Text

Forwards Insp Rept 50-482/98-12 on 980323-0410 & 0622-25 & Notice of Violations Re Failure to Follow Procedures & Have Adequate Procedures
	ML20154C697
Person / Time
Site:	Wolf Creek
Issue date:	09/29/1998
From:	Stetka T; NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION IV)
To:	Maynard O; WOLF CREEK NUCLEAR OPERATING CORP.
Shared Package
ML20154C700	List: ML20154C697; ML20154C703; ML20154C707;
References
	50-482-98-12, EA-98-274, NUDOCS 9810070003
	Download: ML20154C697 (5)
	v • d • e

-

'

go arc

'

. , ,

F. UNITED STATES

9 y ,F ' ,3 ~ NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

s. .j' REGION IV

% ' 611 RYAN PLAZA DRIVE. SUITE 400

,o'g

kf.

.?..

,

. ARUNGTON. TEX AS 76011 8064

,

September 29,~ 1998

EA 98-274

.

' Otto L Maynard, President and

' Chief Executive Officer

Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation

P.O. Box 411

Burlington, Kansas. 66839-

I

SUBJECT: NRC INSPECTION REPORT 50-482/98-12 AND NOTICE OF VIOLATION !

'

Dear'Mr. Maynard: l

From March 23 through June 26,1998, an engineering and technical support inspection and an

engineering open item inspection were conducted at your Wolf Creek Generating Station l

reactor facility. The enclosed report presents the scope and results of those inspections. The i

results of those inspections were discussed with Messers. R. Holloway, B. Smith, T. Harris, and

R. Muench of your staff on September 29,1998.

The engineering and technical support inspection performed an assessment of the high head

injection system, control room ventilation, and the Class 1 E dc distribution system. The open j

. items inspection was performed to review open items from other engineering inspection efforts.

,

On the basis of the results of our review, your engineering program was adequate to support

._ safe operation of the plant, and most of your engineering processes are functioning well.

. However, some findings revealed weaknesses in your program. The most significant finding

concerned a failure to adequately evaluate the timing of emergency actions associated with

recovery from.a loss-of coolant accident prior to the switchover of suction from the refueling -

water storage tank to the containment recirculation sumps. The inspection revealed that the

'timeline presented in the Updated Safety Analysis Report was not consistent with that actually

achievable in the plant. We were satisfied that contingencies in design and operation would

,

have prevented a serious safety p oblem. However, in review of the regulatory implications, a

y violation of 10 CFR 50.59 was identified for making changes to the facility, which involved an

unreviewed safety question without prior Commission approval and without performing safety

evaluations. !

There were examples of a failure to follow procedures and a failure to have adequate j

> procedures.'. The first example involved a failure to follow design change procedures by not

incorporating design changes for the station batteries into the applicable calculation. The )

second example involved the failure to have adequate acceptance criteria in surveillance i

procedures'used to test the station batteries. The first item was of concern in that engineers l

failed to follow the procedure for design control packages. This failure appeared to be the

o result of the use of engineering judgement in lieu of formal analysis. The second item was of

concern because.the inadequate acceptance criteria could have resulted in station batteries

' that were unable to cope with design accident events.

9810070003'980929

PDR ADOCK 05000482 '

O PM y

,

.-. .- - -- . - . - _ - .. - ._

'

.

l

.

Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation -2-

There were five examples of a failure to adequately implement your design change program.

These examples involved failures to assure that design calculations were revised when i

applicable design changes were made, that design calculation results were consistent with.the l

Updated Safety Analysis Report, that all variables were addressed in the instrument uncertainty

calculations, and the use of incorrect parameters in the design basis calculations.

These violations are cited in the enclosed Notice of Violation (Notice) and the circumstances

surrounding the violations are described in detail in the enclosed report. Please note that 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 use your response, in part, to determine

whether further enforcement action is necessary to ensure compliance with regulatory

requirements. As documented in the Notice of Violation, the NRC has concluded that your

responses to violation Examples B.2 and C.1 through C.5 were complete and that no further

response is required.

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 (PDR).

Should you have any questions concerning this inspection, we will be pleased to discuss them

with you.

Sincerely,

_

/ M'

Thomas F. Stetka, Acting Chief

Engineering Branch

Division of Reactor Safety

Docket No.: 50-482

License No.: APF-42

Enclosures:

1. Notice of Violation

2. NRC Inspection Report

50-482/98-12

cc w/ enclosures:

Chief Operating Officer

Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corp.

