ML20135E600
| ML20135E600 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Millstone  |
| Issue date: | 02/24/1997 |
| From: | Lanning W NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION I) |
| To: | Kenyon B NORTHEAST UTILITIES SERVICE CO. |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20135E602 | List: |
| References | |
| EA-97-023, EA-97-024, EA-97-025, EA-97-026, EA-97-027, EA-97-028, EA-97-029, EA-97-23, EA-97-24, EA-97-25, EA-97-26, EA-97-27, EA-97-28, EA-97-29, NUDOCS 9703070167 | |
| Download: ML20135E600 (5) | |
See also: IR 05000245/1996009
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February 24, 1997
EA 97 29
Mr. Bruce D. Kenyon
President and Chief Executive Officer
Northeast Utilities Service Company
P.O. Box 128
Waterford, Connecticut 06385
Dear Mr. Kenyon:
SUBJECT: NRC COMBINED INSPECTION 50-245/96-09; 50-336/96-09; 423/96-09 and
On December 31,1996, the NRC completed an inspection at your Millstone 1,2 & 3
reactor facilities. The enclosed report presents the results of that inspection.
Based on the results, the NRC has determined that violations of NRC requirements
occurred. These violations are cited in the enclosed Notice of Violation and the
circumstances surrounding them are described in detailin the subject inspectio.n report.
The first violation concerned an unauthorized entry into the Millstone Station protected
area, demonstrating a failure to comply with the your security requirements. The second
violation concerned the failure to perform a comprehensive evaluation and disposition of
regulatory requirements to support recent Millstone site organizational changes. This
resulted in your staff implementing several organizational changes which resulted in a
technical specification non-compliance. Lastly, a violation was identified associated with
the failure to calibrate an ionization chamber used to monitor thermoluminescent
dosimeters d)se rates.
Please note that you are required to respond to this letter and should follow 11e
instructions specified in the enclosed Notice when preparing your response. The NRC will
use your response, in part, to outermine whether further enforcement actior is necessary
to ersure compliance with regulatory requirements.
Additionally, seven apparent violations were identified that had causes similar to the
pending escalated enforcement action. At Unit 1 the apparent violations involved: the
failure to report issues promptly to the NRC; the failure to provide thorough corrective
action in response to OAS audit findings; the failure to maintain structuralintegrity of the
primary coolant boundary; the failure to perform and document a safety evaluation for
changes to the diesel generator starting air system; and the failure to provide complete and
accurate information concerning the material condition of the Radwaste Facilities at
Millstone. At Unit 2, an apparent violation involved inadequate corrective actions to
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address a significantly flashed main bearing in the "B" emergency diesel generator.
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Mr. Bruce D. Kenyon
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At Unit 3 an apparent violation was identified that involved inadequate design of 48 ASCO
solenoid operated valves.
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These apparent violations have similar root causes and are additional examples of
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violations discussed at the pre-decisional enforcement conference on December 5,1996.
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It is my understanding that you do not want another enforcement conference and agree
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that these seven apparent violations will be included in the enforcement action resulting
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from that enforcement conference. Accordingly, no Notice of Violation is presently being
issued for these inspection findings. If your understanding is different then mine, please
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contact me.
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in addition, two apparent violations were identified at Unit 1 and are being considered for
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escalated enforcement action in accordance with the " General Statement of Policy and
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Procedure for NRC Enforcement Actions" (Enforcement Policy), NUREG-1600. The first
apparent violation of technical specifications concerned the failure to staff the Millstone
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Unit 1 Director position with a qualified individual. Specifically, the previous Millstone Unit
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1 Director did not have the requisite senior reactor operator level training or experience
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necessary to fill the position of Unit Director which he held for approximately 15 months.
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The second apparent violation involved a failure to provide complete and accurate
informaticn to the NRC, when your staff represented that the five recommendations in
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Generic Letter 89-13 were completed. You will be advised by separate correspondence of
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the results of ow deliberations on these matters. No response regarding these two
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apparent violations are required at this time; however, any corrective actions deemed
appropriate should be instituted in a timely manner. Please be advised that the number and
characterization of apparent violations described in the enclosed inspection report may
change as a result of further NRC review.
