ML20129H472

Forwards Insp Rept 50-293/96-06 on 960729-0923 & Notice of Violation

ML20129H472
Person / Time
Site:	Pilgrim
Issue date:	10/30/1996
From:	Cooper R NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION I)
To:	Boulette E BOSTON EDISON CO.
Shared Package
ML20129H475	List: IR 05000293/1996006 ML20129H472 ML20129H502
References
NUDOCS 9611050255
Download: ML20129H472 (4)

See also: IR 05000293/1996006

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October 30,1996 .

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E. Thomas Boulette, PhD

Senior Vice President - Nuclear

Boston Edison Company

Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station

600 Rocky Hill Road

Plymouth, Massachusetts 02360-5599

SUBJECT: PILGRIM INSPECTION REPORT 50-293/96-06

Dear Mr. Boulette:

On September 23,1996, the NRC completed an inspection at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power

Station in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The enclosed report presents the results of that

inspection.

During the eight weeks of this inspection period, the conduct of activities at the Pilgrim

facility was characterized by safe reactor operation through conservative decision making.

We observed conservative decision making when your staff performed an unplanned

shutdown when an operator on rounds astutely identified a leak on the "B" reactor building

closed cooling water heat exchanger on September 17. Although technical specifications

allowed the "B" loop of containment cooling to be inoperable for 72 hours8.333333e-4 days <br />0.02 hours <br />1.190476e-4 weeks <br />2.7396e-5 months <br />, your staff

elected to commence a plant shutdown immediately after determining that the repair could

not be performed on line. Your staff also planned and executed reactor core power

suppression testing to locate an extremely small reactor fuel pin leak. After successfully

- identifying the suspect fuel cell, the protective action of fully inserting three control rods

suppressed local power to mitigate the effects of the leak. Lastly, the operations and plant

managers' direction to lower reactor power to 70%, after the loss of one 345 KV offsite

line during Hurricane Edouard, to mitigate the effects of the resultant transient if the other

345 KV offsite power line was lost, demonstrated a good focus on nuclear safety.

Based on the results of this inspection, one violation, with several examples, of NRC

requirements was identified. The issue involved conditions adverse to quality that were

not promptly identified and corrected. One aspect of the violation dealt with the failure of

the corrective action process and your organization to identify a broad procedure usage  !

and adequacy issue at Pilgrim which was a condition adverse to quality since at least April l

1995. During this inspection period, a licensed operator left a safety related valve out of  ;

position due to not following the procedure. Another aspect of the violation involved the 1

accuracy of the Rockwell Hardness Tester in 1995. Members of your staff relied on verbal

advice over the telephone from a vendor rather than notifying the BECo measurement and

test equipment personnel or initiating a problem report to resolve a calibration problem. As '

of the end of this inspection, the ramifications of a related issue with the accuracy of a

BECo calibration block used to calibrate the hardness tester had not yet been evaluated.

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E. Thomas Boulette, PhD 2

in the area of procedure adherence and adequacy, we received your June 17,1996

response to our concerns that were raised in NRC Inspection Report 50-293/96-80. We

, considered this overall response adequate, but weak in certain instances, in that it did not 1

communicate a clear, integrated plan to correct the identified problems. Also, no specific j

date for completion of all corrective actions was cited. '

You are required to respond to this letter and should follow the instructions specified in the '

enclosed Notice when preparing your response. In your respunse, you should document i

the specific actions taken and any additional actions you plan to prevent recurrence. Your l

response may reference or include previous docketed correspondence if the l

correspondence adequately addresses the required response. In particular, you may rely on (

the corrective actions and improvements already described in your July 17,1996 letter, i

but you should also address the weaknesses of that response and include a summary the i

results of your common cause analysis on the procedure adequacy and adherence l

problems. After reviewing your response to this Notice, including your proposed corrective

actions and the results of future inspections, the NRC will determine whether further l

enforcement action is necessary to ensure compliance with NRC regulatory requirements.

We believe it would be mutually beneficial to hold a management meeting in Region I on

your improvements in this area after you submit your response to this letter.

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In accordance with 10 CFR 2.790 of the NRC's " Rules of Practice," a copy of this letter 4

and its enclosures will be placed in the NRC Public Document Room (PDR). To the extent

possible, your response should not include any personal privacy, proprietary, or safeguards j

information so that it can be placed in the PDR without redaction. l

The responses directed by this letter and the enclosed Notice are not subject to the

clearance procedures of the Office of Management and Budget as required by the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980, Pub. L. No. 96.511.

Your cooperation with us is appreciated.

Sincerely,

Original Signed By:

Richard Cooper, Director

Division of Reactor Projects

Docket No.: 50-203

License No.: DPR-35

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Enclosures:

1. Notice of Violation

2. Inspection Report 50-293/96-06

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E. Thomas Boulette, PhD 3

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l cc w/ encl:

L. Olivier, Vice President - Nuclear and Station Director

T. Sullivan, Plant Manager

N. Desmond, Regulatory Relations  ;

D. Tarantino, Nuclear Information Manager 1

R. Hallisey, Department of Public Health, Commonwealth of Massachusetts

The Honorable Therese Murray 1

The Honorable Linda Teagan )

B. Abbanat, Department of Public Utilities '

Chairman, Plymouth Board of Selectmen j

Chairman, Duxbury Board of Selectmen l

Chairman, Nuclear Matters Committee

Plymouth Civil Defense Director

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Paul W. Gromer, Massachusetts Secretary of Energy Resources

J

James Shaer, Legislative Assistant

J. Fleming l

A. Nogee, MASSPIRG

Regional Administrator, FEMA

Office of the Commissioner, Massachusetts Department of Environmental Quality

Engineering

Office of the Attorney General, Commonwealth of Massachusetts

T. Rapone, Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety

Chairman, Citizens Urging Responsible Energy

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, SLO Designee

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E. Thomas Boulette, PhD 4

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Distribution w/ encl:

Region i Docket Room (with concurrences)

PUBLIC

Nuclear Safety Information Center (NSIC)

D. Screnci, PAO

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R. Conte, DRP  ;

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H. Eichenholz, DRP

C. O'Daniell, DRP

Distribution w/enci (VIA E-MAIL):

A. Wang, NRR ,

W. Dean, OEDO

Inspection Program Branch, NRR (IPAS) i

R. Correia, NRR (RPC) '

R. Frahm, Jr., NRR (RKF)

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NAME BKorona f) N ff_p .nte [g? g / RCooper /77

DATE 10/16/96 ff" # t/ b y/96 g/' 10y96

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