ML20203B426

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Investigation Rept 2-96-033.No Noncompliance Noted.Major Areas Investigated:Alleged Coverup of Fuel Handling Incident
ML20203B426
Person / Time
Site: Crystal River Duke Energy icon.png
Issue date: 01/27/1997
From: Mcnulty W, Vorse J
NRC OFFICE OF INVESTIGATIONS (OI)
To:
Shared Package
ML20203B366 List:
References
FOIA-97-313 2-96-033, 2-96-33, NUDOCS 9712150035
Download: ML20203B426 (10)
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CRYSTAL RIVER NUCLEAR PLANT:

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CRYSTAL RIVER NUCLEAR PIM:

ALLEGED COVERUP OF FUEL HANDING INCIDENT Licensee: Case No.: 2 96 033 Florida Power Corporation Report Date: January 27, 1997 P.O. Box 219 NA 2I Crystal River Florida 32629 Docket No.: 50 302 Status: CLOSED 4

Reported by: Reviewed and Approved by:

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'Jallles Yr/vorse, 5 cial Agent William J.tr ciulty, Director Office bf Investi ations Office of Dvestigationd

- Field Office, Region II Field Office. Region II

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through Investigahion It ha not been rey ewed ursuant t6 >,

10 CFR $ 2.790(a), exemptions wr4 has any exemht teria been deletml. Do not disseminate. olace'in <;he' P nlic Dic nt t or discuns the contents of t 11s rtoort outside it tC wit 1ou': iiuthority of the of this reoort. Treat as/OlyCIAll USE

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4 SYNDPSIS t

I The U.S. luclear Regulatory Commu -lon (NRC), Region II, Office of Investigations, initiated this investigation based on NRC staff findings of procedural violations by Florida Power Cor> oration reactor operators at the Crystal River Nuclear Plant. A fuel assen)1y was lowered on top of another during an outage. No report was made of the event and management was nc, i notified for two days, i Based on testimony provided by the shift personnel involved and NRC technical >

staff evaluation of the testimony, it is concluded there was not sufficient evidence developed to substantiate wrongdoing by the persons involved in the

, event. Furthermore, it is concluded the licensee was not required to report the event to the NRC.

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Case No. 2 96 033 1

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TABLE OF CONTENTS j fast t

SYN 0PSIS................................................................. 1 ,

2 DETAILS OF INVESTIGATION................................................. 5  !

t Appl i cabl e Regul ati on. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5  !

Pur mse of Investigation........................................... 5 t

. Bac(ground......................................................... 5 Intervi ews of FPC Shi ft Empl oyees. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Summary............................................................ 6 Coordination with NRC Staff........................................ 6 Concl u s i on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 LIST OF EXHIBITS......................................................... 7 e

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Case No. 2 96 033 4

3 DETAILS OF INVESTIGATION

Anp11 cable Reaulation A .

!; Allegation: A11eaed Failure to Reoort l 10 CFR 50.9: Completeness and accuracy of information lj Purcose of Investiaation The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Comission (NRC), Region II (RII), Office of Investigations (01), initiated this investi ation on August 27. 1996, to determine if reactor operators at the Flori a Power Corporation (FPC) Crystal e River Nuclear Plant, Crystal River, Florida, deliberately withheld information from the NRC after a fuel loading incident occurred (Exhibit 1).

Backaround On August 24, 1996, an Enforcement review panel' determined that on March 26, 1996, during a refueling outage, a fuel assembly was lowered on top of another fuel assembly in the reactor core and was not recorded in the operator log as an event or problem. FPC operators violated procedure and did not report the incident to management until several days later.

Interview of FPC Shift F=iloyees The following FPC employees were interviewed by OI on September 18 and 19, 1996 (Exhibits 2 through 7).

