ML20135D993

Forwards Insp Rept 50-298/96-31 on 961201-970219 & Notice of Violation

ML20135D993
Person / Time
Site:	Cooper
Issue date:	02/28/1997
From:	Howell A NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION IV)
To:	Horn G NEBRASKA PUBLIC POWER DISTRICT
Shared Package
ML20135D994	List: IR 05000298/1996031 ML20135D993 ML20135D995
References
EA-97-017, EA-97-17, NUDOCS 9703060185
Download: ML20135D993 (6)

See also: IR 05000298/1996031

Text

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1 NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION ,

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FEB 2 81997

EA 97-017

G. R. Horn, Senior Vice President

of Energy Supply

Nebraska Public Power District

141415th Street

Columbus, Nebraska 68601

SUBJECT:' NRC INSPECTION REPORT 50-298/96-31 AND NOTICE OF VIOLATION

Lear Mr. Horn:

The NRC conducted an inspection at the Cooper Nuclear Station facility on December 1,

1996, through January 11,1997. The initial findings of that effort were discussed with

your staff on January 21,1997. Following additional special in-office inspection and

review, the inspection was completed, a telephonic exit was conducted on February 19,

1997, and the scheduling of a predecisional enforcement conference was discussed. The

enclosed report presents the results of that inspection.

Based on the results of this inspection, the NRC has determined that two violations of NRC

requirements c curred. These violations are cited in the enclosed Notice of

Violation (Notice) and the circumstances surrounding them are described in detail in the

enclosed inspection report. The first violation describes a f ailure to provide procedures to

respond to slush buildup in the circulating water bays. The second violation describes a

failure to follow the procedural requirement to write a problem identification report for an  !

identified maintenance problem.  !

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The NRC is concerned with the failure to provide procedures with specific details to

respond to slush buildup because it forced operators to deal with the situation without

formal guidance and caused them to rely solely on experience and informal actions. j

Our concern with the failure to follow procedures for writing a problem identification report ,

is that it illustrates a misunderstanding of the problem identification report process by l

maintenance personnel and that, through this misunderstanding, you would have micsed i

an opportunity to evaluate the processes which allowed a valve with inadequate packing to i

be installed in a safety-related application, j

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

enclosed Notice when preparing your response. The NRC will use your response, in part,

to determine whether further enforcement action is necessary to ensure compliance with

/

regulatory requirements.

9703060185 970228

PDR ADOCK 05000298 f I

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Nebraska Public Power District -2-

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In addition, one apparent violation was identified. This apparent violation and a closely

related apparent violation described in NRC Inspection Report 50-298/96-24are being

considered for escalated enforcement action in accordance with the " General Statement of

l Policy and Procedure for NRC Enforcement Actions" (Enforcement Policy), NUREG-1600.

Accordingly, no Notice of Violation is presently being issued for these inspection findings.

In addition, please be advised that the number and characterization of the apparent

violation described in the enclosed inspection report may change as a result of further NRC

review.

The apparent violation described in this report involves three examples of recent

failures to perform a 10 CFR 50.59 evaluation of plant configurations different from those

described in the Updated Safety Analysis Report (USAR). These three examples include

the failure to evaluate: (1) the presence of combustible materials in the service water

booster pump room, (2) the lack of installation of the ice deflector, and (3) the lack of the

drywellidentified leakage sumps fill rate timer.

An open predecisional enforcement conference to discuss this apparent violation has been

scheduled for April 15,1997,in the Region IV office. The decision to hold a predecisional

enforcement conference does not mean that the NRC has determined that a violation has

occurred or that enforcement action will be taken. This conference is being held to obtain

information to enable the NRC to make an enforcement decision, such as a common

unJerstanding of the facts, root causes, missed opportunities to identify the apparent

violation sooner, corrective actions, significance of the issues, and the need for lasting and

effective corrective action.

