ML20148F788

Discusses Insp Rept 70-7001/97-02 on 970421 & Forwards Notice of Violation

ML20148F788
Person / Time
Site:	07007001
Issue date:	05/30/1997
From:	Caniano R NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION III)
To:	John Miller UNITED STATES ENRICHMENT CORP. (USEC)
Shared Package
ML20148F792	List: ML20148F788 ML20148F812 ML20148F819
References
70-7001-97-02, 70-7001-97-2, EA-97-225, NUDOCS 9706050044
Download: ML20148F788 (2)

Text

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May 30, 1997 i i

EA 97-225  !

Mr. J. H. Miller Vice President - Production  !

United States Enrichment Corporation Two Democracy Center ,

6903 Rockledge Drive  ;

Bethesda, MD 20817  :

SUBJECT:

NRC INSPECTION REPORT 70 7001/97002(DNMS), NOTICE OF  !

VIOLATION, AND EXERCISE OF ENFORCEMENT DISCRETION i

Dear Mr. Miller:

On April 21,1997, the NRC completed a routine resident inspection at your Paducah l Gaseous Diffusion Plant. The enclosed report presents the results of that inspection.

Based on the results of this inspection, the NRC has determined that nine violations of I NRC requirements occurred. Eight of the violations are cited in the enclosed Notice of J Violation (Notice) and the circumstances surrounding them are described in detailin the  ;

enclosed report. These violations are of concern because they indicate a weakness in some staff's knowledge, understanding, and implementation of safety requirements. This same weakness contributed to: 1) the nuclear criticality control implementation problems documented in our Confirmatory Action Letter to you on February 28,1997; 2) your need )

for the Notice of Enforcement Discretion issued on February 28,1997, and; 3) the fire l protection system configuration anomalies discovered prior to and during this inspection period, in addition, one Non-Cited Violation involved the identification and correction of old design and configuration control deficiencies discovered during your voluntary walkdown of the fire protection system. As discussed in Section F1.2 of the inspection report, your staff identified these deficiencies, which were not likely to be discovered as a result of routine ,

surveillances or quality assurance activities, and took prompt and significant corrective I actions. In accordance with the provisions of Section Vll B.3 of NUREG 1600, " General l Statement of Policy and Procedures for NRC Enforcement Actions," and after consultation j with the Director, Office of Enforcement, I have been authorized to exercise enforcement ,

discretion in this case and not issue a Notice of Violation for this violation. i You are required to respond to this letter and should follow the instructions specified in the enclosed Notice when preparing your response. The NRC will Jse your response,in part,

'to determine whether further enforcement action is necessary to ensure compliance with regu!atory requirements.

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9706050044 970530 PDR ADOCK 07007001 hh h ,

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. J. Miller .

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In ac~c'o rdance with 10 CFR 2.790 of the NRC's " Rules of Practice" a copy of this letter,  !

its enclosures, and your response will be placed in the NRC Public Document Room (PDR).  !

We will gladly discuss any questions you have concerning these observations.  !

Sincerely, 9

Original Signed by T. Kozak for  !

J t

Roy J. Caniano, Acting Director Division of Nuclear Materials Safety Docket No.: 70-7001

Enclosure:

Inspection Report  !

No. 70-7001/97002(DNMS) cc w/ encl: S. A. Polston, Paducah General Manager j W. E. Sykes, Paducah Regulatory Affairs Manager  ;

D. l. Allen, Portsmouth General Manager Paducah Resident inspector Office Portsmouth Resident inspector Office J. C. Hodges, Paducah Site Manager, DOE bec w/ encl: J. Lieberman, OE M. L. Horn, Project Manager, NMSS A. B. Beach, Rlli T. L. Simmons, Rlli P. L. Hiland, Rill PUBLIC (IE07)

DOCUMENT NAME: R:l N S PR PT S\G D P\PA D U\PA D 97002. D N M To rsceive a copy of this document, indicate in the box: C = Copy without enclosure E = Copy wit @elosuro N = No copy OFFICE Rill Rlli Rill 6 OE h l Rlll 6 NAME Reidinger:ib p14 Hiland flQ Clayton %- Liebe@an Caniano.ygfy DATE 05/22/97 05/28/97 05/2f/97 05MfM 05/3p'97 /

OFFICIAL RECORD COPY i

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