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Finally, a preliminary inspection of the maintenance rule (10 CFR 50.65) requirements, as
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applied to the Unit 3 program for scoping and risk ranking of structures, systems, and
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components (SSCs), was conducted by inspectors from Region I and the Office of Nuclear
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Reactor Regulation (NRR). As documented in the attached inspection report for Unit 3
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activities, two unresolved and two inspector follow-up items were identified. These issues
should be addressed by your organization prior to the conduct of the NRC maintenance rule
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baseline team inspection, currently scheduled in March,1997; at which time, the NRC will
assess the corrective actions. Additionally, as your Unit 3 configuration management
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program efforts are progressing, it should be noted that the maintenance rule scoping
errors found by our inspectors had the potential to adversely affect your ongoing design
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basis verification activities and the validity of some of the results.
The large number of violations identified in this report illustrates issues that existed before
the recovery teams were established. However, the issue that appears to be a recurrent
significant challenge to management is the resolution of identified deficiencies in a timely
manner. For example, the NRC identified current weaknesses in your disposition of
potential reportable adverse condition reports that could have lead to exceeding the 30-day
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reporting requirement. Further, little progress has been demonstrated to implement
corrective actions for the potential enforcement actions listed in our letter dated November
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13,1996. Because effective corrective actions are fundamental to the recovery process, I
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Mr. Bruce D. Kenyon
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suggest that this be the primary topic for our March meeting of the NU/NRC Restart
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Assessment Panel.
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.790 of the NRC's " Rules of Practice," a copy of this letter
and its enclosures will be placed in the NRC Public Document Room (PDR).
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Sincerely,
ORIGINAL SIGNED BY:
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Wayne D. Lanning
Deputy Director of inspections
Special Projects Office
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Docket Nos. 50-245
50-336
50-423
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Enclosures:
1. Notices of Violation
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2. NRC Combined inspection Report 50-245/96-09;50-336/96-09;50-423/96-09
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cc w/ encl:
J. McElwain, Unit 1 Recovery Officer
M. Bowling, Jr., Unit 2 Recovery Officer
M. Brothers, Unit 3 Recovery Officer
L. M. Cuoco, Esquire
D. M. Goebel, Vice President, Nuclear Oversight
F. C. Rothen, Vice President, Work Services
H. F. Haynes, Director, Training Services
J. Smith, Manager, Unit 3 Operator Training
D. Lazarony, Supervisor, Unit 3 Operator Training
J. R. Egan, Esquire
V. Juliano, Waterford Library
J. Buckingham, Department of Public Utility Control
S. B. Comely, We The People
State of Connecticut SLO Designee
Citizens Awareness Network
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Mr. Bruce D. Kenyon
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Distribution w/ encl:
Region I Docket Room (with concurrences)
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W. Lanning, Deputy Director of Inspections, SPO,' RI
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M. Kalamon, SPO, RI
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NRC Resident inspector
Nuclear Safety Information Center (NSIC)
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Distribution w/enci (VIA E-MAIL):
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D. Screnci, PAO
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W. Dean, OEDO
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P. McKee, Director, Deputy Director of Licensing, SPO, NRR
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G. Imbro, Deputy Director of ICAVP Oversight, SPO, NRR
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L. Plisco, Chief, SPO, NRR
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M. Callahan, OCA
R. Correia, NRR
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R. Frahm, Jr., NRR
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G. Goneconto, OlG
. Inspection Program Branch, NRR (IPAS)
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DOCUMENT NAME: 0:\\ BRANCH 6\\9609
To receive e copy of thle document, Indicate in the box: "C" = Copy without attachment / enclosure
'E" = Copy with attachment / enclosure
- N* = No copy
OFFICE
SPOffb
SPO/RI
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NAME
LANN NG
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O2/g/97
02f//97
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OFFICIAL RECORD COPY
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