ML20202G250
| ML20202G250 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant |
| Issue date: | 01/29/1999 |
| From: | Hiland P NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION III) |
| To: | Adkins J UNITED STATES ENRICHMENT CORP. (USEC) |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 9902050067 | |
| Download: ML20202G250 (33) | |
Text
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1 January 29,'1999 Mr.'J. N. Adkins Vice President - Production United States Enrichment Corporation Two Democracy Center 6903 Rockledge Drive Bethesda, MD 20817
SUBJECT:
SUMMARY
OF JANUARY 25,1999, MANAGEMENT MEETINGS ON THE 1
PORTSMOUTH NUCLEAR CRITICALITY SAFETY CORRECTIVE ACTION PROGRAM AND THE STATUS OF IMPROVEMENT PLANS FOR ENSURING A SAFETY CONSClOUS WORK ENVIRONMENT
Dear Mr. Adkins:
Two publicly noticed meetings between the United States Enrichment Corporation and _the 1
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission were held on January 25,1999, at the NRC Region lli Office in Lisle, Illinois. The purpose of the first meeting was to discuss the implementation status of corrective action plans for the nuclear criticality safety program and the basis for proposed changes to the completion dates for some corrective actions. The second meeting was held to discuss the status of improvement plans for ensuring a safety conscious work environment and to address issues within the localized pockets of concern. Portions of the second meeting were closed to the public to enable your staff to discuss specific issues regarding the localized pockets of concern. The January 25,1999, meeting attendance sheets /
and meeting presentation slides for the portions of the meetings open to the public are I
enclosed.
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.790 of the NRC's " Rules of Practice," a copy of this letter and the enclosures will be placed in the NRC Public Document Room.
Please contact me at (630) 829-9603 if you or your staff have any questions. We appreciate your cooperation and time in this matter.
Sincerely,
/s/ P.L. Hiland Patrick L. Hiland, Chief Fuel Cycle Branch Docket Nos. 70-7001; 70-7002 Certificate Nos. GDP-1; GDP-2
Enclosures:
As stated (4)
See Attached Distribution DOCUMENT NAME: G:\\125MTG.POR To receive a copy of this document, Indicate in the box:"C" = Copy without enclosure "E"= Copy with enclosure"N"= No copy i
OFFICE-Rlli l t/
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Hiland CW DATE 01/W99 01/2499 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY 9902050067 990129
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LJ. Adkins 1 cc w/encis:
H. Pulley, Paducah General Manager.
L. L. Jackson, Paducah Regulatory Affairs Manager J. M. Brown, Portsmouth General Manager P. J. Miner, Portsmouth Regulatory Affairs Manager S. A. Toelle, Manager, Nuclear Regulatory v.
Assurance and Policy, USEC Paducah Resident inspector Office 1
['
. Portsmouth Resident inspector Office l
R. M. DeVault, Regulatory Oversight Manager, DOE j
J. C. Hodges, Paducah Site Manager, DOE E. W. Gillespie, Portsmouth Site Manager, DOE Distribution:
Docket Fil ncis h
PUBLIC I 7 w/encls E.T.B r, NRR w/encls S. A. Rothstein. OE w/encis R. Pierson, NMSS w/encls P. Ting, NMSS w/encls I
W. Troskoski, NMSS w/encis W. Schwink, NMSS w/encls P. Harich,' NMSS w/encls M. L. Horn, NMSS w/encls Y. H. Faraz, NMSS w/encls J. L.- Caldwell, R8ll w/encls C. D. Pederson, Rlli w/encls Rlli Enf. Coordinator w/encls i
R. Bellamy, RI w/encis ~_
l-EJM, Ril (e-mail)
D. B. Spitzberg, RIV/WFCO w/encls Greens w/o encls i
050103
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c-l JANUARY 25,1999, MANAGEMENT MEETING OF U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION (NRC)
AND UNITED STATES ENRICHMENT CORPORATION (USEC)
Topic: Status of Improvement Plans for Ensuring a Safety Conscious Work Environment NAME AFFILIATION Jariies L. Caldwell NRC/Rlll/ ORA Cynthia D. Pederson NRC/ Rill /DNMS Patrick L. Hiland NRC/ Rill /DNMS David J. Hartland NRC/ Rill /DNMS Kenneth G. O'Brien '
NRC/Rlll/DNMS Robert G. Krsek NRC/Rlll/DNMS Brent Clayton NRC/ Rill /EICS 2
Edward Baker NRC/NRR/OD 8
Stanley Rothstein NRC/OE 8
Melanie Galloway NRC/HQ/NMSS Yawar H. Faraz 8 NRC/HQ/NMSS 8
Yen-Ju Chen NRC/HQ/NMSS James L. Miller '
