ML20147A953
| ML20147A953 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Byron  |
| Issue date: | 01/10/1997 |
| From: | Caldwell J NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION III) |
| To: | Graesser K COMMONWEALTH EDISON CO. |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20147A958 | List: |
| References | |
| EA-96-508, NUDOCS 9701280374 | |
| Download: ML20147A953 (3) | |
See also: IR 05000454/1996009
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January 10, 1997
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EA 96-508
Mr. K. Graesser
Site Vice President
Byron Station
Commonwealth Edison Company
4450 N. German Church Road
Byron. IL 61010
SUBJECT:
NRC INSPECTION REPORT 50-454/96009: 50-455/96009
Dear Mr. Graesser:
On December 17, 1996, the NRC completed an inspettion at your Byron 1 & 2
reactor fac Pities. The enclosed report presents the inspection results.
]
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During the inspection period, the inspectors observed a carefully planned and
. professionally executed Unit 2 station auxiliary transformer outage.
Your
inspection and maintenance performed on the transformer was comprehensive.
On October 15, 1996, after evaluation of routine surveillance test results,
you identified that excessive silt levels in the essential service water (SX)
cooling towers rendered the SX system inoperable for past occurrences when the
plant relied on the deep well pumps for makeup capability.
Your initial
engineering performance in the investigation, analysis., and cause
determination related to the SX cooling towers silting issue was slow and
narrowly focused.
Subsequent to NRC involvement, your analysis and corrective
actions to remove the silt have been thorough and comprehensive.
Based on the results of this inspection, six apparent violations of NRC
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reguirements were identified and are being considered for escalated
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en.orcement action in accordance with the " General Statement of Policy and
Procedure for NRC Enforcement Actions" (Enforcement Policy). NUREG-1600.
,
Collectively. the six' apparent violatio... demonstrate that system engineering
failed to understand the SX system design as described in the Updated Final
Safety Analysis Report.
Two of the apparent violations, involving failure to
take prompt and a)propriate corrective actions to identified deficiencies.,
were significant ]ecause previous surveillances documented silt accumulations
outside acceptance criteria and degraded trash racks since 1993.
Inadequate
corrective actions for these surveillance items demonstrated a willingness to
operate the SX system in a degraded condition. The details pertaining to each
apparent violation are described in the enclosed report.
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9701280374 970110
ADOCK 05000454
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K. Graesser
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No Notice of Violation is presently being issued for these inspection
findings.
In addition, the number and characterization of apparent violations
described in the enclosed inspection report may change as a result of further
NRC review.
A pre-decisional enforcement conference to discuss these ap)arent violations
has been scheduled for January 24, 1997, at 10:00 a.m. in t1e Region III
office in Lisle. Illinois. This meeting will be open to the public.
The
decision to hold a pre-decisional enforcement conference does not mean that
the NRC has determined that a violation has occurred or that enforcement
a
"
action will be taken. This conference is being held to obtain information to
enable the NRC to make an enforcement decision, including a common
understanding of the facts and circumstances surrounding the violations, their
root causes, your opportunities to identify the ap)arent violations sooner,
your corrective actions, and the significance of t1e issues.
In addition, this is an opportunity for you to point out any errors in our
inspection report and for you to provide any information concerning your
perspectives on:
1) the severity of the violations, 2) the application of the
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factors that the NRC considers when it determines the amount of a civil
penalty that may De assessed in accordance with Section VI.B.2 of the
Enforcement Policy, and 3) any other application of the Enforcement Policy
to this case, including the exercise of discretion in accordance with
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Section VII.
You will be advised by separate correspondence of the results of our
deliberations on this matter.
No response regarding these apparent violations
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is required at this time.
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A violation regarding failure to follow procedures for impairing a fire door
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is cited in the enclosed Notice of Violation. The circumstances surrounding
the violation are described in detail in the enclosed re) ort.
Please note
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that you are required to respond to this violation and slould follow the
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instructions specified in the enclosed Notice 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.
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K. Graesser
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In accordance with 10 CFR 2.790 of the NRC's " Rules of Practice," a copy of
this letter and its enclosure (s) will be placed in the NRC Public Document
Room (PDR).
Sincerely,
/s/ J. A. Grobe for
James L. Caldwell, Director
Division of Reactor Projects
Enclosures:
1.
2.
Inspection Report 50-454/455-96009(DRP)
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Docket Nos. 50-454: 50-455
License Nos. NPF-37: NPF-66
cc w/ encl:
T. J. Maiman, Senior Vice President
Nuclear Operations Division
D. A. Sager, Vice President,
Generation Su) port
H. W. Keiser, Clief Nuclear
Operating Officer
K. Kofron, Station Manager
'
D. Brindle, Regulatory Assurance
Supervisor
I. Johnson, Acting Nuclear
Regulatory Services Manager
.
Richard Hubbard
Nathan Schloss, Economist
Office of the Attorney General
State Liaison Officer, Wisconsin
State Liaison,0fficer
,
,
Chairman, Illinois Commerce Commission
Document Control Desk-Licensing
Distribution:
Docket File w/ encl
OC/LFDCB w/ encl
DRP w/ encl
SRI Byron, Braidwood, Zion w/ encl
PUBLIC IE-01 w/ encl
Project Manager, NRR w/ encl
CAA1 w/ encl (E-mail)
A. B. Beach, w/ encl
RAC1 (E-Mail) w/ encl
B. L. Burgess, w/ enc 1
W. L. Axelson, w/ encl
'
Office of Enforcement w/ encl
J. Goldberg, OGC w/ encl
DOCUMENT NAME:
R:\\INSPRPTS\\ POWERS \\BYRO\\BYR96009.DRP
T r ive a copy of this document. indicate in the box "C" = Copy without attach /enci
"E" = Copy with attach / encl
"N" =
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