ML20058L198
| ML20058L198 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 06/27/1990 |
| From: | NRC COMMISSION (OCM) |
| To: | |
| References | |
| REF-10CFR9.7 NUDOCS 9008070045 | |
| Download: ML20058L198 (53) | |
Text
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.z UNITED STATES OF AMERICA-NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMIS SION i
I 3l.
PERIODIC BRIEFING ON OPERATING REACTORS AND FUEL FACILITIES LOCatiOD:
ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND D3I6l JUNE 27, 1990 h3Q6Sl 40 PAGES l
NEALR.GROSSANDC0.,INC.
COURY REPORTERS AND' TRANSCRIBERS 1323 Rhode Island Avenue, Northwest Washington, D.C.
20005 (202) 234-4433 9008070045 900627 PDR 10CFR PT9.7 PDC j
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DISCLAIMER This is an unofficial transcript of a meeting of the-United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission held on June 27, 1990, in the Commission's office at One White Flint North, Rockville, Maryland.
The meeting was open to public attendance and observation.
This transcript has not been reviewed, corrected or edited, and it may contain inaccuracies.
The transcript is intended solely.for general informational purposes.
As provided by 10 CFR.9.103', it is not part of the formal or informal record of decision of the matters discussed.
Expressions of opinion in this transcript do not necessarily reflect final determination or beliefs.
No pleading or other paper may be-filed with the Commission in any proceeding as the result of, or addressed to, any statement or argument contained herein, except as the Commission may authorize.
-l NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCR10ERS 1323 rho 0E ISLAND AYtHUE. N.W.
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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 2
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 3
4 PERIODIC BRIEFING ON OPERATING REACTORS 5
AND FUEL FACILITIES 6
i 7
PUBLIC MEETING
-l' 8
9 Nuclear Regulatory Commission 10 One White Flint North 11 Rockville, Maryland 12'
'13 WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27, 1990 14 l
.15 The Commission met in open - s e's sion,
pursuant to 1
16
- notice, at 9:00 a.m.,
the Honorable KENNETH M.
CARR,-
17 Chairman of the Commission, presiding.
18 l'
19 COMMISSIONERS PRESENT:
L<
20 KENNETH M.
CARR, Chairman of the Commission 21 THOMAS M. ROBERTS, Member of the Commission 22 KENNETH C.
ROGERS, Member of the Commission 23 JAMES.R. CURTISS, Member of the Commission 24 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVENUE, N W.
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STAFF AND PRESENTERS SEATED AT THE COMMISSION TABLE:
2 JAMES TAYLOR,-Deputy' Executive Director, Operations 3
ROBERT BERNERO, Director, Office of NMSS 4
. FRANK MIRAGLIA, Deputy Director, Office of NRR 5.
THOMAS MARTIN, Region I 6
STEWART EBNETER, Region II i
7 A.
BERT DAVIS, Region III i
8 ROBERT MARTIN, Region IV i
9 JOHN MARTIN, Region V I
10 DENNIS CRUTCHFIELD, Former Director, Office of 11 Special Programs 12 13 i
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1 P & Q C E E R 1 li G, E 2
(9:06 a.m.)
3 CHAIRMAN CARR:
Good morning,- ladies and 4
gentlemen.
Commissioner Remick will not be with us t.c.o 2
5 morning..
6 Today, the NRC staff will_brief the Commission l!
7 on the status of operating reactors, field facilities, and 8
other materials licensees.
This is a periodic briefing.
9 The Commission was last briefed on this subject 10 on February the 15th of 1990.
NRC. Senior Managers meet 11 approximately twice a year, to review the performance of 12 the-various licensees and to determine which, if'any, 13 continue to warrant increased NRC attention.:
Today, the 14 staff will discuss the results of this review, which was 15 conducted at the June Senior Management meeting.
16 I welcome each of'our Regional Administrators 17 who are here today.
I understand that copies of the 18 briefing slides are available at the entrance to the I
19 meeting room.
Do any of my fellow Commissioners have 20 opening remarks?
21
-(No response.)
22 If not, Mr.. Taylor, please proceed.
23 MR. TAYLOR:
Good morning.
With me at the table 24 are the five Regional Administrators.
Frank Miraglia.
25 Deputy Director of the Office of NRR, and Bob Bernero, the NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHoOE ISLAND AVENUE, N W.
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1 Director of NMSS, Denny Crutchfield, former Director of c
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the Office of Special Projects, is also at the-table, i
3 This was our ninth meeting which we held earlier l
4 this month up at King of Prussia in Region I and, as the l
5 Chairman _ noted, this meeting is ded.dcated to talking 6
nuclear safety performance at operating reactors and 7
materials licensees, and we started these meetings with a 8
special focus on nuclear safety, after the Davis-Besse I
9 event in 1985.
10 Briefly, I'll mention that no new power reactors 11 were added to the list of problem facilities, as a result i
i 12 of this meeting.
We attribute this to the strong 1
13 corrective action by licansees, and the improved I
i 14 performance that we see generally.
We regard this as a 15 very valuable.nd important tool to NRC, in overseeing its 16 safety activities.
I i
~17 We~did identify in this meeting, four good L
f l-18.
performing plants and two what we call worthy of honorable
't 19 mention plants.
I might pause and tell the Commission i
I i
20 that we are in the process of preparing a recommendation, l
21 or series of recommendations, to the Commission, on means 22 of more formally recognizing these plants that have done a 23-good job, and we expect to get that to the - Commission 24 shortly.
We are working on it.
25 With that brief overview and to provide to NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVENUE. N W (202) M WASHINGTON. O C. 20005 (202) 232f/40
5 1 l 1ead into the details of the meeting, I'll start with 2
Frank Miraglia, with the reactors.
I 3
MR. MIRAGLIA:
Thank you, Jim.
Good morning, 4
Mr. Chairman, Commissioners.
5 CHAIRMAN CARR:
Good morning.
6 MR. MIRAGLIA:
I would just like to briefly 7
summarize the results of our June 12th-13th meeting in 8
Region I.
As indicated, we met to discuss the operational 9
safety performance of the reactors licensed by the NRC.
10 At that meeting, 14 facilities were discussed.
11 Preparation for the Senior Management. meeting 12 begins early in the process, with a series of meetings 11 between the Director of NRR and each of the Regional 14 Administrators and key headquarters staff, to discuss the 15 performance of the facilities in each of the regions and 16 identify facilities to be considered within the agenda of 17 the Senior Management meeting.
As a result of that 18 screening, the agenda is established.
19 May I have slide one, please?
(Slide) 20-As a result of the discussions this month, Surry 21 1 and 2 have been p11ced in Category 1.
These are plants 22 removed from the Problem Plant Liet.
We believe that the 23 utility has taken effective action to address the problem 24 areas that have been identified, and warrants no special 25 attention beyond those normally given within the context NEAL R. GROSS CoVRT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHoDE ISLAND AVENUE, N W.
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1-of_the' inspection program.
2 After my summary, each Regional Administrator 3
will provide a little bit more discussion of the rationale 4
and the progres3 on each of these facilities.
