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Forwards SALP Rept 50-461/97-01 Covering Period of 950625- 970405.NRC Concurs W/Results of SALP Board Assessment Recommended Ratings
	ML20149D515
Person / Time
Site:	Clinton
Issue date:	06/23/1997
From:	Beach A; NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION III)
To:	Jackie Cook; ILLINOIS POWER CO.
Shared Package
ML20149D520	List: ML20149D515; ML20149D523;
References
	50-461-97-01, 50-461-97-1, GL-91-18, NUDOCS 9707170165
	Download: ML20149D515 (4)
	v • d • e

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June 23,1997 i

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Mr. John G. Cook.

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Senior Vice President

Clinton Power Station ;

} lilinois Power Company '

' Mail Code V-275

P. O. Box 678

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Clinton, IL 61727'

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; Dear Mr.' Cook:

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Enclosed for your review is the Systematic Assessment of Licensee Performance (SALP) !

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Report for the Clinton Power Station covering the period June 25,1995, through April 5,

'1997. This report will be discussed with you at a public meeting at lilinois Power's Energy

- and Environmental Station scheduled for July 2,1997 at 1:00 p.m. During this meeting i

you are encouraged to ca ididly discuss any comment you may have regarding our report. I

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In accordance with Nuclear Regulatory Commissien (NRC) policy, I have reviewed the

results of the SALP Board assessment and concur with the recomrmnded ratings. The' -l

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functional areas of plant operations, engineering, and plant support 'were rated Category 3.

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-Th'e functional area of maintenance was rated Category 2. It is my view that the conduct

' of nuclear activities at Clinton was adequate. The details of our assessment are provided

in the enclosed report.

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Many of the conclusions in this report are based on our inspections and investigation of a

. significant event that occurred at the Clinton Station. As you are aware, on September 5,

1996, while isolating a reactor recirculation loop, operations personnel took actions which

resulted in a significant failure of the "B" reactor recirculation pump sesi. The event was

unique in that the operators caused the event rather than taking the action necessary.to

mitigate'the situation. The NRC considered the eventfof such significance, it was

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categorized as a Severity Level 11 violation.' The initial inspection into the September 5

event identified a significant procedural adherence problem. Subsequent special and -

routine inspections identified that procedural adherence problems were pervasive in

virtually all site organizations. Illinois Power management representativos have since i

admitted that established procedural guidance created an environment that fostered the

belief'among their Ltaff that procedures were guides and did not always have to be !

followed. Significant NRC. attention was required before management understood the { !

- significance of the issue'and put in place effective corrective actions. . -

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' Additional NRC inspections, including an Operational Safety Team inspection implemented ;

as a result of the September event, not only confirmed the procedure adherence problems

L but identified additional performance issues in the operations an'd engineering' departments.

' Deficiencies'w'ere identified in the' performance 'and quality of surveillance procedures, in

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J. Cook -2- I

safety evaluations implemented per 10 CFR 50.59, and in equipment operability

evaluations conducted in response to NRC Generic Letter 91-18. NRC inspection activities

also identified a number of hardware deficiencies: long standing problems with the

feedwater check valves and inadequate maintenance on safety related breakers, and after I

this SALP period ended inadequate assessment of degraded containment coatings. In each

case, NRC intervention was required to ensure management understanding and attention

was focused on development and implementation of appropriate corrective actions.

Many of the SALP Board's conclusions were based on the findings of these inspections

and the NRC efforts needed to reach issue resolution. The inspection findings and NRC i

effort required to achieve acceptable issue resolution indicates that Illinois Power's

management had not provided sufficient oversight to ensure the program for problem

identification and corrective action was effective'. Management often did not understand l

the significance of hardware issues and did not ensure that effective measures were taken

to address the issues. Management also failed to effectively assess the breadth of the

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procedure adherence deficiencies identified in the operations and engineering departments; '

leaving the NRC to identify that the same condition existed in radiation protection in

January 1997, four months after the September event.

The SALP Board recognized that, while the deficiencies existed through much of the

period, over the past three months Illinois Power has made significant improvements in the

deficient areas. lilinois Power took aggressive, effective actions to address the procedure

adherence and quality issues. Changes were made to the corrective action program

addressing both issue id;ntification and correctic: Significant efforts were implemented

to correct operation. M the feedwater check valves and resolve the degraded voltage issue,

and effective programs to address safety related breaker operability and reliability and

containment coatings were also implemented in addition, Illinois Power developed a

Strategic Recovery Plan to look at the readiness of systems, programs, and organizations

to support restart.

