ML20137Q803

EN-97-022:on 970327,notice Ofviolation & Proposed Exercise of Enforcement Discretion Per Section VII.B.6 of Enforcement Policy & Not Propose Civil Penalty for Cited Severity

ML20137Q803
Person / Time
Site:	South Texas
Issue date:	03/20/1997
From:	Lieberman J, David Nelson NRC OFFICE OF ENFORCEMENT (OE)
To:
References
EA-96-500, EN-97-022, EN-97-22, NUDOCS 9704110123
Download: ML20137Q803 (1)

Text

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March 20. 1997 i EN 97-022 0FFICE OF ENFORCEMENT  !

NOTIFICATION OF SIGNIFICANT ENFORCEMENT ACTION Licensee: Houston Lighting & Power Company (EA 96-500) 1 South Texas Project '

Docket Nos. 50-498. 50-499 Subiect: NOTICE OF VIOLATION AND PROPOSED EXERCISE OF ENFORCEMENT DISCRETION

This is to inform the Commission that the staff intends to exercise enforcement discretion per Section VII.B.6 of the Enforcement Policy and not propose a civil penalty for a cited Severity ;

Level III violation. A. letter forwarding the Notice of Violation will be issued on or-about i March 27. 1997. The violation was identified as a result of an . inspection at the South Texas :

Project and consists of a violation associated with leakage from a valve in the safety 1 injection system in Unit 2. The valve leakage, which was not fully evaluated nor promptly l corrected, represented leakage external from primary containment that in the event of a j large-break loss of coolant accident. could have resulted in doses to control room personnel ,

in excess of GDC 19 limits.

As a result of comprehensive corrective action (once the significance of the situation was understood) but no credit for identification, this case would normally have resulted in a base civil penalty being proposed because there were two escalated enforcement actions within the previous two years. The orevious escalated actions, although issued in October 1995 and September 1996 occurred in 1992 and 1994. respectively, and are not considered indicative of the current performance at this facility. Therefore, based on the recent overall good.

performance at the South Texas Project. the NRC has determined that this case warrants the exercise of discretion and will not propose a civil penalty for this Severity Level III .

problem. -

It should be noted that the licensee has not been specifically informed of the enforcement action. The schedule of issuance and notification is:

^ Mailing of Notice March 27, 1997 Telephone Notification of Licensee March 27. 1997-The' State of Texas will be notified.

The licensee has thirty days from the date of the Notice in which to respond.

Contacts: D. Nelson. OE. 415-3280 J. Lieberman. OE. 415-2741 Distribution

.0WFN OWFN TWFN Regional Offices

. Chairman Jackson EDO OC RI RIV Comm. Rogers DEDR AEOD RII WCF0

'Comm. Dicus DEDO OP CTR RIII Comm. Diaz OE NMSS-i Comm. McGaffigan 0GC IRM MAIL SECY NRR OIG NUDOCS OCA 01 RES PUBLIC PA SP ACRS IP PRELIMINARY INFORMATION - NOT FOR PUBLIC DISCLOSURE UNTIL VERIFICATION THAT LICENSEE HAS RECEIVED ACTION 9704110123 970320 E 97 2- PDR