5 May I have the next slide, please?
(Slide) 6 Four plants remain in Category 2 Nine Mile 7
Point 1 which was subject of a Commission brief in May, 8
anc Calvert Cliffs 1 and'2.
Weaknesses exist within their 9
programs.
They have identified corrective action 10 programs.
They will stay in Category 2 until 'there - is 11 demonstrsted performance, before we would consider removal 12 from this category.
13 CHAIRMAN CARR:
Is Nine Mile Point 2 an error on 14 the slide, or-is it also --
15 MR. MIRAGLIA:
Nine Mile 1 and 2 are within --
16 CHAIRMAN CARR:
One and 2 -- 1 and 2.
17 MR. MIRAGLIA:
-- yes, within the context of the 18 Category 2 plants, sir.
19 May I have the next slide, please?
(Slide) 20 Browns Ferry remains a Category 3 plant.
The 21 TVA has a number have had a number of plants within
'22 this category.
They are making progress on Browns Ferry 1 23 and 2.
We think that they have programs in place.
24 Restart is projected for fall of this year, and we will 25 hear more details'from Mr. Crutchfield.
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' ' 11 Boforo I
turn to-each of the Regional l
2 Administrators and Mr.
Crutchfield, as Mr.
Taylor
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3 indicated, there was discussion, within the context of the f
4 Senior Management meeting, to identify a list of good 5
performers, plants with sustained performance.
As a l
6 result of that discussion, f our plants were identified--
o 7
Yankee Rowe,
- Kewaunee, Prairie Island 1 and 2,
and I
8 Calloway.
These plants have management who are actively
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-9 involved in the day-to-day activities at their facilities, 10 and have achieved sustained good performance.
The-NRC is i
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11 publicly acknowledging that good performance, and will' 12 reduce. and has reduced, inspection activities at the b
13 faciliticsas o result of.that good performance.
14 In addition, two other facilities-just below 15 the f our' that we just mentioned, worthy of honorable 16 mention, were noted for good performance, and those plants-t 17 were Grand Gulf and St. Lucie 1 and 2.
18 I'd like now to turn the meeting --
I 19 COMMISSIONER ROGERS:
Before you just leave that 20 21 MR. MIRAGLIA:
Yes, sir.
22 COMMISSIONER ROGERS:
I don't want to quibble, 23 but it's really five plants because it's Prairie Island 1
- 24 and 2, and it's conceivable that 1 --
25 MR. MIRAGLIA:
Yes.
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COMMISSIollER ROGERS:
might be different from 2
2, and I think it's worthwhile noting that.
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MR. MIRAGLIA:
Yes, sir.
4 COMMISSIOliER RvGERS:
So that I'd change that to f five --
5 6
MR. MIRAGLIA:
- Well, four facilities on five 7
plants.
8 COMMISSIO!!ER ROGERS:
Four licensees, but it's 9
five plants.
10 MR. MIRAGLIA:
Yes, sir.
i 13 I'd like to turn to Stew Ebneter, to talk about 12 the Category 1 plants, Surry 1 and 2.
13 MR.
EBl1ETER:
On Surry, we decided to move fron.
14 Category 2 to Category 1.
Surry was first discussed at 15 the December, 1988 Senior Management meeting, as a result 16 of several events and a higher than normal number of 17 enforcement actions.
Subsequent equipment failures and 18 operational difficulties demonstrated weaknesses in the 19 management ano operations of the Surry station, and the 20 plant was placed on the Problem List in May of 1989.
21 We discussed it at every meeting since December 22 and, in the January meeting, we felt that it needed more 23 observation, and we got that through this next period.
24 Virginia Power restructured its nuclear 25 operations and established a dedicated 11uclear Department NEAL R. GROSS CoVRT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHoDE ISLAND AVENUE. N W N
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under the direction of an experienced nuclear Senior Vice 2
President.
They have replaced most of the Senior Managers 3
at both the corporate and-the station.
Some of these have 4
been recruited from industry.
5 The additional staff they have added both at the 6
station and the corporate office.
The ones most notable, 7
I think, are the Systems Engineers added to the station.
8 They have added additional crews to the Maintenance 9
Department, and they've recruited additional licensed 10 operators.
11 They*ve instituted a Procedures Upgrada Program fand a Design Basia Documentation Program, to establish a 12 13 new baseline for the station.
The material condition of 14 the station has improved substantially, due to system 15
- upgrades, equipment replacements, and much improved 16 housekeeping, and major emphasis was also placed on 17 emergency preparedness.
l 18 The units were shut down for a considerable 19 period of time.
They were restarted last July and 20 September at Unita 1 and 2, respectively, and these units 21 have been operating very well since then.
22 The operations are now conducted with fewer 23 personnel errors, more attention to detail, and greater 24 adherence to procedures.
The station has achieved black 25 board on a few occasions, and it is generally performing NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 3
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Wa hava hcd no major equipment failures, and there I
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have been no significant enforcement actions in the past 3
year.
4 The most recent SALP conducted at the station 1
5 noted' that improvements have been made in all SALP j i
6 categories four of seven substantially improved, and 7
some improvements noted.in the other three.
8 Most significantly, the SALP noted a turnaround 9
in the attitude, the. safety attitude, of the station l
10
- staff, and extensive management involvement and an 11 effective self-assessment program.
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12 Significant improvements have been made, but 13 there are a few areas that require additional. improvement.
1 14 The most significant of these are the maintenance area and 15 procedures.
Both are included. in long-term corrective 16 actions, and both show an improving trend.
17 Considering the changes made, the operational I
i 18 results and improving trends, it is no longer felt that 19 Surry requires agencywide attention, and that the current 20 level of regional inspection is sufficient.
l 21-I should note that in the letter to Dr. Rhodes, 22 the CEO, wo have cautioned that they need to pay attention-23 to the cyclical history of Surry.
To the Senior Managers 24 of the.NRC,
the corporate history indicates cyclical 25 performance around an average level, a little bit above, NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVENUE, N W.
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1 and then it goes down below, and we have cautioned them in 2
that letter to make sure ~ their self-assessment program 3-addrecses that cyclical nature.
4 Beyond that,'we will continue our three resident 5
inspector level of staffing, and we still have planned 6
almost monthly a team inspection at Surry, to follow up on 7
the long-term corrective actions.
Are there any questions 8
on Surry?
9 (No response.)
10 I'll turn it over to Mr. Martin from Region I.
11 MR. THOMAS MARTIN:
Thank you, Stew.
12 Good morning, Mr. Chairman, Commissioners.
13 As previously mentioned, we have four Category 2 14 facilities.
First, with regard to Nine Mile Point 1 and 15 2,
you know I has been shut down since December of 1987, 16 and was placed on the NRC's Problem List in June of 1988.
17 Unit 2 was added to the Problem List in December of that 18 year.
19 A confirmatory action letter was issued in July, 20 1988, documenting the licensee's commitment not to restart 21 prior to NRC approval.
22 Since our last periodic briefine of operating 23 reactors, we provided the Commission a status briefing in 24 May, on the licensee's performance and the readiness of I
25 Unit 1 to restart.
I'll try to minimize repeating myself.