USEC James N. Adkins USEC Steve A. Toelle USEC Howard Pulley Lockheed Martin Utility Services (LMUS)- Paducah Morris Brown LMUS - Portsmouth Larry L. Jackson LMUS - Paducah Peter J. Miner LMUS - Portsmouth Toni Brooks LMUS - Portsmouth
' Participated via audio teleconference 8 Participated via video-conference
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JANUARY 25,1999, MANAGEMENT MEETING OF U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION (NRC) j AND UNITED STATES ENRICHMENT CORPORATION (USEC)
Topic: Portsmouth Nuclear Criticality Safety Corrective Action Program NAME AFFILIATION James L. Caldwell NRC/ Rill / ORA Cynthia D. Pederson NRC/Rlll/DNMS Patrick L. Hiland NRC/ Rill /DNMS David J. Hartland NRC/ Rill /DNMS Kenneth G. O'Brien '
NRC/ Rill /DNMS Robert G. Krsek NRC/ Rill /DNMS 2
Melanie Galloway NRC/HQ/NMSS 2
NRC/HQ/NMSS Yawar H. Faraz Jack Davis 8 NRC/HQ/NMSS j
James L. Miller '
USEC James N. Adkins USEC Steve A. Toelle USEC Howard Pulley Lockheed Martin Utility Services (LMUS)- Paducah Morris Brown LMUS - Portsmouth Larry L. Jackson LMUS - Paducah Peter J. Miner LMUS - Portsmouth Toni Brooks LMUS - Portsmouth Randy M. DeVault '
U.S. Department of Energy (member of public)
' Participated via audio teleconference 8 Participated via video-conference l
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i AGENDA NCSICHILLING EFFECTS MEETING JANUARY 25,1999 NUCLEAR CRITICALITY SAFETY (NCS)
OPENING REMARKS - PAT HILAND, BRANCH CHIEF, Rlli NCS CORRECTIVE ACTION PLAN STATUS UPDATE 4
- USEC PRESENTATION DISCUSSION ON NCS STATUS CLOSING COMMENTS:
- CINDY PEDERSON, DIRECTOR, DNMS
-JIM CALDWELL, DEPUTY REGIONAL ADMINISTRATOR
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- B R EA K* **
CHILLING EFFECTS OPENING REMARKS - PAT HILAND, BRANCH CHIEF, Rlli CHILLING EFFECTS
- USEC PRESENTATION DISCUSSION ON ACTION PLAN SUBMITTED 1/13/99 CLOSING COMMENTS:
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- CINDY PEDERSON, DIRECTOR, DNMS
-JIM CALDWELL, DEPUTY REGIONAL ADMINISTRATOR
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Nuclear Criticality Safety January 25,1999 1
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Discussion Topics
Background
Status ofNuclear Criticality Safety Corrective Action Plan Basis for schedule and scope changes in Corrective Action Plan Basis for safe operations Recent Events 2
UnitedStates Enrichment Corporation A Global Energy Company
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Background
06/27/97 HQ NRC IR 97 203,3 NCS Violations Field implementation, NCS calculation, and AQ-NCS 09/27/97 HQ NRC IR 97 206,2 NCS Violations Basis of an NCSA/E, and TSR for a single contingent operation 02/19/98 Enforcement Conference Reaffirmed commitment to NCS CAP
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Background (Continued) 03/19/98 Region NRC IR 97-013,1 violation with 16 examples Field implementation, training, management controls, i
procedures, and corrective action l
03/20/98 USEC revised NCS CAP task target dates 11/13/98 USEC again revised NCS CAP target dates and scope of Priority 2 and Priority 3 commitments 12/18/98 NRC IR 98-208 (11/30/98 - 12/04/98) - 0 violations 4
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Status of NCS CAP NCS CAP (28 Tasks Total)
Tasks Completed 24 Verification Type Activities 3
Remaining (Task 3 NCSA/E Upgrades) 1 Priority 1 NCSA/Es Activity Status as of 10/29/98 Status as of 01/20/99 Approved and Impicmented 7
8 Approved by PORC and Awaiting Implementation 3
13 Scheduled for PORC Review 20 4
Reviewed by NCS Subcommittee Prior to PORC 3
4 Scheduled for NCS Subcommittee 10 9
In Peer Review 8
2 Started NCS Engineering Review 3
0 Total 54 40*
- The 54 existing Priority 1 NCSA/Es are being developed into 40 upgraded NCSA/Es.
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Task 3, NCSA/E Upgrade Project Previous Date Revised Dates Priority 1 8 of 40 complete 12/31/98 03/19/99 for PORC approval 09/30/99 for implementation Priority 2 22 06/22/99 07/30/99 for PORC approval 03/03/00 for implementation Additional Reviews 125 05/31/00 05/18/01 i
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Basis for Schedule Changes
~l Full scope of effort not recognized. Rewrite of 54 NCSAs and
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NCSEs. Controls flowed to about 425 procedures including 4000 specific references to NCS controls.
