ML20141G306
| ML20141G306 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Dresden, Zion, LaSalle  |
| Issue date: | 06/23/1997 |
| From: | Callan L NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS (EDO) |
| To: | Oconnor J COMMONWEALTH EDISON CO. |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 9707070115 | |
| Download: ML20141G306 (6) | |
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So-lo/pHIMI June 23, 1997 ggg So-379hW Mr. James J. O'Connor Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Commonwealth Edison Company P.O. Box 767 Chicago, IL 60690
Dear Mr. O'Connor:
On June 10 and 11, 1997 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) senior managers met to evaluate the nuclear safety performance of operating reactors, fuel facilities, and other materials licensees.
The NRC conducts this meeting semiannually to determine if the safety performance of various licensees exhibits sufficient weaknesses to warrant increased NRC attention or if it is trending adversely and requires steps be taken to communicate concerns to the i
utility s ] resident or board of directors. At the June 1997 Senior Management Meeting (SiM), the Dresden Nuclear Power Station, Zion Generating Station, and LaSalle County Station were discussed.
The Dresden Nuclear Power Station, which was on the NRC Watch List from June 1987 to December 1988, was placed on the Watch List for the second time in January 1992 and remains a Category 2 alant.
Plants in this category have been identified as having weaknesses t,at warrant increased NRC attention until the licensee demonstrates a period of improved performance. A summary of NRC discussions related to Dresden follows:
Over the past twelve months, safety performance continued to improve with conduct of operations and performance of control room operators being generally good over the past six months.
Because of management initiatives, operations personnel continued to properly control operational activities, adhere to procedures, and communicate i
effectively.
Appropriate operating decisions were usually made and operating crews performed well during a Unit 2 forced outage and a Unit 3 startup.
While some improvements have been made in system engineering, conduct of maintenance, and plant material condition, performance in these areas continues to present challenges to effective facility operation.
The
.recent Unit 3 refueling outage demonstrated Dresden Station's ability to accomplish a large amount of work in a planned systematic manner.
l However, emergent issues continued to present significant challenges to the operators as evidenced by the four recent shutdowns of Unit 2 due to equipment problems. The surveillance program, on occasion, has not detected potentially degraded systems or components.
The engineering organization is also challenged by the large engineering backlog although improvements are being implemented in the design control process.
9707070115 970623 PDR ADOCK 05000010 EC M:ggER COM
c Mr. James J. O'Connor 2
There has been substantial improvement in the area of operations and the most recent outage on Unit 3 was well-executed. As a result, significant material condition improvements have been made.
Notwithstanding these accomplishments, given the four recent shutdowns of Unit 2 during this period and cyclical history of performance at Dresden, sustained improved performance still needs to be demonstrated.
The Zion Nuclear Power Station, which was on the NRC Watch List from January 1991 to January 1993, was placed on the Watch List for the second time in January 1997 and remains a Category 2 plant.
A summary of NRC discussions related to Zion follows:
Performance problems continued to adversely affect plant o)erations.
The reactivity control event of February 1997 exhibited a areakdown in command and control of shift operations, inadequate communication between several levels in the operations department, a failure to pre-alan the reactivity control evolution, and insufficient operator (nowledge and training.
Several root causes for these )roblems were identified and are being addressed through on-going higa intensity training and other corrective actions.
A failure to take timely, effective action to correct known aroblems in operations contributed to the reactor vessel voiding of Marc 1 1997.
Changes are being implemented to improve the effectiveness of the corrective action process, Activities during the current outage are addressing some material condition problems. However, Zion is still trying to define the scope of plant hardware issues that need to be fixed or fully evaluated prior to the Unit 2 startup.
Limited improvement in maintenar,ce was observed.
over the past six months.
Some ]roblems continued to be identified in procedure adequacy, procedure adlerence, and work practices. While some measure of improvement was made in radiological controls, problems were identified with improperly maintained contaminated area boundaries, large amounts of contaminated space, and some ineffective radiological work practices.
Engineering continues to be challenged by a large work backlog.
While the plant implemented a system affirmation program to assess system material condition, it has a limited scope and is increasing the engineering work backlog. Additionally, system design deficiencies continue to be identified through the engineering assessment team, further burdening engineering resources.
The LaSalle County Station was first placed on the NRC Watch List in January 1997 and remains a Category 2 plant.
A summary of NRC discussions related to LaSalle follows:
l LaSalle management has implemented a major restart action plan and the management team has gained significant worker involvement in the restart plan improvements.
Management is reviewing the completed restart action plan items and determining the effectiveness of the corrective actions.
Mr. James J. O'Connor 3
Some changes to the plan have been made based upon the desired results not being achieved.
The licensee has conducted high intensity training for both licensed and non-licensed operators. The licensee's evaluations during this training have been very critical of below standard performance and strong corrective action has been taken, up to and including license termination for some senior reactor operators. Control room performance has improved.