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.1 Progress in making Unit i ready for restart has 2
been ' slow, as a result of the conservative approach to f
3
[ ensuring system readiness and underestimating the time 4
,needed to implement needed modifications, repairs, and i
5 tests.
i 6
As a
result of last July's Unit 2
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7 requalification examination failures, several programmatic-4 8
changes and extensive retraining have been implemented.
A j.
9 recent NRC re-evaluation of their Unit 2 requalification 10
! program demonstrated the effectiveness of these corrective l
11 actions.
12 A recent Restart Assessment Team inspection
[
13 determined that the licensee had made substantial progress 14 in resolving the five identified underlying root causes i
15 for the past performance problems.
Particular success was 16 noted in improving safety,
- teamwork, communications,
+
17
. procedural quality, procedural ' compliance,
control of 18 activities, management oversight, problem identification, i
19 and self-assessment.
20 The team concluded that the current level of 21 performance supported permitting restart.
Recent
[
22 difficulties encountered during testing of the reedwater 23 high-pressure coolant injection system have raised 24 concerns regarding procedural
- adequacy, control of 25 systems, and attention to detail.
These problems are not NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHoDE ISLAND AVENUE, N.W.
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2 l characteristic of recent performance, and additional 2
licensee effort is being expended to understand and 3
resolve the root causes, to prevent recurrence.
4 The licensee use of a task force to address 5
these problems appears to have borne fruit, and they have 6
now determined that the manufacturer, when he provided the 7
pumps in 1988, put the impeller on backwards on the shaft, 8
and that was causing a large number of the flow 9
oscillations.
10 Currently, Unit 2 is operating and Unit 1 is I
11 i preparing for restart.
I anticipate receiving a letter 12 from the licensee this week affirming the plant and staff 13 readiness for operation, and requesting approval to 14 restart. Following receipt of that request and our independent 15 assessment of facility readiness, we will document our 16 proposed response and consult with the Commission before 17 taking further action.
18 The anticipated restart of Unit 1 will place nee 19 demands on the licensee in managing the operation of two 20 diverse plants, and the pending Senior Management changes I
21 represent a challenge to the continued progress and 22 performance improvements observed to-date.
23 For these reasons and because we have not L
l 24 observed a sustained period of good performance at-power j
25 on two units, it was decided that continued close NEAL R. GROSS CoVRT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVENUE, N W.
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canitoring by tho NRC is warranted.
2 If there are no questions on Nine Mile Point, I 3
will go on to Calvert Cliffs.
4 COMMISSIONER ROGERS:
Just coming back to this 5
Nine Mile Point 1
feedwater high-pressure coolant 6
injection system problem, could you just say a little bit 7
more about not the design concerns, but the actual 8
procedure concerns.
9 I believe that one of the problems that they had 10 there occurred while I was there on May 23rd.
11 MR. EBNETER:
Yes, sir.
12 COMMISSIONER ROGERS:
And I was somewhat 13 concerned to hear about the nature of that, although I 14 didn't get a full explanation of it because it occurred--
15 I only heard about it at the end of the day, just shortly 16 before I was leaving.
And I don't want to tie up the 17 meeting with this, but it did strike me, from what I heard 18 about it, that' it was an elementary error that was 19 committed there, that was of some real concern to me at 20 that stage of their getting ready for restart.
And I 21 wonder if you could just say a word about what the 22 licensee did about procedures, craning, what have you, 23 because it sounded to me as if there was a failure to open l
l 24 a discharge line valve of some sort, that 1' '
25 MR. EBNETER:
Understood.
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COMMISSIONER ROGERS:
-- that system ran for six 2
or eight seconds and shutdown, and that really troubled 3
me.
4 MR. EBNETER:
As a result of that event, the 5
licensee established a task force to review what had 6
occurred, why it occurred, and what were the proper ways i
7 to resolve it.
i 8
They have concluded that the sequence basically 9
was that on the night before there had been work on the 10 motor portion of the feedwater system -- and they have a 1
11 process called " blue tagging" where an individual who is 12 conducting tests, controls the boundaries around that 13 particular component and is able to cause the components.
14 to be operated, to be able to perform the test.
15 As a result of previous flow oscillations that 16 they had seen, the maintenance mechanical side also 17 wanted to do some work on the pump, and it was concluded 18 that they could work within these blue tags.
Now, that's 19 a violation of procedure right there because this was l
.20 another set of work, should have been another set of_ tags 21
-- should have been red tags, to be quite frank.
j, 22 They started their work on the pump, and they 23 noticed that the pump rotated backwards.
So, they felt, 24 well, maybe it was a suction valve that was causing a 25 gravity flow,.to cause this thing to rotate.
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l So, they then went back to the shift supervisor, 2
- and the shift supervisor extended the blue tag and said to 3
- himself, "I'm going to notify the blue tag owner that I 4
did that", but he got caught up in other things and didn't 5
inform, so that the owner of the blue tags didn't know 6
that another tag had been hung under his name, and he was 7
supposed to have control over it.
8 The next morning when they were ready to start 9
the test, they started the condensate pumps, the booster 10 pumps, and were ready to start the feedwater pump, and it 11 was noted that that there was an anomaly on the pressure l
12 rise'in the suction portion of the feedwater system.
It 13 was noted at the local station and it was also noted in 14 the control room, but it finally came up to pressure 15 showing 'that there is some leakage by that valve.
The 16 shift supervisor, without resolving why that anomaly, gave 17 permission to go ahead and run the test.
18 They have concluded that, one, the test should 19 not have been run without a special test procedure and 20 that result.
They have reaffirmed the requirements of 21 their use of tags and how they are to be used, and that a 22 blue tag owner is to personally verify that all the 23 components are in the position.that he wanted them in for 1
24 the conduct of the test.
He did not reconfirm that.
He 25 thought it had been left in a certain way the night NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHoDE ISLAND AVENUE, MW.
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b fero, tnd ha did not rocenfirm that.
That information I
i 2
has been communicated throughout the organization.
3 In addition, because_of the series of problems 4
with flow oscillation, the task force said "That is not 5
enough", and they went and did borescopic first, they 6
disconnected the pump from the motor and ran the motor 7
without them, and the previous high amps was seen to not 1
8 be there, so it was now something associated with the L
9 pump.
They did borescopic examination of the pump, and 10 that's when they discovered that it was in there-11 backwards.
t 12 It was their thoroughness in reviewing the whole 13 sequence of events which led up to the event which 14 occurred while you were on-site, that allowed them to 15 identify those problems.
16 COMMISSIONER ROGERS:
Thank you.
17 MR.
EBNETER:
Okay.
Moving on to Calvert 18 Cliffs.
Calvert Cliffs 1 and 2 was placed on the Problem 19 List as a Category 2 facility, in December, 1988.
The 20' licensee established a long-term performance improvement 21 plan in April, '89 and both units were shut down in May, e
22 due to leaks diccovered in the Unit 2 pressurizer heater 23 sleeves.
24 A confirmatory action letter was issued to 25 document the licensee's commitment not to restart either NEAL R. GROSS CoVAT REPORTERS AND ThNSCRIBERS
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unit until corrective action for the pressurizer heater j
I 2
sleeve cracks and problems with word control, control of l
3 system status, and procedural quality and use had been l
4 taken.
