ML20196C209

Discusses Insp Rept 70-7001/98-13 on 980721-0901 & Forwards Notice of Violation Re Failure to Maintain Normetex Pump Discharge Bellows Pressure to within Established Safety Limit

ML20196C209
Person / Time
Site:	07007001
Issue date:	11/24/1998
From:	Caldwell J NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION III)
To:	John Miller UNITED STATES ENRICHMENT CORP. (USEC)
Shared Package
ML20196C217	List: ML20196C209 ML20196C231
References
70-7001-98-13, EA-98-455, NUDOCS 9812020010
Download: ML20196C209 (4)

Text

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UNITED STATES

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, NUCLEAR RECULATORY COMMIS810N

8 REGION Ill - - l r

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• 801 WARRENVILLE ROAD

' LISLE, ILLINOIS 60532-4351 - _

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g l EA 98-455 "

l Mr. J. H. Miller; Vice President - Production 1

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3 United States Enrichment Corporation  !

LTwo Democracy Center. i, 6903 Rockledge Drive 3

Bethesda, MD;20817 ,

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SUBJECT:

NOTICE .OF VIOLATION AND EXERCISE OF ENFORCEMENT DISCRETION

- (NRC INSPECTION REPORT 70-7001/98013(DNMS))

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Dear MN. Miller:

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- This refers to the routins inspection completed on September 1,1998, at your Paducah

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N Gaseous Diffusion Plant. L The ' purpose of the inspection'was to review, among other things, the

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circumstances surrounding a Normatex Pump trip, about which you made a voluntary :  !

notification of the event to the NRC on August 27,1998. The subject inspection report, which

, . Twas issued on October 16,1998, characterized this issue as an apparent violation.

i Based on all the availatde information, the NRC has determined that a violation of NRC ~ r requirements occurred.9 The violation is cited in the enclosed Notice of Violation (Notice) and - 'I

the circumstances surrounding it are' described in detail in the subject inspection report.L In y

summary, on August 20,1998, the Number 2 Normetex Withdrawal Pump in Building C-315 i

tripped while running in . Mode 2 (Withdrawal) and caused a pressure transient that momentarily.

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l 1 exceeded an establishod safety limit. :The pump tripped, per design, when the pump discharge valve went closed for ni unknown reason'. This pressure transient, which reached j approximately 46 psia,; lasted only a few seconds and pressure was decreasing when the -

1 y  ; operator established a vent path back to the cascade. '

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l Normally, the NRC considers any violation involving exceeding a safety limit as having a very -

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? significant regulatory concemi in this case, however, the NRC determined that your failure to  :

maintain the Normetex pump discharge bellows pressure to within the established safety limit  ;

_ had minimal, if any, potential safety consequences for three reasons; First, the pump bellows,

. the weakest link in the system, would not have failed unless the pressure reached about  :

,90 psia.' Second, the presence of a proces,s gas leak detection system, a separate safety j

system, would have mitigated the consequences from all Normetex pump discharge piping i

failures. Third, based on review of the system configuration and costificatee engineering  ;

caiculations, the NRC has concluded that less than five pounds of UF, would be released from

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? a discharge pipe rupture associated with the design basis accident discussed above. A release "of five pounds would have limited, if any, potential safety consequences in the immediate area t

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To date the liconese's root cause evaluation has not determined the cause of the valve closure. <

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J.~ Miller . I of the release, in part, due to the plant's "See and Flee 2" policy, and would have no potential  ;

safety consequences outside the plant or at the plant boundary.

j in accordance with Supplement VI.A.5 of the Enforcement Policy, violation of a safety limit  ;

would normally be classified as a Severity Level I violation.' However, given the minimal-  ;

potential safety consequences, I have been authorized, after consultation with the Director,  ;

Office of Enforcement, to exercise enforcement discretion in accordance with Section Vll.B.6 of the " General Statement of Policy and Procedure for NRC Enforcement Actions" (Enforcement  !

Policy), NUREG-1600, not to propose a civil penalty in this case and to characterize this '

. violation at Severity Level IV. However, significant violations in the future could result -in a civil a penalty.

I The NRC has concluded that information regarding the reason for the violation, the corrective actions taken and planned to correct the violation and prevent recurrence, and the date when .

full compliance was achieved is already adequately addressed on the docket in inspection Report 70-7001/98013(DNMS). Therefore, you are not required to respond to this letter unless the description therein does not accurately reflect your corrective actions or your position in '

that case, or if you choose to provide additional information, you should follow the instructions .

provided in the enclosed Notice. '

. In accordance with 10 CFR 2.790 of the NRC's " Rules of Practice," a copy of this letter, its enclosure, and your response if you choose to submit one, will be placed in the NRC Public t Document Room.

Sincerely, .

.j. C

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i James L. Caldwell Acting Regional Administrator  !

Docket No. 70-7001 Certificate No. GDP-1  :

Enclosure:

Notice of Violation 1-l 2

When UF. is released to the atmosphere a visible vapor cloud is formed The site workers are trained to evacuate the area and notify the control room if they see a cloud.

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-: J. ' Miller- 1 l

' cc w ' lencl: : H. Pulley, Paducah General Manager j

L. L. Jackson, Paducah Regulatory Affairs Manager -

J. M. Brown, Poitsmouth General Manager. l z - S. A. Toolle, Manager, Nuclear Regulatory Assurance and Policy, USEC Paducah Resident inspector Office l

Portsmouth Resident inspector Office  ;

R. M. DeVault, Regulatory Oversight Manager, DOE '

, J. C. Hodges, Paducah Site Manager, DOE l

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- J. Miller -4 '

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' Distribution: -'

Docket File w/enci  !

PUBLIC IE-07 w/enci J. Lieberman, OE w/ encl 1

~N. Mamish, OE w/ encl ~

- J. Goldberg, OGC w/enci i E. Ten Eyck, NMSS w/enct R. Pierson, NMSS w/ encl P. Ting, NMSS w/enci W. Schwink, NMSS w/enci

- P. Harich, NMSS w!enci M. L Hom, NMSS w/enci j

- J. L. Caldwell, Rill w/ encl I C. D. Pederson, Rlll w/enci R. J. Caniano, Rlli w/enci  !

Enforcement Coordinators w/enci l Rl,' Rll, Rlli, and RIV i R. Bellamy, RI w/enci EJM, Ril (e-mail) .

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. D. B. Spitzberg, RIV/WFCO w/enci  !

LEO (e-mail)  !

DOCDESK (e-mail) 1- l Greens w/o enci ,

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