P.O. Box 411

Burlington, Kansas 66839

Jay Silberg, Esq.

Shaw, Pittman, Potts & Trowbridge

2300 N Street, NW

Washington, D.C. 20037

i

?.

,,

' Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation -3-

1

Supervisor Licensing

' Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corp.

P.O. Box 411 '

Burlington, Kansas 66839

'

. Chief Engineer

Utilities Division

' Kansas Corporation Commission 1

1500 SW Arrowhead Rd. l

Topeka, Kansas 66604-4027 i

Office of the Governor

State of Kansas

Topeka, Kansas 66612

' Attorney General l

Judicial Center I

301 S.W.10th I

2nd Floor - 1

Topeka, Kansas' 66612-1597 l

l

County Clerk

'Coffey County Courthouse ,

Burlington, Kansas 66839 ,1798

Vick L. Cooper, Chief

Radiation Control Program

Kansas Department of Health

and Environment

Bureau of Air and Radiation

Forbes Field Building 283

Topeka, Kansas 66620

Mr. Frank Moussa .

Division of Emergency Preparedness

2800 SW Topeka Blvd

Topeka, Kansas 66611-1287

l

!..

i

'

I

l

l~. <

'

.

, - .- . . . -- -_ -- -_- - --- .- ... -

-

. l

'

!

,

o

Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation -4-

t E-Mail report to T. Frye (TJF)

E-Mail report to D. Lange (DJL)

E-Mail report to NRR Event Tracking System (IPAS)

E-Mail report to Document Control Desk (DOCDESK)

1

'

>

bec to DCD (IE01)

i

'

bec distrib. by RIV:

Regional Admlnistrator

DRS Director

DRS Deputy Director

Resident inspector

DRP Director

SRI (Callaway, RIV)

l

Branch Chief (DRP/B)

DRS-PSB

Project Engineer (DRP/B)

MIS System ,

i

Branch Chief (DRP/TSS)

RIV File

G.F. Sanborn, EO

J. Lieberman, OE, MS:7-HS

OE:EA File, MS:7-H5

l

i

l

!

i

l

l ' DOCUMENT NAME: R:\._WC\WC812rp.wpd

To receive copy of document, Indicate in box: "C" = Copy without enclosures 'E" = Copy with enclosures "N" = No copy

l

RIV:RI:EB RI:EB RI:EB RI Al:EB RI:EB C:DRP EO AC:EB,dl

RNease* - MRunyan* PGoldberg* JHanna* RBywater* DPereira* WJohnson* MVasquez* TFStetkT

09/25/98 09/25/98 09/25/98 09/25/98 09/25/98 09/25/98 09/25/98 09/28/98 09/g98

1

Previously concurred OFFICIAL RECORD COPY

l

!

!

y

I

-f' .

Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation -4- !

)

E-Mail report to T. Frye (TJF)

E Mail report to D. Lange (DJL)

E-Mail report to NRR Event Tracking System (IPAS)

E-Mail report to Document Control Desk (DOCDESK)

!

bec to DCD (IE01)

bec distrib. by RIV:

Regional Administrator !

DRS Director i

DRS Deputy Director I

Resident inspector <

DRP Director I

SRI (Callaway, RIV)

Branch Chief (DRP/B)

DRS-PSB

Project Engineer (DRP/B) l

MIS System

Branch Chief (DRP/TSS)

RIV File

G.F. Sanborn, EO j

J. Lieberman, OE, MS.7-H5 !

OE:EA File, MS:7-H5 j

DOCUMENT NAME: R:\_WC\WC812rp.wpd

To receive copy of document, Indicate in box: "C" = Copy without enclosures "E" = Copy with enclosures "N* = No copy

RIV:RI:EB RI:EB RI:EB RI Rl:EB Rl:EB l C:DRP EO AC:EBM1

RNease* MRunyan* PGoldberg* JHanna* RBywater* DPereire* WJohnson* MVasquez* TFStetkT

'~

09/25/98 09/25/98 09/25/98 09/25/98 09/25/98 09/25/98 09/25/98 09/28/98 09/r/98

Previously concurred OFFICIAL RECORD COPY

)

CCC11l

5

ML20154C697

Text

Navigation menu

Search