5 Supplement 1 to the confirmatory action letter i
6 was issued in February, 1990 to document the licensee's 7
commitment to correct an inadequate commitment management t
8 system.
The implications of the licensee's past failure 9
to adequately address commitments to the NRC were assessed 10 during a March, 1990 inspection, and it was concluded that l
11 safety significant commitments were now being adequately 12 implemented.
13 Since our last periodic briefing on operating 14 reactors, licensee performance has continued to improve, 15 with efforts focused on the short-term actions needed for 16 restart of Unit 1.
Baltimore Gas and Electric has made 17 good progress in communicating its expectations of staff 18 performance regarding procedural adherence, problem 19 identification and resolution, and self-assessment.
20 Longer-term activities under the Performance Improvement 21 Plan are proceeding, however, the procedure upgrade proc ram 22 portion of the plan has not been timely.
23 The overall results for inspections conducted 24 since the last briefing identified improvements in most 25 functional areas, with clear licensee management emphasis NEAL R. GROSS CoVRT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHoDE ISLAND AVENUE, N W (M) 234 4433 WASHINGTON.OC 20005 (m) mm c
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on safety and quality.
2 A February, 1990 Maintenance Team inspection 3
concluded that maintenance activities were satisfactory, i
4 and that a number of changes and improvements had been 5
made.
The Requalification Training Program was evaluated 6
as satisfactory in April, 1990.
Also in April, the 7
licensee resolved the material concerns on the Unit 1 8
prestarizer, and made sufficient improvement in the l
~
9 control of work activities, control of system status, and 10 procedural use and control, to permit Unit I restart.
11 Supplement 2 to the confirmatory action letter i
12 was issued in April to permit restart of Unit 1.
The-13-resulting short-power ascension program and shutdown for 14 required steam geneator inspection outage demonstrated 15 good overall licensee performance.
16 Strengths were noted in control room operator 17 performance, line management control of evolutions, and.
18 independent assessment of activities,
- however, 19 difficulties were experienced in interdisciplinary 20 communications, safety tagging, and accuracy of non-safety
]
21 related drawings to support operations.
22-Continued management attention and staf f effort 23 are warranted to resolve these difficulties, sustain 24 recent gains of performance, reduce the substantial D
2T maintenance backlog, and complete implementation of the NEAL R. GROSS CoVRT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIDERS 1323 RHoDE ISLAND AVENUE N W (202) 234 4433 WASHINGTON. D C 20006 (202) 232 6000 -
20 a
1 performance improvement program.
2 We continue to periodically meet with the 3
licensee to review progress on their Performance 4
Improvement Plan, and a meeting is scheduled tonight to 5
receive public comment on it.
6 The sustained success of licensee programmatic 7
changes to resolve past performance deficiencies remains 8
to be demonstrated.
Therefore, continued close monitoring 9
of licensee performance by the Agency is warranted.
10 The licensee expects to be ready to restart Unit 11 1 in late July, and Unit 2 by December.
Readiness for 12 restart from the current outage, preparat' ions for Unit 2 13
- restart, and the results of a longer-term Performance 14 Improvement Plan will continue to receive close 15 monitoring.
16 If you have no questions, I'll pass the baton to 17 Denny Crutchfield.
18 MR. CRUTCHFIELD:
Good morning.
We'll talk 19 about Browns Ferry now.
As you recall, Browns Ferry has 20 been shut down since 1985.
They've been discussed at the 21 Senior Management meetings since October of
'86.
22 TVA continues to make progress toward their 23 restart schedule.
The current restart schedule has them 24 reloading fuel about October, and restarting the plant, 25 being ready to pull rods in December.
This is about a NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIDERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVENUE. N W (202) 234 4 433 WASHINGTON. D C. 20005 (M) 232 6600
i 21 o
i 1 j six-month slip from the beginning of the year.
a.
2 Overall, we found that their Corrective Action i
3 Programs that they have put in place are satisfactory.
4 The implementation is where they are having some 5
difficulties.
Implementation and modification has been m 6
slow process for them.
It seems to be the principal 7
causes for the delays in scheduling the restart and reload 8
activities for example, hangers and support rework 9
activity.
In response to I&E Billietins 7902 and 7914, TVA l originally 10 estimated they would have about 6 percent of l
11 i these that they would have to rework.
Currently, they are 12 lrv.nning about 70 pert.ent of them that are needing rework.
13 so it 's causing some substantial delays in their t
14 scheduling activities.
15 A cable damage issue that carried over l
froml 16 Watts Bar they've been asked to look into that and 1~1 examine that issue, and that is also having some impact on 18 them.
19 They continue to have management changes at both 20 TVA and at the Browns Ferry site, however, we think those 21 management changes are decreasing ' in number.
They are 22 stabilizing their resources on-site, and we think they 23 have adequate resources to carry out the job.
24 They've conducted two separate, independent 25 readiness reviews.
These reviews were conducted by i
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X 32 a
1 individuals principally from outside, consultants, along 2
with several TVA employees.
I believe there were six 3
consultants and two TVA' employees doing these IREPs.
4 Another one is scheduled for September of this year.
This 5-is their own assessment of their readiness to operate the 6
plant.=
The staff has one planned for later on in the 7
year, prior to restart.
3 There have been some TVA successes, however.
9 Maintenance Team Inspection was there earlier in the year.
10 The program was rated satisfactory, implementation of the 11 program was rated satisfactory.
There were no elements
- f. 2 rated as inadequate.
There - were a couple of elements, 13 however, that the staff could not assess because of the 14 ststus of the plant.
The plant was not operational, so 15 they couldn't examine those particular areas.
16 Requalification Program, which had been found 17 unsatisfactory since 1985:
Earlier this year another 18 requal program went in, was found satisfactory, so, for 19 the first time since
'85, they now have an acceptable I
20 requalification program.
So, that's a positive step for 21 them.
Appendix R issues have 23 finally been closed out at Browns Ferry site, so we're 24 complete with all that.
So, there is success for TVA.
25 There are a number of major issues still facing TVA, I
i NEAL R. GROSS CoVRT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVENUE, N W.
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I 33 1
however -- equipment qualification is still outstanding.
2 We have a team down there today and the rest of this week, 3
looking at the hardware issues and also to documentation, 4
to make sure the documentation is all in order.
5 Electrical design issues continue to be of 6
concern to us.
The cable damage problem that came over 7
from Watts Bar, cable ampacity questions, et cetera, are 8
still being resolved by TVA.
The operational readiness is h
9 still before us, that we have to do.
10 There is an ACRS subcommittee meeting scheduled 11 later this summer, and a full committee meeting scheduled 12 in September.
We plan to brief the Commission also, later 13 on in the summer, on the status of TVA a c ?,1 vi ti e s, end 14 give a restart briefing probhbly toward the latter part of 15 the fall, October-November time frame.
Other than that, 16 the staff's view is that they remain a category 3 plant.
17 Any questions?
18 (No response.)
19 I will turn it over to Bob Bernero then, for the 20 materials facilities.
21 HR. BERNERO:
In the materials safety area, we 22 discussed a number of generic and specific regulatory 23 issues.