A comprehensive set of system functional performance reviews is underway. This program has identified a number of existing material condition and design problems.
Station management has a defined program to identify the items necessary to be completed prior to restart and is adding these to the engineering and work control processes. The number of items to be completed remains high and little actual work has been completed to repair or modify the existing material condition and design problems.
Mr. A. Bill Beach, the NRC Region III Administrator, has discussed the bases for our conclusions with regard to the Dresden Nuclear Power Station, the Zion Generating Station, and the LaSalle County Station with members of your staff.
An NRC Commission meeting, open to the public, is scheduled to be held in the Commissioners' Conference Room in Rockville, Maryland, on June 25, 1997, at 10:00 a.m. to review the results of the latest meeting of NRC senior managers.
If you have any questions regarding this matter, please do not hesitate to call me at (301) 415-1700.
Sincerely, Oilginalsignedby'
.NeNban Executive Director for Operations Docket Nos. 50-237, 50-249 50-295, 50-304 50-373, 50-374 4
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i Mr. J. J. O'Connor Dresden 2 and 3 Comonwealth Edison Company LaSalle 1 and 2 Zion 1 and 2 cc:
Ms. I. Johnson Site Vice President Acting Manager, Nuclear Regulatory Zion Nuclear Power Station i
Services 101 Shiloh Blvd.
I Comonwealth Edison Company Zion, Illinois 60099-2797 Executive Towers West III l
1400 Opus Place, Suite 500 Document Control Desk-Licensing i
Downers Grove, Illinois 60515 Comonwealth Edison Company 1400 Opus Place, Suite 400 Michael I. Miller, Esquire Downers Grove, Illinois 60515 Sidley and Austin i
One First National Plaza U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Comission Chicago, Illinois 60603 Resident Inspectors Office LaSalle Station 2605 N. 21st Road Dr. Cecil Lue-Hing Marseilles, Illinois 61341-9756 Director of Research and Development 4
Metropolitan Sanitary District Chairman of Greater Chicago LaSalle County Board of Supervisors 100 East Erie Street LaSalle County Courthouse
]
Chicago, Illinois 60611 Ottawa, Illinois 61350 l
I Phillip Steptoe, Esquire Chairman Sidley and Austin Illinois Comerce Comission One First National Plaza Leland Building Chicago, Illinois 60603 527 East Capitol Avenue j
Springfield, Illinois 62706 Mayor of Zion Zion, Illinois 60099 LaSalle Station Manager LaSalle County Station i
Illinois Department of Nuclear Safety Rural Route 1 j
Office of Nuclear Facility Safety P.O. Box 220 1035 Outer Park Drive Marseilles, Illinois 61341 Springfield, Illinois 62704 Site Vice President 9
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Comission LaSalle County Station
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Zion Resident Inspectors Office Rural Route 1 l
105 Shiloh Blvd.
P.O. Box 220 Zion, Illinois 60099 Marseilles, Illinois 61341 Regional Administrator Nathan Schloss, Economist i
U.S. NRC, Region III Public Utilities Division j
801 Warrenville Road Illinois Attorney General's Office Lisle, Illinois 60532-4351 100 West Randolph Street
.i Chicago, Illinois' 60601 Station Manager Zion Nuclear Power Station.
101 Shiloh Blvd.
Zion, Illinois 60099-2797 a
Site Vice President H. W. Keiser, Chief Nuclear Dresden Nuclear Power Station Operating Officer 6500 North Dresden Road Commonwealth Edison Company Morris, Illinois 60450-9765 Executive Towers West III 1400 Opus Place, Suite 500 Station Manager Downers Grove, Illinois 60515 Dresden Nuclear Power Station 6500 North Dresden Road Assistant Attorney General Morris, Illinois 60450-9765 100 West Randolph Street 4
Suite 12 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chicago, Illinois 60601 Resident Inspectors Office Dresden Station Attorney General 4
6500 North Dresden Road 500 South Second Street Morris, Illinois 60450-9766 Springfield, Illinois 62701 Chairman Robert Cushing Grundy County Board Chief, Public Utilities Division Administration Building Illinois Attorney General's Office 4
1320 Union Street 100 West Randolph Street Morris, Illinois 60450 Chicago, Illinois 60601 T. J. Maiman, Senior Vice President Nuclear Operations Division Commonwealth Edison Company 3
Executive Towers West III 1400 Opus Place, Suite 500 Downers Grove, Illinois 60515 D. A. Sager, Vice President, Generation Support Commonwealth Edison Company Executive Towers West III 1400 Opus Place, Suite 500 Downers Grove, Illinois 60515
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for letter to J. J. O'Connor (DRESDEN,LASALLE, ZION)
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