ML20138G703
| ML20138G703 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Prairie Island  |
| Issue date: | 04/30/1997 |
| From: | Beach A NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION III) |
| To: | Wadley M NORTHERN STATES POWER CO. |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20138G708 | List: |
| References | |
| RTR-NUREG-1600 50-306-97-02, 50-306-97-2, EA-97-073, EA-97-73, NUDOCS 9705060364 | |
| Download: ML20138G703 (5) | |
See also: IR 05000306/1997002
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April 30, 1997
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EA 97-073
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Mr. M. D. Wadley, Vice President
Nuclear Generation
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Northern States Power Company
414 Nicollet Mall
Minneapolis, MN 55401
SUBJECT:
(NRC ROUTINE INSPECTION REPORT NO. 50-306/97002(DRP))
Dear Mr. Wadley:
This refers to the inspection conducted from January 8 through February 20,1997, at the
Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant, Unit 2 facility. This inspection included a review of
the circumstances surrounding the movement of a twenty-one ton reactor coolant pump
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motor rotor and bracket over a fully fueled reactor vessel. The written results of this
inspection were provided to you on February 25,1997. A predecisional enforcement
conference was conducted on March 18,1997,
Based on the information developed during the inspection and the information that you
provided during the conference, the NRC has determined that a violation of NRC
requirements occurred. The violation is cited in the enclosed Notice of Violation and the
circumstances surrounding it are described in detail in the subject inspection report. On
February 3,1997, due, in part, to a miscommunication between members of your
maintenance, engineering, and operations departments, your staff improperly executed the
movement of a heavy load (a twenty-one ton reactor coolant pump motor rotor and
bracket) over irradiated fuelin a reactor vessel with the reactor head removed. This
activity was performed without establishing containment integrity, since both maintenance
and personnel airlocks were open.
The safety significance of this event pertains to the failure to establish containment
integrity. If the heavy load had fallen into the reactor vessel, the potential existed that the
refueling cavity seal and several fuel assemblies could have been damaged. While the
refueling cavity was flooded to the maximum level during the transfer, significant damage
to the cavity seal could have caused the refueling cavity to have been drained if the
refueling cavity was drained, and several fuel assemblies were damaged, then a significant
amount of fission products could have been released outside of the containment.
The regulatory significance of this event pertains to the failure of at least two
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administrative barriers. The first was the significant failure to follow procedures.
Specifically, your staff did not refer to procedure D58, " Control of Heavy Loads," prior to
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the lift. Maintenance workers did not follow guidance in the procedure governing the
evolution which instructed them to comply with procedure D58, and the reactor coolant
pump system engineer was not knowledgeable of the D58 procedural requirements. The
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second control failed when your staff did not establish containment integrity prior to
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moving a heavy load over the open reactor vessel. These administrative barriers are
important since the containment polar crane is not single failure proof. While the system
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engineer was directly responsible for the heavy load transfer, the safe passage should have
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been the responsibility of allinvolved personnel. It is especially imperative that operations
personnel fully understand activities which need control room approval to ensure that these
activities are safely completed.
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The administrative controls that should have been in place to allow the containment to
perform its safety function failed, if the reactor coolant pump motor rotor had fallen into
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the reactor vesselit could have caused a significant release of fission products outside of
containment. Therefore, this violation has been categorized in accordance with the
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" General Statement of Policy and Procedure for NRC Enforcement Actions" (Enforcement
Policy), NUREG-1600 as a Severity Level til violation.
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In accordance with the Enforcement Policy, a base civil penalty in the amount of $50,000
is considered for a Severity Level ill violation. Because your facility has been the subject
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of escalated enforcement actions within the last two years,2 the NRC considered whether
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credit was warranted for /dentification and Corrective Action in accordance with the civil
penalty assessment process in Section VI.B.2 of the Enforcement Policy. The NRC
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determined that credit for identification was warranted because the error was promptly
identified and reported by alert shift supervision on February 4,1997. The shift supervisor
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realized the error when maintenance personnel attempted to return the reector coolant
pump motor rotor to the reactor coolant pump vault using the incorrect path traversed on
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February 3,1997. The NRC determined that credit for Corrective Action was warranted
based on the results of the licensee's root cause analysis and prompt corrective actions.