We discussed the Amersham incident in which we 24 had an IIT report just recently, and then we discussed the 25 Site Decontamination Management Plan and reviewed the NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHoDE ISLAND AVENUE. N W.
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i 24 1
status of the top ten cases in that plan -- those are the i
2 high priority cases, or Priority Class A -- and then the 3
. Senior Management discussed specific material licensed 4
facilities and identified three which merit priority 5
attention by both the region and headquarters.
They are 6
listed on this, the last slide -- Combustion Engineering f
7 in. Windsor, Connecticut; Process Technology North Jersey, 8
in Rockaway, New Jersey, and American Radiolabeled 9
Chemicals in Missouri.
I'd like to turn to the cognizant 10 Regional Administrators to discuss them.
Mr. Martin?
l 1
11 MR. THOMAS MARTIN:
Thank you, Bob.
12 Region I has two priority attention facilities.
)
13
- First, with. regard to Combustion Engineering, 14 Incorporated.
The CE facility at Windsor, Connecticut 15 fabricates low, enriched uranium fuel assemblies, conducts '
16 research and development activities, possesses byproduct I
17 material f or -the purpose of the maintenance,
- repair, 4
18 decontamination, and failure analysis of reactor 19 components.
20 During November,
- 1989, Combustion Engineering l_
21 announced execution of an agreement to be purchased by 1
22 ASEA Brown Boveri, which occurred in December.
Combustion 23 Engineering was placed on the NRC's Priority Attention u
24-bist in 1988, due to a breakdown in management control of 25 Radiological Protection and Nuclear Criticality Safety NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPoHTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVENUE, N W.
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25 1
Programs.
f 2
The licensee has since focused attention on I
3 l identifying and correcting the root causes of these 4
- problems, including development of an Integrated 5
Improvement Plan and the performance of a comprehensive 6
self-assessment of all facility programs by a licensee 7
task force.
The licensee's initial self-assessment was 8
completed in January of
'89.
9 9
Based upon NRC request, the licensee conducted a 10 reassessment in early 1990, after the licensee's 11 Performance Improvement Program actions were completed.
12 Both self-assessments were effective in identifying major l programmatic 13 weaknesses in the licensce's program, and 24 were completed in a timely manner.
)
15 Sincre our 1.ast periodic briefing on operating 16 facilities, the licensee initiated the transfer of all i 17 powder manufacturing operations to its Hematite, Missouri 18
- facility, once this transfer is
- complete, the 19 manufacturing operations at the Windsor facility will be 20 simplified, in that only fuel pellet and fuel rod 21 operations will remain.
22 A recent NRC assessment of licensee performance 23 indicates that the licensee has improved performance and 24 facility operations, equipment maintenance, and fire 25 protection.
Some improvements were also noted in nuclear NEAL R. GROSS j
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criticolity safoty, safeguards, emergency preparedness, j l
2 and licensing.
3 Although programmatic improvements were observed ;
f 4
in the area of radiological and management controls, 1
5 implementation has been hindered by inadequate staffing l 6
and an apparent inability of management to assure that 7
identified inadequacies were resolved in a timely manner.
8 Improvements were also observed in the' 9
production area ventilation and cleanliness and in 10 equipment maintenance, the latter due to the establishment t
11 of a strong Preventive Maintenance Program.
performancef 12 Although progress has been made in 13 and facility conditions, the continuing weakness in 14 radio: logical controls and the need for additional 15 management attention to resolve previously identified 16 weaknesses and sustained observed improvements has led us 17 t% cenclude that continued close monitoring by the NRC is 18 still warranted.
l 19 If you have no questions, I'll move on to 20 Process Technology.
i 21 Process Technology North Jersey is the licensee 22 for a pool storage irradiator located in Rockaway, New I
23 Jersey, and is a subsidiary of RTI, Incorporated.
RTI 24 also operates another irradiator in Haw River, North i
25 Carolina, and owns a licensed but defueled irradiator i
l NEAL R. GROSS CoVRT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVENUE, N W.
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27 1
facility in Salem, New Jersey.
The Rockaway facility was 2
originally licensed in 1970, as Radiation Technology, 3
Incorporated, and is currently authorized to use 3 million 4
curies of cobalt 60 in sealed sources.
About 30 5
individuals are employed at the facility.
6 The history of the facility involves multiple 7
examples of operation with inoperable or disabled safety 8
interlocks and a falso statement to inspectors, for which 9
NRC has taken escalated enforcement action.
10 NRC ordered the licensee to suspend irradiator 11 operations at Rockaway in March and, again, in June, 1986.
12 Three members of the licensee's staff were ordered removed 13 frcm further involvenent in licensed activities, including 14 the former president, who was jailed for his actions.
15 l
Subsequent to those orders, the licensee was I
16 allowed to resume operation under a new management team, I I
17 with a short-term ideense that required the use of an 18 indepr.ndent auditor.
19 The NRC has since performed numerous 20 inspections, with decreasing frequency which, until March, 21 1989, had shown improvements in licensee performance.
22 However, during the March NRC inspection and a subsequent 23 investigation, the staff identified apparent violations of 24 NRC requirements, including inappropriate entries into the 25 irradiator cell, a forcing of a defective door lock, or NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 rho 0E ISLAND AVENVE, N W (202) 234 4 433 WASHINGTON D C 20005 (202) 232 6
I 88 1-climbing over the cell entry barrier, continued operations
-i 2
with a known defective door lock and use of unapproved 3
startup switches.
Further, OI found that statements by 4
some licensee personnel had been inaccurate or incomplete.
5 The facility has been allowed to c on' tin u e 6
operations while the staff conducted its investigation i
7 because the cell entries were apparently made with the 8.
sources in their shielded position, when the keys needed 9
to start the irradiator or open the et11 door were l
10 inadvertently left in the cell.
11 The cell door lock problems were documented'in 12 licensee records available to the NRC, and appear to have 13 been repaired repeatedly each time management became aware f
-14 of the problems.
The licer.see did not recognize they 15 needed NRC approval to modify the startup switches.
16 The individuals of primary concern have, 17 resigned.
The involvement of the remaining personnel was 18 less direct.
Tne licensee's performance prior to the 19
- March,
'89 inspection was generally in accord with 20 regulatory requirements, and three subsequent inspections
'21 have been performed, in which no significant safety issues 22
-have been identified.
23 Process Technology North Jersey's license-is in 24.
timely renewal.
We are scheduling an enforcement 25 conference to discuss the results of our investigation.
A NEAL R. GROSS CoVRT REPORTERS ANDTRANSCRIDERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVENUE, N W.
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89 1
final decision about license renewal and appropriate 2
enforcement action will be deferred until after the
'i 3
enforcement conference.
4 :
If you have no questions, I'll turn it-over to 5
Bert.
6 HR. DAVIS:
Mr. Chairman, CLmmissioners, I will l
7 discuss American Radiolabeled Chemicals, Incorporated t
t S
which, from now on, I will refer to as ARC.
9 As a
result of inspections following 10 allegations, we found many problems at ARC.