All require processing and implementation.
Initial shortage of qualified personnel. Staffing went slower than expected.
j Extensive need for plant staff resources competes for time with other key activities.
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Basis for Schedule Changes (Continued) t NRC IR 98 206 identified need to reclassify numerous systems, structures or components as AQ-NCS.
All reworked NCSAs/NCSEs and procedures are impacted. Large effort and schedule impact in implementation.
Schedule pressure for transition was reason for original issues.
Quality of products paramount for revised products.
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t Basis for Scope Changes Changed Priority 2 and 3 NCSA/Es to be upgraded Previous list changed from 147 to 22 l
Current Priority 2 list is based on survey of managers to determine NCSAEs with known potential problems, maintaining consistency among NCSA/Es (e.g., seals), and experience gained during Priority 1 NCSAE j
upgrade work.
Previous NCSA/Es categorized Priority 3 was a listing of NCSA/Es not on priority 1 or 2 lists. At this time, there are no known problems with i
these NCSA/Es.
Specified additional review Complete AQ-NCS classification and flow-down into procedures and training.
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Basis for Safe Operations Completed team review of Priority 1 NCSA/Es - issues were resolved.
Example: NCSA/E PLANT 006, SmallDiameter Containers i
Calculation assumption on aisle spacing did not carry over to controls.
Two storage areas were tagged-out until corrected.
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10 UnitedStates Enrichment Corporation A Global Energy Company
Basis for Safe Operations (Continued)
NCSA problems causing the majority of event reports resolved.
Example: NCSA/E PLANT 018, Dry Active Waste Improved evaluations resulted in fewer spacing requirements.
Resulted in reduction in NCS deficiencies.
Majority ofproblems were implementation related. Have made significant improvements in field implementation.
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Basis for Safe Operations (Continued)
Review of categories on needed NCSA/E fixes shows that only 5 are needed for safe operation and associated work is on hold.
See description ofNCSA fix categories.
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13 UnitedStates Enrichment Corporation A Global Energy Company
r Analysis of the Upgrade of NCSA/Es NCSA/E
. Categories More Passive Needed Incorrect, Conservative, Barriers or.
Clarification or Work Stopped Where Rigorous, or Active Design Consistency
- Appropriate Complicated Features will than Desired be used in Lieu of Administrative Controls Priority 1 (40) 12 7
16 5
3 For example, refined definitions, extended descriptions, reworded controls, ensured consistency, and extended reference graph to include lower assays.
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A preliminary analysis of the 22 Priority 2 NCSA/Es listed in the USEC 11/13/98 letter indicates only 6 need to be upgraded under the NCS CAP to facilitate field implementation compliance.
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Abandoned Equipment TSR 3.11.2 states:
"All operations involving uranium enriched to 1.0% wt% or higher U-235 and 15 G or more of U-235 shall be based upon a documented nuclear criticality safety evaluation and shall be performed in accordance with a documented l
nuclear criticality safety approval."
XP2-EG-NS1031 defines a Fissile Material Operation as:
235 "An operating involving uranium enriched to 1.0 wt. % or higher U and 15 grams or more of 235U. ' Operation' includes handling, storage, processing, and transportation."
Shutdown and abandoned equipment svas not recognized as a " storage" operation.
i 15 UnitedStates Enrichment Corporation A Global Energy Company
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Abandoned Equipment 32 items have been identified as requiring an NCSA as of 01/21/99.
235 None of the systems have more than a safe mass of U at system conditions.
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No immediate compensatory actions, other than invoking the anomalous condition procedure, were required.
Preparing one plant site NCSA/E for abandoned equipment.
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A Global Energy Company
Summary Schedule and scope have changed.
Need to recognize the full scope of effort. -
i Critical path is through on-site field expertise shared with other duties.
t The NCS Program has improved significantly.
NCS programmatic procedures were upgraded.
Significant implementation problems were resolved.
i Supporting management controls and training were upgraded.
Quality product being produced and implemented.
Higher standards and expectations were set.
Technical adequacy of NCSA/Es was confirmed through use of high levels of expertise.
17 UnitedStates Enrichment Corporation A Global Energy Company
Status ofImprovement Plans Regarding A Safety Conscious Work Environment at the Portsmouth and Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plants JAMES N. ADKINS, JR., Vice President, Production J. MORRIS BROWN, General Manager, Portsmouth HOWARD PULLEY, General Manager, Paducah January 25,1999 uniscastares snrics-eni corporazion
Purpose Discuss status ofimprovement plans for ensuring a safety conscious work environment and actions being taken to address localized pockets ofconcern.