The reactor coolant pump system engineer was instructed on the requirements of D58, and
subsequently prepared a procedure with the appropriate controls to return the pump motor
rotor to the reactor coolant pump vault. This transfer was successfully completed.
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Training provided to maintenance workers on the event and on heavy load requirements
was effectively completed. Finally, the Error Reduction Task Force Investigation initiated
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to review this event successfully identified program weaknesses and recommended several
programmatic improvements.
Therefore, to encourage prompt identification and comprehensive correction of violations, I,
after consultation with the Director, Office of Enforcement, have been authorized to issue
the enclosed Notice of Violation with no Civil Penalty in this case. However, significant
violations in the future could result in a civil penalty.
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' A Severity Level lil violation with a $50,000 civil penalty was issued on January 23,1997
(EA 96-402) and a Severity Level til violation with no civil penalty was issued on October 1,
1996 (EA 96-266).
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M. Wadley
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You are required to respond to this letter and should follow the instructions specified in the
enclosed Notice of Violation when preparing your response. The NRC will use your
response, in part, to determine whether further enforcement action is necessary to ensure
compliance with regulatory requirements.
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.790 of the NRC's " Rules of Practice," a copy of this letter,
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its enclosure, and your response will be placed in the NRC Public Document Room.
Sincerely,
Original signed by A. Bill Beach
A. Bill Beach
Regional Administrator
Docket No. 50-306
License No. DPR-60
Enclosure: Notice of Violation
cc w/ encl:
Plant Manager, Prairie .lsland
John W. Ferman, Ph.D.,
Nuclear Engineer, MPCA
State Liaison Officer, State
of Minnesota
State Liaison Officer, State
of Wisconsin
Tribal Council
Prairie Island Dakota Community
Document Name: G:\\EICS\\97-073.ENF
To receive a copy of this document. indicate in the box "C* = Copy w1thout attach / enc 1 "E" = Copy with attach /enci
"N* =
No copy
0FFICE
RIII:EICS
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RIIIADRP
RfII:RA
NAME
BClayton/t-
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DATE
04/u /97
h4/h/97
04/$/97
QOFFICIALRECORDCOPY
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You are required to respond to this letter and should follow the instructions specified in the
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enclosed Notice of Violation when preparing your response. The NRC will use your
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response, in part, to determine whether further enforcement action is necessary to ensure
compliance with regulatory requirements.
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in accordance with 10 CFR 2.790 of the NRC's " Rules of Practice," a copy of this letter,
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its enclosure, and your response will be placed in the NRC Public Document Room.
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Sincerely,
.ac d
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/. Bill Beach
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Regional Administretor
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Docket No. 50-306
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- License No. DPR-60
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Enclosure: Notice of Violation
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cc w/ encl:
Plant Manager, Prairie Island
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John W. Ferman, Ph.D.,
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Nuclear Engineer, MPCA
State Liaison Officer, State
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of Minnesota
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State Liaison Officer, State
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of Wisconsin
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Tribal Council
Prairie Island Dakota Community
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DISTRIBUTION:
PUBLIC IE-01
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SECY
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CA
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LCallan, EDO
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EJordan, DEDO
LChandler, OGC
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JGoldberg, OGC
SCollins, NRR
RZimmerman, NRR
Enforcement Coordinators
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RI, Ril and RIV
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Resident inspector, Pr. Island ~
J. Hannon, NRR
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B. Wetzel, NRR
JGilliland, OPA
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HBell, OlG
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GCaputo, 01
Dross, AEOD
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OE:ES
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OE:EA (2)
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RAO:Rlli
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SLO:Rlli
PAO: Rill
OC/LFDCB
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DRP-
Docket File
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