Although the safe operation of the facility was never a question, there has been a notable

decline in performance. Notwithstanding the above improvements, the NRC is concerned

about the decline and lilinois Power's ability to affect long term actions to improve

performance. While changes have been made,it is obvious that a concerted effort on

Illinois Power's part is necessary to improve performance of individuals and organizations,

improve overall content of procedures, and improve overall effectiveness of programs. In

addition, Illinois Power needs to ensure plant material condition remains acceptable,

particularly in the' control room where over 400 deficiencies were addressed during this

outage. We expect to focus our discussions in the scheduled public meeting on Illinois

Power's long term actions for improvement.

In accordance with Section 2.790 of the NRC " Rules of Practice," Part 2, Title 10, Code of

Federal Regulations, a copy of this letter and the SALP report will be placed in the NRC's

Public Document Room.

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J. Cook -3-

Should you have any questions concerning the SALP Report, we would be pleased to

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discuss them with you. While no written response is required, you may provide written

comments within 30 days of the SALP meeting.

Sincerely,

Original signed by A. Bill Beach j

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A. Bill Beach l

Regional Administrator

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Docket No. 50-461

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SALP 14

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Enclosure:

Report No. 50-461/97001

cc w/ encl: W. D. Romberg, Assistant Vice President

P. Yocum, Plant Manager, Clinton

R. Phares, Assistant to the Vice President

J. Sipek, Director - Licensing

Nathan Schloss, Economist

Office of the Attorney General

G. Stramback, Regulatory Licensing

Services Project Manager

General Electric Company

Chairman,' DeWitt County Board

State Liaison Officer

Chairman, Illinois Commerce Commission

INPO ,

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Chairman Jackson

Commissioner Rogers

Commissioner Dicus

Commissioner Diaz

Commissioner McGaffigan

OEDO

J. Lieberman, Director, Office of Enforcement

S. J. Collins, Director, NRR

R. Zimmerman, Associate Director for Projects, NRR

T. T. Martin, Acting Associate Director for Inspection

and Technical Assessment, NRR

J. W. Roe, Director, Division of Reactor Projects lil/IV, NRR

D. L. Gamberoni, SALP Program Manager, NRR (2 copies)

DRP Division Directors, All Regions

J. A. Lennartz, Rlli

L. Cox, Rill

TSS, Rlli

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', Should you have any questions concerning the SALP Report, we would be pleased to

discuss them with you. While no written response is required, you may provide written

. comments within 30 days of the SALP meeting.

Sincerely,

- Original signed by A. Bill Beach

i A. Bill Beach l

4 Regional Administrator l

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Docket No. 50-461

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Enclosure: SALP 14

, Report No. 50-461/97001 l

!' cc w/enci: W. D. Romberg, Assistant Vice President

P. Yocum, Plant Manager, Clinton l

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R. Pharos, Assistant to the Vice President

J. Sipek, Director - Licensing

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' Nathan Schloss, Economist

Office of the Attorney General

G. Stramback, Regulatory Licensing )

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Services Project Manager .

General Electric Company l

, Chairman, DeWitt County Board !

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State Liaison Officer

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Chairman, Illinois Commerce Commission

INPO

Chairman Jackson

~ Commissioner Rogers

Commissioner Dicus

Commissioner Diaz

Commissioner McGaffigan

OEDO

J. Lieberman, Director, Office of Enforcement

S. J. Collins, Director, NRR

R. Zimmerman, Associate Director for Projects, NRR

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T. T. Martin, Acting Associate Director for Inspection

and Technical Assessment, NRR

J. W. Roe, Director, Division of Reactor Projects lil/IV, NRR

D. L. Gamberoni, SALP Program Manager, NRR (2 copies)

. DRP Division Directors, All Regions

J. A. Lennartz, Alli

L. Cox, Rll!

TSS, Rill

DOCUMENT NAME: R:\l N S PR PTS \ POWERS \C LIN\C Ll 97001.S LP

To recahre e copy of thie docuenent,inecate h the box 'C' = Copy without ettechmentlenclosu,e"E" = Copy with attachment / enclosure

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OFFICE - Rill - l Alli l NRR- l Rlli l Rlli l

NAME MLeach:nh GShear GMarcus JCaldwell ABeach

DATE 07/ /97 07/ /97 07/ /97 07/ /97. 07/ /97 j

,. OFFICIAL. RECORD COPY )

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ML20149D515

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