ML20138G703

Discusses Insp Rept 50-306/97-02 Conducted on 970108-0220 & Forwards Notice of Violation.Violation Categorized IAW NUREG-1600 as Severity Level III Violation

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: ML20138G703 ML20138G747
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  ;

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Nuclear Generation  !

Northern States Power Company I

414 Nicollet Mall

Minneapolis, MN 55401

SUBJECT: NOTICE OF VIOLATION

(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 j

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, l

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Based on the information developed during the inspection and the information that you I

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 I

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 l

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 li

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second control failed when your staff did not establish containment integrity prior to 1

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 '

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.

l The administrative controls that should have been in place to allow the containment to  !

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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

j " General Statement of Policy and Procedure for NRC Enforcement Actions" (Enforcement

Policy), NUREG-1600 as a Severity Level til violation.

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l In accordance with the Enforcement Policy, a base civil penalty in the amount of $50,000 I

is considered for a Severity Level ill violation. Because your facility has been the subject

. 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

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penalty assessment process in Section VI.B.2 of the Enforcement Policy. The NRC l

j determined that credit for identification was warranted because the error was promptly

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identified and reported by alert shift supervision on February 4,1997. The shift supervisor

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

i 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

t rotor to the reactor coolant pump vault. This transfer was successfully completed.

Training provided to maintenance workers on the event and on heavy load requirements

was effectively completed. Finally, the Error Reduction Task Force Investigation initiated

i 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,

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1996 (EA 96-266). .

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M. Wadley -3-

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, i

Original signed by A. Bill Beach

A. Bill Beach

Regional Administrator

Docket No. 50-306

License No. DPR-60

Enclosure: Notice of Violation

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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 6 RIIIADRP RfII:RA

NAME BClayton/t- .JCal(Qell Bdch

DATE 04/u /97 h4/h/97 04/$/97

QOFFICIALRECORDCOPY

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_ M. Wadley -3-

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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

j response, in part, to determine whether further enforcement action is necessary to ensure

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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,

{ its enclosure, and your response will be placed in the NRC Public Document Room.

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Sincerely,

s

J e .ac d

1

/.ABill Beach

j Regional Administretor

! Docket No. 50-306

i - License No. DPR-60

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3 Enclosure: Notice of Violation

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j cc w/ encl: Plant Manager, Prairie Island

l John W. Ferman, Ph.D.,

j Nuclear Engineer, MPCA

State Liaison Officer, State

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of Minnesota

l State Liaison Officer, State

i of Wisconsin

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Tribal Council

Prairie Island Dakota Community

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DISTRIBUTION:

PUBLIC IE-01 -

SECY -

CA l

LCallan, EDO '

EJordan, DEDO

LChandler, OGC  !

JGoldberg, OGC

SCollins, NRR

RZimmerman, NRR

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Enforcement Coordinators j

RI, Ril and RIV  !

Resident inspector, Pr. Island ~  ;

J. Hannon, NRR ~

B. Wetzel, NRR

JGilliland, OPA i

HBell, OlG -

GCaputo, 01  ;

Dross, AEOD l

OE:ES i

OE:EA (2)  :

i RAO:Rlli i

SLO:Rlli

PAO: Rill

OC/LFDCB

l DRP-

Docket File

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