ML20198K943

Discusses Insp Rept 70-7001/98-17 on 981015-1130 & Forwards Notice of Violation.Purpose of Insp Was to Review Circumstances Surrounding Normetex Withdrawal Pump Trip & Notification of Event on 981018

ML20198K943
Person / Time
Site:	07007001
Issue date:	12/28/1998
From:	Caldwell J NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION III)
To:	John Miller UNITED STATES ENRICHMENT CORP. (USEC)
Shared Package
ML20198K949	List: ML20198K943 ML20198K966
References
70-7001-98-17, EA-98-556, NUDOCS 9901040009
Download: ML20198K943 (4)

Text

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l December 28, 1998 EA 08-556 Mr; J. H. Miller -

Vice President - Production United States Enrichment Corporation

.Two Democracy Center 6903 Rockledge Drive Bethesda, MD 20817

SUBJECT:

NOTICE OF VIOLATION AND EXERCISE OF ENFORCEMENT DISCRETION

. (NRC INSPECTION REPORT 70-7001/98017(DNMS))

Dear Mr. Miller:

This refers to the routine inspection completed on November 30,1998, at your Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. The purpose of the inspection was to review, among other things, the ,

circumstances sur ounding a Normetex withdrawal pump trip, about which you made a l voluntary notification of the event to the NRC on October 18,1998. The subject inspection report, which was issued on December 21,1998, characterized this issue as an apparent violation.

Based on all the available information, the NRC has determined that a violation of NRC requirements occurred. The violation is cited in the enclosed Notice of Violation (Notice) and the circumstances' surrounding it are described in detail in the subject inspection report. In summary, on October 17,1998, the Number 1 Normetex Withdrawal Pump in Building C-315

' tripped while running in Mode 2 (Withdrawal) and caused a pressure trt.nsient that exceeded an established safety limit for a brief period. The pump tripped, per design, when the pump discharge valve went closed upon loss of plant air due to the failure of a non-safety solenoid valve in the air supply line. This pressure transient, which reached approximately 50 psia, lasted only a few seconds and pressure was decreasing when the operator established a vent path back to the cascade.

Normally, the NRC considers any violation involving exceeding a safety limit as very significant.

In this case, however, the NRC deiermined 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 process gas leak detection system, a separate safety system, would have mitigated the consequences from any Normetex pump discharge piping failures. Third,~ based on review of the system configuration and certificatee engineering calculations, the NRC has 9901040009 981228 PDR ADOCK 07007001 C- PDR

1 J. Miller concluded that less than five pounds of uranium hexafluoride (UF ) would be released from 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 of the release, in part, due to the plant's "See and Flee"' policy, and would have no potential safety consequences outside the plant or at the plant boundary. l 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 minirnal  ;

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

The NRC has concluded that information regarding the reason for the violation, the immediate corrective actions taken to reduce the pump discharge pressure below the safety limit and the long-term corrective actions to remove the safety limit and the Normetex pump high discharge pressure system from the Technical Safety Requirements as described in your certificate amendment request dated September 11,1998, is already adequately addressed on the docket and in Inspection Report 70-7001/98017(DNMS). The NRC reviewed your amendment request and our evaluation is documented in a Compliance Evaluation Report dated November 18, 1998. Our evaluation supported the approval of your amendment request. As a result, the amendment was approved December 18,1998. The amendment was based on the minor consequences of the pump discharge bellows rupture accident and the additional mitigation l provided by the UF release detection system. Therefore, you are not required to respond to l 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.

'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 cornrd room if they see a cloud.

J. Miller. ..

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 I Document Room.

Sincerely,

/s/ Cynthia D. Pederson for James L. Caldwell Acting Regional Administrator Docket No. 70-7001 Certificate No. GDP-1

Enclosure:

Notice of Violation l

cc w/ encl: H. Pulley, Paducah General Manager L. L. Jackson, Paducah Regulatory Affairs Manager l J. M. Brown, Portsmouth General Manager S. A. Toelle, Manager, Nuclear Regulatory _

Assurance and Policy, USEC Paducah Resident Inspector Office Portsmouth Resident inspector Office R. M. DeVault, Regulatory Oversight Manager, DOE l J. C. Hodges, Paducah Site Manager, DOE r .

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DOCUMENT NAME: G:\SEC\ PAD 98017.EA

-Ta receive a copy of this document, indigdte in the bo-: "C" = Copy w/o attachment / enclosure "E" = Copy w th attachment / enclosure - No copy OFFICE Rlil:DNMS ,s ,

l/ Rill:DNMS lA/ Rill:EICS l6 HQ:OE lCi RIH:CR4 NAME Reidinger/kj@K/ ~

Caniano Oh Clayton BC Lieberman via teiecon fC414ed DATE 12/p/98 12/15/98 12/23/98 12/21/98 @/M(98

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OFFICIAL RECORD COPY l V

e J. Miller Distribution:

Docket File w/enct PUBLIC IE-07 w/enct J. Lieberman, OE w/enci N. Mamish, OE w/ encl l

'J. Goldberg, OGC w/enci ,

E. Ten Eyck, NMSS w/enci  !

R. Pierson, NMSS w/ encl P. Ting, NMSS w/enci

W. Schwink, NMSS w/enci P. Harich, NMSS w/enci ,

M. L. Horn, NMSS w/enci J. L Caldwell, Rlli w/enci C. D. Pederson, Rlli w/enci R. J. Caniano, Rlll w/enct Rlil Enf. Coordinator w/ encl R. Bellamy, RI w/ encl EJM, Ril (e-mail)

D. B. Spitzberg, RIV/WFCO w/enci LEO (e-mail)

. DOCDESK (e-mail) .  !

Greens w/o enci 4

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