ML20133L089

Informs That NRC Will Exercise Discretion Not to Enforce Compliance W/Ts 3.0.3 for Period from 970112 Until Issuance of License Amend

ML20133L089
Person / Time
Site:	San Onofre
Issue date:	01/15/1997
From:	Bateman W NRC (Affiliation Not Assigned)
To:	Ray H SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EDISON CO.
References
TAC-M97687, NUDOCS 9701210482
Download: ML20133L089 (4)

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January 15, 1997 6

Mr. Harold B. Ray Executive Vice President

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Southern California Edison Company i

San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station i

P. O. Box 128 j

San Clemente, California 92674-0128 l

SUBJECT:

NOTICE OF ENf0RCENENT DISCRETION FOR SAN ONOFRE NUCLEAR GENERATING STATION, UNIT 3 (NOED 97-06-001) (TAC NO. M97687)

Dear Mr. Ray:

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By letter dated January 13, 1997, Southern California Edison (SCE or the licensee) requested the NRC exercise discretion not to enforce compliance with j

the actions required in Technical Specification (TS) Surveillance Requirement (SR) 3.0.3, for the purpose of delaying implementation of SR 3.8.1.14 and i

SR 3.8.1.15 of TS 3.8.1, " Electrical Power Systems," for San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS), Unit 3.

The letter documented information

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previously discussed with the NRC in a telephone conversation on January 12, l

1997, that began at 10:00 am Eastern Standard Time (EST).

During this i

telephone conversation, the licensee stated that the 24 hours2.777778e-4 days <br />0.00667 hours <br />3.968254e-5 weeks <br />9.132e-6 months <br /> allowed by SR 3.0.3 would expire at 8:10 pm EST on January 12, 1997, which would require the unit to begin shutting down in accordance with Action E of Limiting Condition j

for Operation 3.8.1.

You requested that a Notice of Enforcement Discretion (N0ED) be issued pursuant to the NRC's policy regarding exercise of discretion i

for an operating facility, set out in Section VII.c, of the " General Statement i

of Policy and Procedures for NRC Enforcement Actions" (Enforcement Policy),

l NUREG-1600, and be effective for the period of time needed for the NRC to j

process a TS amendment on an exigent basis. This TS amendment would replace SR 3.8.1.14 and SR 3.8.1.15, until the SONGS Unit 3 Cycle 9 refueling outage j

(currently scheduled to begin on April 5,1997), with surveillance j

requirements that were in forcc shen these surveillances were last performed.

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j The need for this N0ED request results from an administrative error in the implementation of the Technical Specification Improvement Program (TSIP) approved by the NRC and implemented by SCE on August 5,1996. During the TSIP project, SCE personnel recognized that the new SR 3.8.1.14 and SR 3.8.1.15 contained less rigorous kW loading limitations for the emergency diesel generators (EDGs) than were present in the corresponding.surveillances contained in pre-TSIP TS 3/4.8.1, "At Sources," and incorrectly believed that the new TS surveillances were therefore ntisfied. SR 3.8.1.14, and its l

corresponding surveillance requirement in the pre-TSIP TS, requires that the EDGs successfully operate continuously for at least 24 hours2.777778e-4 days <br />0.00667 hours <br />3.968254e-5 weeks <br />9.132e-6 months <br /> at specified kW 4

i levels. SR 3.8.1.15, and its corresponding surveillance requirement in the pre-TSIP TS, requires that the EDGs successfully start within 5 minutes of shutting down the EDG after the EDG has operated greater than or equal to 2 hours2.314815e-5 days <br />5.555556e-4 hours <br />3.306878e-6 weeks <br />7.61e-7 months <br /> at a specified Kw level, and achieve certain perfomance criteria.

Specifically, the pre-TSIP TS surveillances required the subject tests to be 24 I

performed at kW levels equal to or greater than 4700 Kw for 22 hours2.546296e-4 days <br />0.00611 hours <br />3.637566e-5 weeks <br />8.371e-6 months <br /> acfuicels f g!

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i Mr. Harold B. Ray January 15, 1997 I

hour test run, while the new SRs specify that the EDGs be tested in the range 4

of 4450 Kw to 4700 Kw for the same specified 22 hour2.546296e-4 days <br />0.00611 hours <br />3.637566e-5 weeks <br />8.371e-6 months <br /> interval. Since the tests conducted during the last refueling outage do not meet the verbatim l

requirements of the current SRs (although the EDGS were tested in a more conservative manner under the pre-TSIP surveillance requirements), the unit i

was not in strict compliance with the current TS shortly after their 1

implementation on August 5, 1996. These SRs are required to be performed at a i

frequency of 24 months, and are usually perfomed during each refueling l

outage. On January 11, 1997, the licensee noted that the existing Ur 1 pre-l TSIP surveillances of record did not fully satisfy the new SRs 3.8.1..

