ML20137K158

Informs of Actions Being Taken by NRC to Provide Increased Regulatory Oversight of Plant Performance & Improvement Efforts

ML20137K158
Person / Time
Site:	LaSalle
Issue date:	03/12/1997
From:	Beach A NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION III)
To:	Subalusky W COMMONWEALTH EDISON CO.
References
NUDOCS 9704040253
Download: ML20137K158 (3)

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March 12, 1997 Mr. W. T. Subalusky, Jr.

Sita Vice President LaSalle County Station Commonwealth Edison Company 2601 North 21st Road Marseilles, IL 61341

SUBJECT:

NRC OVERSIGHT EFFORTS REGARDING LASALLE COUNTY GENERATING STATION

Dear Mr. Subalusky:

This letter is to inform you of actions being taken by the NRC to provide increased regulatory oversight of LaSalle County Generating Station performance and improvement efforts. The cyclical safety performance of Commonwealth Edison nuclear stations is of concern to the Commission and the NRC staff. LeSalle Station was on the NRC's watch list from April 1986 tatil October 1986. Due to declining performance, the NRC issued trending letters to LaSalle Station in January and June of 1994. In June 1996, a risk-1 significant event occurred involving the injection of large quantities of expandable foam sealant into the safety-related service water tunnel, rendering the essentisl service water j

system inoperable for both units. This event provided the NRC with insights into LaSalle Station performance, that reveal a number of significant weaknesses. A civil penalty in j

the amount of $650,000 was issued on January 24,1997, for several violations related to i

this event. This event coupled with other design, hardware, and personnel performance i

issues, indicate that previous efforts to improve performance were not successful. Based j

on continuing performance problems, with emphasis on the June to December 1996 period, the NRC placed LaSalle Station back on the NRC's watch list in January 1997.

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l To address continuing performance deficiencies, Commonwealth Edison management contracted to have an independent Safety Assessment (ISA) conducted at LaSalle Station.

l The ISA was conducted by a team of industry peers and institute of Nuclear Power j

Operations representatives. The ISA team's charter was to determine why previous j.

improvement initiatives at LaSalle Station had not been successful. In December 1996, j

the team identified a number of reasons for historical performance problems that confirmed many of the performance deficiencies identified by the NRC. LaSalle Station management reviewed the ISA's findings and developed corrective actions.

j To ensure close NRC oversight of Commonwealth Edison's actions to address performance j

issues, I have taken a number of steps, in consultation with the Office of Nuclear Reactor i

Regulation, to enhance NRC monitoring of performance and assessment of corrective j

action effectiveness at the LaSalle Station. Mr. Melvyn Leach, Acting Deputy Director of j

the Division of Reactor Safety, has been assigned as the NRC oversight manager for.

I LaSalle Station and we have augmented the resident inspection staff by assigning an j

engineering inspector, Mr. Eric Duncan. Mr. Marc Depas will retain Division of Reactor f[1h 9704040253 970312 PDR ADOCK 05000373 IR.upBpp.MEpt i

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W. Subalusky, Jr. -

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l Projects branch chief responsibilities for LaSalle Station. In addition, an NRC performance improvement review panel, consisting of regional and headquarters personnel, has been j

astablished. The panel is responsible for reviewing information related to plant i

performance, responding to emergent issues, and evaluating the effectiveness of LaSalle l

Station staff's corrective actions. A charter, outlining the review panel's functions and j

responsibilities, will be developed.

a it is the NRC's intent to have the panel meet with Commonwealth Edison and plant i

i management, as appropriate, at least once a month to discuss progress toward resolving 1

performance deficiencies at LaSalle Station. The meetings, which will be open to the public, will be cord' acted in the Region ill office and at a location near the site on an j

altemating basis.

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The NRC may take other actions deemed necessary to ensure adequate NRC oversight of activities at LaSalle Generating Station. If you have any questions regarding the NRC j

actions discussed above, please contact Mr. Melvyn Leach at 630/829-9701 or Mr. Marc i

Depas at 630/829-9628.

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Sincerely, i

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/s/ A. B. Beach A. Bill Beach Regional Administrator Docket Nos. 50-373; 50-374 License Nos. NPF-11; NPF-18 DOCUMENT NAME: A:\\LASALLE.1 To receive a copy of this document, indicate in the box "C" = Copy without attach /enci "E" = Copy with attach /enci "N" = No copy OFFICE Rlil (Jifti G

RI)r}

Depas/coM Leach WM Mh NAME DATE 3N//97 3/#/97 3/st/97 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY

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l W. Subalusky, Jr. 4 4,

cc:

T. J. Maiman, Senior Vice President Nuclear Operations Division d

D. A. Sager, Vice President, j

Generation Support

{

H. W. Keiser, Chief Nuclear Operating Officer 1

F. Dacimo, Plant General Manager 5

P. Barnes, Regulatory Assurance Supervisor

1. Johnson, Actig Nuclear Regulatory Services Manager i

Richard Hubbard Nathan Schloss, Economist i

Office of the Attorney General State Liaison Officer 1

Chairman, lilinois Commerce Commission Document Control Desk-Licensing i

Distribution:

Docket File DRP PUBLIC IE-01 RlliPRR OC/LFDCB SRI LaSalle, Dresden, 4

l CAA1 (E-mail)

Quad Cities Project Manager, NRR A. B. Beach 4

RAC1 (E-Mail)

Deputy RA Rlli Enf. Coordinator DRS (3)

TSS i

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