These 11 included willful violations of s h i p p i n g r e g u l a t i o n s',
12 failure to adequately evaluate personnel exposures and 13
- doses, failure to adequately evaluate airborne t
14-concentrations released to unrestricted areas, inadequate t
~15 laboratory practices, procedures and training of the 16 personnel.
.17 Through confirmatory action letters, an order, 18 and other correspondence, we suspended all activities t
19 under the license and removed the president and owner of
^^
the company from all activities, l
21 As a result of this order and confirmatory 22 action
- letters, and meetings and working with the 23
- licensee, the following ing-tuments have been made at 24 ARC:
Contamination controls have been established, the l
25 staff has been retrained, they have hired a well qualified NEAL R. GROSS j
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f
30 c.
1 radiation safety officer, they have modified their air i
I 2
handling system, and they have modified their bioassay 3
program.
4 As a result, we have relaxed the order several 5
times, to permit some operations to be reinstituted.
They
}
6 have been permitted to repackage and distribute material.
7 They have been permitted to subdivide material that they 8
had on hand that was already synthesized with labeled 9
radioactive material, and they've been permitted to 10 perform laboratory decontamination.
They've also been 11 permitted to'run purity checks on the materials that they 12 had in stock, before they sent it to their customers, and i
13 to repurify any material that needed it.
14 We have denied,
- however, their rquest to 15 purchase larger quantities of material, and have denied 16 their request to synthesize additional material.
17 Some other comments:
The company has done well 18 since !!RC got into this problem.
They have requested a 19 hearing.
It has been on hold at the request of both 20
- parties, pending potential settlement.
A prehearing 21 conference ha^s been scheduled.
- e 22 We are currently evaluating appropriate
- r 23 enforcement action, and are in discussions with the 24
-licensee, on future operation of the facility which, if it 25 occurs, would be controlled under a license renewal.
That NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTFRS AND TRANSCRIBERS r
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I l
31
\\
I concludss my romorks on ARC.
2 COMMISSIONER ROGERS:
What purposes are their 3
products used for?
What --
4 MR. DAVIS:
Generally, research.
They label--
5 they synthesize a chemical compound with a radioactive 6
label on it, and it's used in research.
We've received a 7
number of letters from universities and industrial 8
organizations concerned about the loss of this source of 9
labeled radioactive material.
10 COMMISSIONER ROGERS:
Is this a somewhat unique 11 source for that purpose?
Do they -- or are there others?
12 MR. DAVIS:
No, this -- the owner and president 13 previously worked for another company, and he started his 14 own business.
Now, my understanding is that he supplied 15 chemicals at a reasonable price.
16 COMMISSIONER ROGERS:
Thank you.
17 MR.
TAYh0R:
That concludes the staff's 18 precentation, sir.
19 CHAIRMAN CARR:
Any questions?
Commissioner 20 Roberts?
21 COMMISSIONER ROBERTS:
No.
22-CHAIRMAN CARR:
Commissioner Rogers?
23 COMMISSIONER ROGERS:
Oh, just a couple of 24 things.
Just while we are on thiu materials area, the 25 term " requiring priority attention",
does that convey NEAL R. GROSS CoVRT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIDERS 1323 RHoOE ISLAND AVENUE. N W (202) N WASHINGTON. D C. 20005 (202) 232M
i 32 1
essentially the same meaning as the " problem facilities" 2
term that we apply to power reactors?
3 MR. BERNERO:
Yes, it does.
That's not to say 4
that there aren't other instances where riiority attention 5
is needes without any pejorative meaning associated with 6
it, and we do discuss cases that are just complex, that 7
will come up.
8 COMMISSIONER ROGERS:
Would there be any virtue 9
in making more public the organizations that are on that 10 list?
11 HR. TAYLOR:
No.
12 COMMISSIONER P,0GERS:
No?
13 MR. TAYLOR:
No.
We just recognized we needed 14 to cover material facilities some years ago, and that's since there's a variation in inspection programs, 15 how 16 it's quite wide over material facilities, depending upon 17 the amount of material and, you knew, the hazard.
18 We came up with the word " priority" to exemplify 19 that it's certainly more than the norm at some of these 20 material licensees.
An irradiator has a certain 21 program, and this particular irradiator has had priority 22 attention, as we've mentioned, whereas this chemical 23 outfit is a rather small operation, and wouldn't normally 24 be inspected at the frequency of some of the larger 25 licensees, but there's no, certainly, publicly known issue NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIDERS l
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33-i l*
1 with thoco facilitico.
h 3
COMMISSIONER ROGERS:
In the report on page 18, 3
I ncticed a paragraph on procedural adherence, and you w
4-disciass the need to make some changes in the use of rarms 5
and the term " verbatim compliance with procedures" is now 6
going to be dropped from the manual, I take it.
7 Could you just say a little bit about that?
8 l That seems to be probably wise, but one wonders just 9 ~ exactly what you are going to substitute for that term in
{
10 the manual.
,0 11 MR.
TAYLOR:
The staff has looked at the g
12 ilfollowing of procedures all through the years.
The state 13-of procedures varies, as you've heard.
People are--
14 the 're in a process you heard about some-of the a
l' f acdlities that are in a Procedures Upgrade Program.
So, q
15 16 hthe state of procedures and how good they are varies, I i
17 thi:,k a bit across this entire industry, and I think most h
18 industry people would tell you that.
19 l!
The term " verbatim compliance" really grows out i,
20 1 of nome of the experience in the Naval program, where some-
!I 21 i of
.he manuals and procedures are written literally to be h
22 I in a state of verbatim compliance.
A great deal of money, 23 l eff art and time is spent in that program, to keep those h
21 1 procedures to that degree of what I'll call "close to I,
That has not been the case in this industry.
-+=e-don".
~
i F
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34 1
In fact, when I first came to the agency a l
2 number of years ago, there was a differing professional l
3 i opinion.. Somebody felt like the'way to solve some of this 4
industry's problems was to go to verbatim compliance 5
procedures.
That was not -- that's an old VPO, but it was 6
handled and it's in the files.
7 Some of that terminology has crept into practice 8
in our own staffs across the country, and it was a 9
discussion of the use of that term that we felt was 10 important enough-to bring up with. the Senior Management, 11 and - we had a very active discussion on the subject.
I 12 think we expect people to follow procedures, but one has 13 to be wary of " verbatim compliance".
We want people to be 14 mindful of all the conditions that may affect what they 15
.are doing.
I hope th't explains it.
a 16 COMMISSIONER ROGERS:
Well, no, I think it does,.
17 and I think that's very helpful.
It does occur to me, 18 though, that it is very important when you pull that out 19' of the manual, that then how compliance with procedures is y
.1 20-evaluated in the different regians and by different 21' inspectors --
22 MR. TAYLOR:
We're trying that wording.
i 23 COMMISSIONER ROGERS:
that you bring that 24 together because it does open the door for considerable
'25 variability in interpretation.
NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVENUE, N W 902) N WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005 (202) 232-6600
35 '
i
- =
l=
MR. TAYLOR:
This will be followed up with some 2
special training across the inspection, for us to be sure 3
people understand it.
4 COMMISSIONER ROGERS:
All expecting the same 5
kind of thing.