DATE OF HME POSITION IKIERVIEW David P. Jones Nuclear Snift Supervisor 09/18/96 Christine M. SMITH Reactor Operator 09/19/96 a M James T. ATKINSON Chief Nuclear Operator 09/18/96 John R. WEAVER Nuclear Engineer ~09/18/96 Michael W. CULVER Principal Reactor Engineer 09/18/96 Richard D. deHONTFORD Manager of Nuclear Plant Operatiens 09/19/96 SPECIAL AGENT'S NOTE: ATKINSON and SMITH were subjects of a previous investigation related with nuclear oxrations as reported in 01 Reports of Investigation for Case Nos. 2 94 036 and 2 94 036S.

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M JONES, who was the operator in charge in the fuel building, considered the incident to be an " underload" which is not unusual during refueling. He did not think the event reportable except for some procedural violations which he brought to his supervisor's attention )rior to attending some training. None of the other interviewees considered tw event significant other than some procedural breakdowns and none of the interviewees considered the possibility of fuel damage as all the " underload" safety mechanisms worked correctly.

Coordination with Mtc Staff *l Copies of the transcripts taken from the FPC employees (supra) were provided

  • to the RII technical staff to review for technical credibility and associated reporting requirements (Exhibits 8 and 9). By memorandum dated October 17, 1996, the staff concluded that the testimony of the Operations personnel was technically credible. By response dated December 10, 1996, the RII staff concluded there was no requirerant to report the event to the NRC (Exhibits 10 and 11).

Conclusion Based on the testimony of the FPC employees and the review by the NRC staff, it is concluded that there was not sufficient evidence developed to support wrongdoing by the employees involved in the event. Furthermore, it is concluded the licensee was not required to report the event to the NRC.

Case No. 2 96 033 6

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A LIST OF EXHIBITS Exhibit No. Description 1 Investigative Status Record, dated August 27, 1996, i 3

2 Transcribed Interview of JONES, dated September 18, 1996.

3 Transcribed Interview of SMITH, dated September 19, 1996.

4 Transcribed Interview of ATKINSON, dated September 18, 1996.

5 Transcribed Interview of WEAVER, dated September 18, 1996.

6 Transcribed Interview of CULVER, dated September 18, 1996.

7 Transcribed Interview of deH0NTFORD, dated September 19, .

1996.

8 Hemorandum from OI to EICS, dated October 3, 1996.

9 Memorandum from 01 to DRS, dated December 4, 1996.

10 DRS Response Memorandum, dated October 17, 1996.

11 Note to 01 from DRS, dated December 10, 1996.

Case No. 2 96 033 7

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l- MyQJSTRIBUTION/-\NOTIFOR PUBL)CJD(Cf0,$ME 7 f* INVESTIGATION STATUS REC @

i l Case No.: 2-96-033 Facility: CRYSTAL RIVER NUCLEAR PLANT

, ). Allegation No.: Ril-96-A-0177 Case Agent: VORSE '

Docket No.: 050-302 .Date Opened: 08/27/96 '-

u j Source of Allegation: INSPECTOR (I) Priority: HIGH (F0D) l

[ Notified by: EICS Staff

Contact:

G. HOPPER, DRS I

t Category: LC Case Code: RP Subject / Allegation: ALLEGED COVERUP OF FUEL HANDLING INCIDENT Remarks:

i Monthly Status Reoort:

08127/96: On August 23, 1996, a Region !! Enforcement Panel reviewed inspector 6 findings at Crystal River regarding refueling operations. The inspection disclosed that on March 25, 1996, an anonymous individual reported that the senior reactor operator (SRO) was inattentive to his duties. The licensee' verified that the SRO did not position himscif to see fuel entering the core and did not verify the location was empty for the moved fuel. The SRO was suspended from duty. On March 26, 1996, during fuel movement with a different shift, a fuel assembly was placed on top of another fuel assenbly in the roactor core and was not recorded in the log i

as an " event" or problem contrary to licensee's procedures. The control .

center refueling operator did not verify the fuel assembly was in the '

correct position, nor did the SRO. This incident was not reported to licensee management until March 28, 1996, ar.d was not logged.

Status: FWP ECD (90-day): 11/96 i

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