ML20137F463

Notice of Violation from Insp Completed on 961206.Violation Noted:From 960222-1003,excessive Leakage from ECCS Valve, Existed & Not Promptly Identified & Corrected

ML20137F463
Person / Time
Site:	South Texas
Issue date:	03/27/1997
From:	NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION IV)
To:
Shared Package
ML20137F389	List: ML20137F384 ML20137F463
References
50-498-96-25, 50-499-96-25, EA-96-500, NUDOCS 9704010109
Download: ML20137F463 (2)

Text

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NOTICE OF VIOLATION Houston Lighting and Power Company Dockets: 50-498; 50-499 South Texas Project Licenses: NPF-76; NPF-80 l

EA 96-500 During an NRC inspection completed December 6,1996, a violation of NRC requirements was identified. In accordance with the " General Statement of Policy and Procedure for l

NRC Enforcement Actions," NUREG-1600, the violation is listed below:

i 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix B, Criterion XVI requires that " Measures shall be established to assure that conditions adverse to quality, such as failures, i

malfunctions, deficiencies, deviations, defective material and equipment, and nonconformances are promptly identified and corrected. in the case of significant conditions adverse to quality, the measures shall assure that the cause of the condition is determined and corrective action taken to preclude repetition. The identification of the significant condition adverse to quality, the cause of the condition, and the corrective action taken shall be documented and reported to appropriate levels of management."

10 CFR 50.59 paragraph (a)(1) states, in part, "The holder of a license authorizing operation of a production or utilization f acility may (i) make changes in the facility as described in the safety analysis report... unless the proposed change, test or experiment involves a change in the technical specifications incorporated in the license or an unreviewed safety question."

Updated Final Safety Analysis Report (UFSAR) Table 15.6-12 lists the maximum potential recirculation loop leakage external to containment and into the Fuel Handling Building as 4,140 cubic centimeters per hour. The leakage assumed for dose calculations following a postulated large-break loss of coolant accident was selected as twice the leakage rate listed in the table.

Contrary to the above, from February 22 through October 3,1996, excessive leakage from an emergency core cooling system valve, a significant condition adverse to quality, existed and was not promptly identified and corrected, in that, a condition report documenting valve leakage in tha system was not evaluated for possible advarse safety consequences nor was the valve repaired. Further, the licensee continued to operate the facility with a degraded condition that was not evaluated to determine whether the condition constituted a change to the facility as described in the UFSAR resulting in an unreviewed safety question. Specifically, leakage from an emergency core cooling system valve, approximately 20 times greater than that allowed by UFSAR Table 15.6-12, was identified and not properly evaluated. (01013)

This is a Severity Level lli violation (Supplement 1).

9704010109 970327 PDR ADoCK 05000498 G

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Notice of Violation !

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The NRC has concluded that information regarding the reason for the violation, the i

corrective actions taken and planned to correct the violation and prevent recurrence, and i

the date when full compliance was achieved is already adequately addressed on the docket in inspection Report No. 50-498/96-25;50-499/96-25, issued on December 11,1996 and l

a letter from the Licensee dated February 6,1997. Therefore, no response to this Notice i

is required. However, the Licensee is required to submit a written statement or explanation pursuant to 10 CFR 2.201 if the description in the referenced correspondence does not l

accurately reflect its corrective actions or its position. In that case, or if HL&P chooses to respond, clearly mark the response as a " Reply to a Notice of Violation," and send it to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ATTN: Document Control Desk, Washington, D.C.

20555 with a copy to the Regional Administrator, Region IV,611 Ryan Plaza Drive.

Suite 400, Arlington, Texas 76011.

Dated at Arlington, Texas this 27th day of March 1997 i

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