6 MR. TAYLOR:
Yes.
7 COMMISSIONER ROGERS:
Just one other point.
In 8
the report, I
notice the reference to licensees' 9
Engineering Managers Forum that has been started in Region 10 V,
and it seemed to me that that was a very fine 11 initiative, and I know that Mr. Martin, in' Region V, has 12 always been very concerned with engineering and quality of 13 engineering, and I would attribute that'somewhat to your 14 efforts and emphasis, but it seems to me as if. it's 15 something that the other regions could well' encourage.
16 MR.
EBNETER:
Utilities in Region II, 17 Commissioner Rogers, are also pursuing.that initiative.
18 MR. DAVIS:
And in Region'III, we talked to Mike 19 Wallace, who is in charge of Commonwealth's engineering, 20
..d he indicated to us, in fact, just yesterday, that he 21 was planning to try to enlist-the Region III facilities' 22 engineering managers into that kind of an effort.
23 MR. MIRAGLIA:
I think we should also note that 24 these engineering forums have been providing input'into 25 the NUMARC initiatives dealing with design basis NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPoATERS AND TRANSCRIBER'3 1323 RHOOE ISLAND AVENUE, N W (202) 234 4433 WASHINGTON 0.C.20006 (202) 232-6600
. -. s
.(
-36 t.
i.
1 document.ation and engineering issues in the broader.
2 context.
So, I think we're seeing a collective use of 3
engineering through the NUMARC activities as well.
t 4
COMMISSIONER ROGERS:
How about Region I,
Mr.
5 Martin, do you see something starting there?
6 MR. THOMAS MARTIN:
There have been some spotty 7
starts on design basis reconstitution where a number of F
8
-licensees have worked together, but I have not seen 9
something as broad as Jack-is experiencing out in Region 10 V,
and we need to talk to our licensees about it.
11 COMMISSIONER ROGERS:
Good.
Thank you.
That's 12 all I have.
13
' CHAIRMAN CARR:
Commissioner Curtiss?
14 COMMISSIONER CURTISS:
I just have one 15 observation and one question first, the observation.
16 Since I' vet been on the Commission, if my memory serves me, 17 this in'the fewest number of problem plants that we've had l.
18 during e the past four or five briefings on that subject.
19 I'd like to publicly commend the staff for that because I L
20 know a considerable amount of = ef fort goes into problem-h l
' 21 -
plants, both in terms of increased inspection and the u
22 effort that we devote.
The fact that we've got fewer 23
' problem plants, I think, is in large measure attributable 24-to the licensees improving their activities and their 25 operations, but I do see a positive trend here, and I'd NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVENUE, N W.
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.m 37-
.i 1
liko t o_
commend the-staf f f or the work.that goes in,
+
2 particularly in the ' region and on-site, in working with 3
these licensees and bringing it to,- as I say, the fewest 4
number that we've had on'the list.
5 The question that I have really is related to 6
that.
When a plant comes off of the Problem Plant List, 7
and recognizing that many of these licensees have 8
Performance Improvement Programs that involve some near-a 9
term actions and some longer-term activities,-do we have a 10 process in place or do we discuss at the Senior Managers 11
- meeting, followup on the schedules and commitments that 12 are made by licensees to ensure that as they come off of 13 the list and perhaps get less visible attention in the 14 public eye, that we're actually tracking conformance to 15 the Performance Improvement Program?
16 MR. TAYLOR:
Yes.
The region, really -- I think 17 Mr. Ebneter alluded to it in his discussion of Surry -- we 18 will.use largely regional efforts to follow and track 19 that.
Most commitments are tracked and followed up on by 20 the region staff who oversee it.
Perhaps you'd like to 21-add to that.
22 MR-.
MIRAGLIA:
In addition, Commissioner' 23
- Curtiss, as part of the Senior Management meeting 24 preparation, any plant that has been on the list and has 25 been removed, we trend the performance and have a short NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVENUE, N W (202) 234 4433 WASHINGioN D.C.20005 (202) 232 6
~ - - - - - - - - - -
1 38 1 i summary of the status of how that facility is doing for a 2
two-year period.
l 3
COMMISSIONER CURTISS:
Okay, good, I'm pleased 4
to hear that, i
5j MR.
MIRAGLIA:
S o,. it doesn't lose its 6
visibility to the Senior Managers or the agency.
7 COMMISSIONER CURTISS:
That's all I have.
8 CHAIRMAN CARR:
It appears to me that the amount 9
of escalated enforcement action seems to be increasing, r
10 !jespecially in the materials licensing area.
Can you-give.
11 j me a reason for that?
Is that increased inspection?
12 What's the story?
13 l MR. BERNERO:
Well, we discussed that issue at 14 the meeting, and one of the reasons is we have improved 15 the inspection program in the materials area, over the 16 last several years, and we're finding more but, in
,jg 17 i addition, the vigor of the enforcement policy is strong, 18 so that not only are we finding more, but we are pressing 19 it hard.
g 20 And we did discuss at the Senior Management 21 meeting, how to cope with the resource demands that come 22 with that, which are very large in the materials area.
We 23 have been allocating increasing numbers of resources in 24 the region and at headquarters, to cope with this.
25 CHAIRMAN CARR:
So, how are we -- that's NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVENUE, N W.
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39 j
e
'l diverting resources away from other-licensing inspection 2
activities in the regions?
3 MR. BERNERO:
It's demanding resources.
It is 4
important to safety.
It's significant work.
It's just a 5-need that has increased in the last several years, with
.6 the. increased attention to material safety inspection.
7 And we think it's necessary, and we expect that this will 8
pay off in the long run, as we get i.he s e resources.
I 9
think we've got to manage these resources very carefully.
10-MR.
TAYLOR:
We're-keeping an eye on that 11 balance.
I 12 CHAIRMAN CARR:
Well, I know OE's got a program 13 to review the methods and improve the efficiency.
I don't 14-know how that's going.
15 MR. TAYLOR:
We don't have --
16 CHAIRMAN CARR:
Does anybody want to report on 17 that?
18 MR. TAYLOR:
No, I'm not prepared to give-you 19 that this morning, but we are doing it, and we may come up i
20 with some innovative recommendations, but we don't have 21 that_today.
We're looking at it because we're conscious 22 of the staff involvement.
23-CHAIRMAN CARR:
Well, it's not only important.to 24
.make sure we've got enough resources in that area, but I 25 would like to see, as you all would I'm sure, see the NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVENUE, N W.
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{
'l times come down so that we can, meet their' requirements.
2 HR. TAYLOR:
Absolutely.
3 CHAIRMAN CARR:
The time between finding-the 4
fault and the enforcement action is entirely too long.
5 Any other questions?
6 (No response.)
'7
- Well, I'd like to thank the staff for this 8
briefing.
Your insights into the regulatory performance-9 of our licensees are valuable to the Commission, - as are 10 your continuing efforts to improve the NRC's ability'to 11 car:.y out our mission through the most efficient and 12 effective use of limited resources.
13 I continue to be encouraged by the removal of 14 yet another facility from the Category 2 list.-
I
-15 encourage you to continue using this system of y
16 categorization as one of the tools through which the 17 agency can focus on those licensees who are having 18
. performance problems.
