ML20205Q647

Discusses OI Report 1-1998-033.Purpose of Investigation Was to Determine Whether SRO Willfully Violated Conditions of SRO License by Assuming Assistant Station Shift Supervisor Position After Failing Requalification Scenario Evaluation

ML20205Q647
Person / Time
Site:	Nine Mile Point
Issue date:	04/13/1999
From:	Lanning W NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION I)
To:	Mueller J NIAGARA MOHAWK POWER CORP.
References
EA-99-010, EA-99-10, NUDOCS 9904210359
Download: ML20205Q647 (4)

Text

6 April 13; 1999 EA 99-010 Mr. John H. Mueller Chief Nuclear Officer Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation

. Nine Mile' Point Nuclear Station Operations Building,2nd Floor Post Office Box 63 -

Lycoming, New York 13093 L

SUBJECT:

NRC OFFICE OF INVESTIGATION REPORT NO.1-1998-033 Dear Mr. Mueller.

This is in reference to an investigation conducted by the NRC's Office of Investigations (Ol) involving a violation of Technical Specification (TS) requirements for shift staffing at the Nine :

Mile Point Unit 1 facility. The purpose of the investigation was to determine whether a Senior Reactor Operator (SRO) willfully violated the conditions of his SRO license when he assumed -

the Assistant Station Shift Supervisor position in the control room afterhe had failed a.

requalification scenario evaluation. The investigation found that the SRO deliberately violated license conditions when he assumed the Assistant Station Shift Supervisor position on June 16, -

1998, which caused Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation (NMPC) to be in violation of TS '))

requirements. A copy of the investigation synopsis is enclosed. //

Based on our review of the investigation report, an apparent violation was identified and is being considered for escalated enforcement action in accordance with the " General Statement of ~

Policy and , Procedures for NRC Enforronent Actions," (Enforcement Policy), NUREG-1600,: 7W Rev.1. The apparent violation involve' a willful violation of your license operator requalification ' Ig-program requirements which resulted in a violation of your TS requirements for shift staffing. -

You reported the violation of TS requirements in Licensee Event Report (LER)98-014, dated July 17,1998. As a result, it may not be necesw y to conduct a pre-decisional enforcement -

conference in order to enable the NRC to make an enforcement decision. In addition, since you identified the violation, and based on our understanding of ycur corrective action, a civil penalty ~

. may not be warranted in accordance with Section VI.B.2 of the Enforcement Policy.

Before the NRC makes its enforcement decision, we are providing you an opportunity to either

' (1) respond to the apparent violation described above within 30 days of the drte of this letter orL (2) request a predecisional enforcement conference.' if a conference is held, .i will be closed to -

public observation and transcribed.; Please contact Mr. Richard Conte at (610) 337-5183 within

7 days of the date of this letter to notify the NRC of your intended response.

I .

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W J. Mueller Your response should be clearly marked as a " Response to An Apparent Velation in .

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investigation Report No. 698-033 and should include for each apparent violation: (1) the reason for the apparent violation, or, if contested, the basis ior disputing the apparent violation, (2) the corrective steps that have been taken and the results achieved, (3) the, corrective steps that will be taken to avoid further violations, and (4) the date where full compliance will be achieved. Your response should be submitted under oath or affirmation and may reference or -

include previous docketed correspondence, if the correspondence sciequately addresses the required response. if an adequate response is not received within the time specified or an extension cf tira has not been granted by the NRC, the NRC will proceed ;vith its enforcement decision or schedule a pre-decisional enforcement conference, in addition, please be advised that the number and characterization of apparent violations described above may change as a result of further NRC review. You will be advised by -

separate correspnndence of the results of our. deliberations on this matter, 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 provide one) will be placed in the NRC Public Document Room (PDR). To the extent possible, your response should not include any personal privacy, proprietary, or safeguards information so that it can be placed in the PDR without redaction.

Sincerely, ORIGINAL SIGNED BY:-

Wayne D. Lanning, Director Division of Reactor Safety Docket No. 50-220 License No. DPR-63

Enclosure:

01 Synopsis cc w/ encl:

G. Wilson, Senior Attomey M. Wetterhahn, Winston and Strawn J. Rettberg, New York State Electric and Gas Corporation P Eddy, Electric Division, Department of Public Service, State of New York C. Donaldson, Esquire, Assistant Attomey General, New York Department of Law J. Vinquist, MATS, Inc.

F. Valer:tino, President, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority J. Spath, Program Director, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority

~

f J~ " J. Mueller 0:stnbution w/ encl:

H. Miller, RA/J. Wiggins, DRA (1)

D. Screnci, PAO Region i Docket Room (with concurrences)

' Nuclear Safety information Center (NSIC)

PUBLIC NRC Resident inspector W. Lanning, DRS

' W. Ruland, DRS

~J. Lieberman, OE (2)

S. Barber, DRP W. Cook, DRP R. Junod, DRP DRS File

, ution w/ encl: (VIA E-MAIL) t schiltz, RI EDO Coordinator G. Hunegs - Nine Mile Point S Bajwa, NRR D. Hood, NRR M. Campion, RI R. Zimmerman, ADPR, NRR F. Davis, OGC A. Nicosia, OGC J. Lieberman, OE (OEMAIL)

T. Walker, ORA, Ri D. Holody, ORA, RI inspection Program Branch (IPAS)

R. Correia, NRR (Inspection Reports Only)

DOCDESK DOCUMENT NAME: GAHPEPB\ DENNIS \NMP1-SRO.WPD '

Ta receive a copy of this document, Indicate in the box: "C" = Cow without attachment / enclosure *E" = Copy with attachment # enclosure "N" = No copy OFFICE- Rl/DRS l- Rl/DRS , Rl/ ORA 4 l Rl/OI .l Ri@M NAME SDennis $9 RConte M 4,- DHolody BLetts Pe '

WLahning()#rt DATE. 03/26/09 03/%99 ' ~ 03h/99 03ht/99: 034/99 f . OFFICIAL RECORD COPY pin t

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ENCLOSURE 1 :

01 SYNOPSIS This investigation was initiated by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Office of Investigations (01), Region I, on July 1,1998, to determine whether a Senior Reactor Operator (SRO), who failed a licensed operator requalification crew scenario evaluation on June 15, 1998, willfully violated license conditions when he assumed the Assistant Station Shift Supervisor position in the control room on June 16,1998, at Niggra Mohawk Power Corporation (NMPC), Nine Mile Point, Unit 1 (NMP1), Scriba, New York.

Based on the evidence developed during this investigation, and after review of this issue by the technical staff, it has been determined that the SRO deliberately violated NMP1 license conditions when he assumed the Assistant Station Shift Supervisor position in trc control room on June 16,1998, placing the licensee in violation of its technical specifications, e canse condition.

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