification violations, (5) your design control proceses, including one-for-one equivalency
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evaluations, as they apply to material changes in safety-related equipment, and (6) your
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methods for controlling safety-related material which has service life restrictions. Items (5)
and (6) are identified as unresolved items in the report. You will be advised by separate
correspondence of the results of our deliberations on these matters. No response regarding
the apparent violation (s) is required at this time.
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MAY 2 41933
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Mr. Donald A. Reid
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In accordance with 10 CFR 2.790 of the NRC's " Rules of Practice," a copy of this letter and
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its enclosures will be placed in the NRC Public Document Room.
Sincerely,
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Marvin W. Hodges, Director
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Division of Reactor Safety
Enclosure: NRC Region I Inspection Report No. 50-271/93-09
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cc w/ encl:
R. Wanczyk, Plant Manager
J. Thayer, Vice President, Yankee Atomic Electric Company
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L. Tremblay, Senior Licensing Engineer, Yankee Atomic Electric Company
J. Gilroy, Director, Vermont Public Interest Research Group, Inc.
D. Tefft, Administrator, Bureau of Radiological Health, State of New Hampshire
Chief, Safety Unit, Office of the Attorney General, Commonwealth of Massachusetts
R. Gad, Esquire
G. Bisbee, Esquire
R. Sedano, Vermont Department of Public Service
T. Rapone, Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety
Public Document Room (PDR)
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Local Public Documcnt Room (LPDR)
Nuclear Safety Information Center (NSIC)
K. Abraham, PAO (2) All Inspection Reports
NRC Resident Inspector
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State of New Hampshire, SLO Designee
State of Vermont, SLO Designee
Commonwealth of Massachusett , SLO Designee
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ll.AY 2 41993
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Mr. Donald A. Reid
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bec w/ encl:
Region I Docket Room (with concurrences and IFS Forms)
bec w/enci (via E-MAIL):
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Region I Docket Room (with concurrences and IFS Forms)
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DRS/EB SALP Coordinator
T. Martin, RA
W. Kane, DRA
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D. Holody, EO
M. Hodges, DRS
E. Imbro, DRS
J. Durr, DRS
P. K. Eapen, DRS
P. Drysdale, DRS
T. Kenny, DRS
C. Hehl, DRP
J. Wiggins, DRP
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J. Linville, DRP
E. Kelly, DRP
B. Whitacre, DRP
H. Eichenholz, SRI - Vermont Yankee (w/ concurrences and IFS Forms)
V. McCree, OEDO
H. Ornstein, AEOD
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D. Dorman, NRR
W. Butler, NRR
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