19 Do any of my fellow Commissioners have any 20 additional comments?
21 (No response.)
22 If not, we stand adjourned.
23 (Whereupon, at 9:58 a.m.,
the meeting of the 24 Nuclear Regulatory Commission was adjourned.)
25 NEAL R. GROSS COUFIT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVENUE, N.W.
(202) 2344t33 WASHINGTON D.C.20006 (202) 232M
's
CERTIFICATE OF TRANSCRIBER This is to certify that the attached events of a meeting of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission entitled:
s TITLE OF MEETING: PERI'0DIC BRIEFING ON OPERATING REACTORS AND FUEL FACILITIES PLACE OF MEETING: ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND DATE OF MEETING:
JUNE 27, 1990 i
were transcribed'by me. I further certify that said transcription 18 accurate and complete, to the best of of ability, and that the l
transcript is a true and accurate record of the foregoing' events.
l v
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Reporter's name:
Phyllis Young I'
l l-l I
lI NEAL R. GROSS h
COURT REPORTER $ AND TRANSCRialRS l-1323 RHODE l$ LAND AVENUf, N.W.
(202) 234 4433 WASHINGTON. D.C.
20005 (202) 232 660o
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.g PERIODIC BRIEFING ON STATUS OF OPERATING REACTORS AND NMSS FACILITIES COMMISSION BRIEFING e
-JUNE 27, 1990 J. TAYLOR SENIOR STAFF
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CATEGORY 1
PLANTS REMOVED FROM THE LIST OF PROBLEM FACILITIES l
Plants in this category have taken effective action to correct identified problems and to implement programs -for improved performance.
No further NRC special ' attention is necessary beyond the regional office's current' level of monitoring to ensure improvement continues.
1 l
SURRY 1
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CATEGORY 2 PLANTS AUTHORIZED TO OPERATE
'THAT THE NRC WILL MONITOR CLOSELY Plants in this category are having or have had weaknesses that warrant increased-NRC attention from both headquarters and the regional office.
A plant will remain in this category until the licensee demonstrates a period of improved performance.
CALVERT CLIFFS 1
&2 NINE MILE POINT 1
&2
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I CATEGORY 3 SHUTDOWN PLANTS REQUIRING NRC AUTHORIZATION TO OPERATE AND WHICH THE NRC WILL MONITOR CLOSELY Plants in this category are having or have had significant weaknesses that warrant maintaining the plant in a shutdown condition until the licensee can demonstrate to the NRC that adequate programs have both been established and implemented to ensure j
substantial improvement.
BROWNS FERRY 1,
2, & 3 l
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.r PRIORITY MATERIAL FACILITIES COMBUSTION ENGINEERING
- WINDSOR, CT PROCESS TECHNOLOGY
- ROCKAWAY, NJ AMERICAN RADIOLABELED CHEMICALS, MO S
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cLtN ELLYN. ILUNots 60M7 JUL 311330 EEMORANDUM FOR:' Comissioner Kenneth C. Rogers THRU:
James M. Taylor, Executive Director for Operation
SUBJECT:
CORRECTION OF TRANSCRIPT FOR COMMISSION MEETING OF JUNE 27, 1990 During my discussion of American Radiolabeled Chemicals, Inc. (ARC), you asked a question regarding whether ARC is a somewhat unique source.for their products. This question and my answer appear on page 31 of the transcript, a copy-of which is attached.
The attorney for ARC in a letter to me dated July 12, 1990 claims that ARC is a unique source of products for many medical researchers. A copy of this letter is also attached.
We have not verified the information in the attorney's~ letter but have no reason to challenge it.
l By copy of this memorandum I am requesting. the Secretary to place this correspondence in the Record of the Commission Meeting of June 27, 1990.
2L A. Bert Davis Regional Administrator Attachments: As stated cc w/ attachments:
Chairman Carr Comissioner Curtiss Commissioner Remick
'Sr-J. Chilk, Secretary J. H. Sniezek, DEDR H. L. Thompson, DEDS R. M. Bernero,-NMSS 1
i eL 31.
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1-concludes my remarks on ARC.
l l-2 COMMISSIONER ROGERS:
What purposes are their i l
3' products used for?
What I
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MR. DAVIS:
Generally, research.
They label-
}
5 they synthesize a chemical compound with a radioactive l 6
label on it, and it's used in research.
We've received a
'7 number of letters from universities and industrial t'
8 organizations concerned about the loss of this source of 9
labeled radioactive material.
l 10 COMMISSIONER ROGERS:
Is this a somewhat unique
.11 source for that[ purpose?
Do they - -or are there others?.
12 MR. DAVIS:
No, this -- the owner and president 13 previously worked for another company, and he started his 14 own business.
Now, my understanding is that he supplied 15 chemicals-at a reasonable price.
16 COMMISSIONER ROGERS:
Thank you.
i 1
17 MR.
TAYLOR:
That conclude's the staff's 18:
presentation. sir.
19 CHAIRMAN CARR:
Any questions?
Commissioner 20 Roberts?
o 4
21 COMMISSIONER ROBERTS:
No.
22' CHAIRHAN CARR:
Commissioner Rogers?
23 COMMI S S IONER ROGERS:
Oh, just a couple of 24 things.
Just while we are on this materials area, the 25 term " requiring priority attention",
does that convey l f
NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 rho 0E ISLAND AVENUE. N W
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1 VIA FEDERAL EXPR?JS Mr. Bert Davis U. S. NuclearLRegulatory Commission Region III 799 Roosevelt ~ Road Glen Ellyn,' Illinois 60137-Re The Matter of American Radiolabeled Chemicals, Inc.
i Docket No. 030-20567 License No.
24-21362-01 General License No.
10 CFR 110.23 EA 89-257 Dear Mr. Davis 1
L I am in receipt.of.a portion-of.the unofficial transcript of your remarks to the U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission that was provided by Mr. Bruce A..Berson; 'While American Radiolabeled
' Chemicals, Inc. obviously does not agree with your characterization of the inspection findings as evidenced'by our q
request for hearing,-I wish to call to your attention a statement you made that was unclear and, perhaps, inaccurate.
More specifically, during.the-hearing, Commissioner Rogers asked if "This is a'somewhat unique source for that purpose?".
You responded negatively.
As we have indicated previously in our filings with respect to.our request for relief, ARC is a unique source of products for many medical researchers.
In addition to some products that are also sold ~by either DuPont or Amersham, a substantial portion.of ARC's work involves custom synthesis specifically designed to accommodate the unique needs of medical researchers.
Accordingly, there'are a substantial number of l-products for which ARC is the sole source supplier.- I would be L
happy to provide further information in this regard if that would be of service.
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Mr. Bert Davis i
July 12, 1990 Page 2 Thank you for your courtesy in forvarding a copy of the transcript, and I am hopeful that this matter can be resolved in the near future without further proceedings.
Very truly yours, Richard E. Greenberg REG /dat cc Mr. Bruce A. Berson (Via U. S. Mail)
American Radiolabeled Chemicals, Inc.-(Via U. S. Mail) 90043LE2
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