and i

3.8.1.15, and entered SR 3.0.3 at 8:10 pm EST. SR 3.0.3 states the required l

actions when a surveillance is not perfomed within its specified frequency, 1

and allows 24 hours2.777778e-4 days <br />0.00667 hours <br />3.968254e-5 weeks <br />9.132e-6 months <br /> to complete the required testing. Since SR 3.8.1.14 requires that the EDG be continuously operated for 24 hours2.777778e-4 days <br />0.00667 hours <br />3.968254e-5 weeks <br />9.132e-6 months <br />, SR 3.0.3 could not be complied with. Therefore, the licensee requestad relief from performing the tests needed to demonstrate compliance with SRs 3.8.1.14 and j

3.8.1.15 until the upcoming scheduled refueling outage. The licensee's safety 1

rationale for this request is that both EDGs are fully functional and capable of performing their intended safety function, as demonstrated by satisfactory i

surveillances perfomed under the more rigorous but different pre-TSIP l

surveillance kW loading requirements. The enforcement discretion would avoid i

an undesirable transient associated with an unnecessary plant shutdown and i

j thus minimize potential safety cor. sequences and operational risks associated i

j with such action.

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The staff considered the information provided by the licensee and evaluated the safety consequences for three possible cases: performance of the required surveillances while the plant was on-line, perfomance of the surveillances during Mode 5 if the unit was shutdown to comply with TS 3.8.1, and performance of the surveillances during the upcoming refueling outage. The staff concluded that the' option that resulted in the minimum safety impact was the option of allowing the tests to be postponed until the upcoming refueling outage. The staff agrees with the licensee that both EDGs are fully functional and capable of performing their intended safety function. The basis for this is that the surveillance requirements "ained in the pre-TSIP TS for these two tests are more rigorous than the currW. TS requirements, in that the kW loads were greater. The test loading was reduced to minimize the likelihood of damaging the EDGs during surveillance testing. The staff also agrees with the licensee that an unnecessary plant shutdown constitutes an undesirable transient involving a small amount of risk and, therefore, considers the option of requiring a shutdown specifically to perform the missed surveillances to be unwarranted. Criterion 1 of Section B of the Er.forcement Policy states in part that, for an operating plant, the N0ED is intended to avoid undesirable transient:; as a result of forcing compliance with the license condition, and thus, minimize potential safety consequences and operational risks.

The staff considered the option of perfoming these missed SRs during plant operations to be less desirable because the EDGs are rendered inoperable for the duration of the testing, and because the EDGs are considered to be fully functional and capable of performing their safety function.

Mr. Harold B. Ray January 15, 1997 On the basis af the staff's evaluation of your request, the staff has concluded that an N0ED is warranted because we are clearly satisfied that this action involves minimal or no safety impact and has no adverse radiological impact on public health and safety.

Therefore, it is our intention to exercise discretion not to enforce compliance with TS 3.0.3 for the period from 8:10 pm EST January 12, 1997, until issuance of a license amendment.

The staff will process your TS amendment request received on January 14, 1997, to resolve this issue on an exigent basis.

This letter documents our telephone conversation on January 12, 1997, when we orally issued this notice of enforcement discretion.

However, as stated in the Enforcement Policy, action will normally be taken, to the extent that violations were involved, for the root cause that led to the noncompliance for which this N0ED was necessary.

Sincerely, Original Signed By William H. Bateman, Project Director Project Directorate IV-2 Division of Reactor Projects III/IV Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket Nos. 50-361 DISTRIBUTION:

and 50-362

Docket File PUBLIC cc:

See next page PDIV-2 Reading FMiraglia/AThadani RZimmerman JRoe EGAl i

WBateman MFields EPeyton 0GC GHill (2), T5C3 CGrimes JCalvo ACRS JLieberman JDyer, RIV E-mail MBoyle (MLB4)

DOCUMENT NAME:

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0FFICIAL RECORD COPY

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i Mr. Harold B. Ray January 15, 1997 cc:

Mr. R. W. Krieger, Vice President Resident Inspector / San Onofre NPS Southern California Edison Company c/o U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station Post Office Box 4329 P. O. Box 128 San Clemente, California 92674 San Clemente, California 92674-0128 Mayor Chaiman, Board of Supervisors City of San Clemente County of San Diego 100 Avenida Presidio 1600 Pacific Highway, Room 335 San Clemente, California 92672 San Diego, California 92101 Alan R. Watts, Esq.

Rourke & Woodruff 4

701 S. Parker St. No. 7000 Orange, California 92668-4702 Mr. Sherwin Harris Resource Project Manager Public Utilities Department City of Riverside 3900 Main Street Riverside, California 92522 Dr. Harvey Collins, Chief Division of Drinking Water and and Environmental Management California Department of Health Services P. O. Box 942732 Sacramento, California 94234-7320 Regional Administrator, Region IV U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Harris Tower & Pavilion 611 Ryan Plaza Drive, Suite 400 Arlington, Texas 76011-8064 Mr. Terry Winter Manager, Power Operations San Jiego Gas & Electric Company P.O. Box 1831 San Diego, California 92112-4150 Mr. Steve Hsu Radiologic Health Branch State Department of Health Services Post Office Box 942732 Sacramento, California 94234 j