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Background===
December 8,1997 NRC notified USEC of concern over potential issues related to " chilling effects" at the GDPs March 1998 SYNERGY survey ofNuclear Safety Culture June 1,1998 USEC Provided NRC with overview of results of SYNERGY nuclear safety culture survey June 29,1998 USEC met with NRC to provide detailed review of survey results July 20,1998 NRC informed USEC that USEC had provided satisfactory response to NRC's December 1997 letter.
November 13,1998 USEC provided NRC'with the status of Improvement Plans Regarding a Safety Conscious Work Environment January 13,1999 USEC provided NRC with detailed status of actions addressing "localizedipockets."
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Independent Assessment USEC engaged SYNERGY to characterize independently the Nuclear Safety Culture (NSC) of the GDPs.
SYNERGY interviewed about 60 employees at each plant and a dozen employees at USEC HQ.
The results of these interviews were used to develop survey questionnaires.
Surveys were provided to all employees at:the PGDP and PORTS sites beginning March 30,1998.
Approximately 55% of Employees responded.
SYNERGY completed the independent assessment of the NSC and provided final report to USEC in late-May l1998.
UnitedStates Enrichment Corporation USEC 3
A Global Energy Company
Assessment Results Cultures are similar at both sites.
Nuclear Safety Culture acceptable and improving.
Significant majority of employees feel responsible to identify potential nuclear safety issues and feel supported by their supervision for doing so.
Employee Concerns Program warrants attention to assure a viable alternate path for resolution of potential nuclear safety issues.
Opportunities to enhance some technical programs and processes (e.g., Nuclear Criticality Safety, change process, problem reporting process).
Significant majority not concerned about harassment, intimidation or discrimination.
Low to slightly decliningjob satisfaction / morale may exist due to overall business climate.
Localized pockets of concern about work environment may exist in some organizations.
OVERALL CONCLUSION: GDP employees would report nuclear safety problems without fear of retaliation.
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A Global Energy Company
f Snapshot of Business Climate-1 New processes and major upgrades (e.g., NCS upgrade)
- Procedures upgrade /in-hand use
- Implementing many new processes / systems
- Safety systems reliability Significant increase in workload Significant cultural changes
- Old plant /new expectations
- Higher performance expectations
- Strict compliance
- Use of disciplinary actions to reinforce accountability j
Continuing plant operation l
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Actions Taken at Plants Since Survey Although main concerns do not involve a " chilling effect," study results do indicate the need for management to continue to address the work environment.
Actions taken to address areas needing increased management attention across all organizational lines were designed to improve:
- Quantity and Quality of Communications
- Human Resources Development
- Management and Control of Work
- Employee Concerns Program
- Job Satisfaction and Morale UnitedStates Enrichment Corporation USEC e
A Global Energy Company
Actions Taken at Plants Since Survey (cont.)
Quantity and Quality of Communications
- Presentation of survey results to plant (Summer 1998)
- Changed use of plant newspapers to keep workers better informed of plant issues on a continuous basis
- Instituted a " fast track" communication process to notify employees of key events on an accelerated time frame (using e-g mail, facsimiles, etc.)
- Internal survey tool
- Priority plant initiative
- All-hands sessions focusing on plant performance, business i
strategy and expectations
- Letter to managers addressing open and candid communication
- Business plans issued that include plant goals UnitedStates Enrichment Corporation i
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A Glotel Energy Company i
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Actions Taken at Plants Since Survey (cont..)
5 Human Resources Development o
- 360 degree feedback from managers (Paducah-ongoing)
- Major change to employee discipline program (implemented)
- First Line Managers (FLM) assessment (ongoing)
- Improvements to the performance review process (ongoing)
- Bench strength assessment improvements (ongoing)
- Self-assessment procedure revised
- Leadership training focusing on effectiveness (ongoing)
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Actions Taken at Plants Since Survey (cont..)
i Management and Control of Work i
- New managers in selected areas
- Corrective Action Program improvements
- Corrective action backlog reduction
-NCS Program improvements (upgrade project)
- Plant procedures stand down (PORTS)
Employee Concerns Program
- Realigned to report directly to General Manager
- Senior managers assigned responsibility to address nuclear safety issues Job Satisfaction and Morale
- Assessment of" localized pockets" by functional managers i
- Internal action plan for improved management commitment to standards of ethics / enhanced level of trust f
- Improved union / management relationships UnitedStates Ewichment Corporation USEC A Global Energy Company
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4 Localized Pockets of Concern Survey results were analyzed to identify any organizations providing high percentages of negative responses.
Organizational pockets were defined as those areas having greater than j
a 20 percent negative response rate and/or a 30 percent vanance compared to the site.
Concerns related to perceived work environment indicating potential leadership issues or more generalized cultural weaknesses in particular organizations.
Employees in these locales expressed more concern about professionalism and openness within their functional organizations or their sites as a whole than within their own work groups, indicating better perceptions of the work environment closer to the employee.
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