In your response to Violation 298/96030-02,you stated that NPPD considered this a

violation of 10 CFR 50.71(e) rather than 10 CFR 50.59. For the predecisional enforcement

conference, we request that you be prepared to discuss this issue, along with the apparent

violation identified in this report. One approach that we suggest for each example, would

be to determine how the current facility configuration compares with the FSAR, determine

if any differences from the FSAR were reviewed by your staff and found to be acceptable

changes pursuant to 10 CFR 50.59; and, present your evaluation of whether a violation of

10 CFR 50.59 or 10 CfR 50.71(e) or both occurred,

in addition, this is an opportunity for you to point out any errors in our inspection report

and for you to provide any information concerning your perspectives on: (1) the severity

of the violations, (2) the application of the f actors that the NRC considers when it

determines the amount of a civil penalty that may be assessed in accordance with

Section VI.B.2 of the Enforcement Policy, and (3) any other application of the Enforcement

Policy to this case, including the exercise of discretion in accordance with Section Vll.

You will be advised by separate correspondence of the results of our deliberations on this

I matter. No response regarding this apparent violation is required at this time.

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Nebraska Public Power District -3-

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

l its enclosures, and your rerponse to the attached Notice of Violation will be placed in the i

NRC Public Document Room (PDR). To the extent possible, your response should not .

include any personal privacy, proprietary, or safeguards information so that it can be  !

l placed in the PDR without redaction.  ;

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Should you have any questions concerning this inspection, we will be pleased to discuss  ;

them with you.  ;

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Sincerely,  ;

'

h Arthur T. Howell111, Acting Director [

Division of Reactor Projects

! Docket No.: 50-298 '

License No.: DPR-46

Enclosures:

1. Notice of Violation

2. NRC Inspection Report ,

50-298/96 31

cc w/ enclosures:

John R. McPhail, General Counsel

Nebraska Public Power District l

P.O. Box 499  :

Columbus, Nebraska 68602-0499

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P. D. Graham, Vice President of

Nuclear Energy

Nebraska Public Power District l

P.O. Box 98 '

Brownville, Nebraska 68321

B. L. Houston, Nuclear Licensing

& Safety Manager

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Nebraska Pedlic Power District

P.O. Box 98

Brownville, Nebraska 68321

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Nebraska Public Power District -4-

R. J. Singer, Manager-Nuclear  !

Midwest Power

907 Walnut Street

P.O. Box 657

Des Moines, Iowa 50303

Mr. Ron Stoddard

Lincoln Electric System

11th and O Streets

Lincoln, Nebraska 68508

Randolph Wood, Director

Nebraska Department of Environmental  !

Quality j

P.O. Box 98922

Lincoln, Nebraska 68509-8922

Chairman

Nemaha County Board of Commissioners

Nemaha County Courthouse

1824 N Street

Auburn, Nebraska 68305

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Cheryl Rogers, LLRW Program Manager

Environmental Protection Section

Nebraska Department of Health  ;

301 Centennial Mall, South '

P.O. Box 95007

Lincoln, Nebraska 68509-5007

Dr. Mark B. Horton, M.S.P.H.

Director

Nebraska Department of Health

P.O. Box 950070

Lincoln, Nebraska 68509-5007

R. A. Kucera, Department Director l

of Intergovernmental Cooperation

Department of Natural Resources

P.O. Box 176

Jefferson City, Missouri 65102

Kansas Radiation Control Program Director

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l Nebraska Public Power District -5-

FEB 2 81997

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E-Mail report to T. Boyce (THB)

E-Mail report to NRR Event Tracking System itPAS)

E-Mail report to Document Control Desk (DOCDESK)

E-Mail report to Richard Correia (RPC)

E-Mail report to Don Taylor (DRT)

bec to DMB (IE14)

bec distrib. by RIV:

L. J. Callan Resident inspector

DRP Director DRS-PSB

Branch Chief (DRP/C) MIS System

Branch Chief (DRP/TSS) RIV File

Project Engineer (DRP/C) Leah Tremper (OC/LFDCB, MS: TWFN 9E10)

G. F. Sanborn, EO W. L. Brown, RC

J. Lieberman, OE, MS: 7-H5 OE:EA File, MS: 7-H5

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DOCUMEN T NAME: R:\_CNS\CN631 RP.MHM l

To receive copy of document, indicate in box: "C" = Copy wthout enclosures "E" = Copy wnh encicsures "N" = No copy

RIV: SRI DNMS PM:NRR DRP/TSS g AC: Al P

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