ML20209G121

Requests That NRC Order Major Mgt Changes in Plant Operation,Based on Evidence of Chronic Mismanagement,Martin 860707 Memo & 860709 Enforcement Conference.Decisive Action,Not Fine,Should Be Taken by NRC & State of or

ML20209G121
Person / Time
Site:	Trojan File:Portland General Electric icon.png
Issue date:	09/05/1986
From:	Bell N NORTHWEST ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCATES (FORMERLY COALITION
To:	Harold Denton Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
References
NUDOCS 8609120373
Download: ML20209G121 (2)

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Coalition for Safe Power 406 Governor Building 408 Southwest Second Avenue Portland, Oregon 97204 (503)295-0490 y S

September 5, 1986 f l0 l/

Harold Denton Director Nuclear Reactor Regulation U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Waahington, D.C. 20555

Dear Mr. Denton:

Over the laat ten years the Coalition has repeatedly raised the inaue of mismanagement at the Trojan Nuclear Power Plant.

Each time, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the Oregon Dupartment of Energy (ODOE) and Portland General Electric (PGE) have replied that all the problema have been fixed. This was the case once again in April, the laat time the Coalition revealed evidence of mismanagement at the plant. But despite all of these ruaauurancos the uituation continues, presenting a serious safety problem.

On July 7, 1986, Roger Martin, the NRC Region V Regional Administrator, wrote to Robert Short, Chairman of the Board of PGE, complaining of continuing mismanagement at Trojan. In thia highly unusual correspondence, a copy of which is enclosed, Mr.

Martin pointa out that an inspection by NRC performed earlier thin year " revealed the near absence of quality control involvement in maintenance activities at the Trojan plant for many yeara." In fact, during an inapection at Trojan during May C

and June the NRC discovered that a quality control inspector was not performing neceanary inapectiona. Further quality control problema were also inspected and documented by the NRC during thin period based on worker complainta to the agency.

These findinga are clear evidence that PGE management la not up to the Job of operating Trojan. Aa Mr. Martin said in his letter, "...PGE la not as aggressive as they abould be in nearching out their own problema and [thial may be an indication that you (pGE) are becoming overly dependent upon the NRC to identify problema needing attention."

NRC held an enforcement conference with PGE on July 9th. At the confurunce, Mr. Bart Withera, PGE Vice President Nuclear,

" agreed with Mr. Martin (NRC) that the contract quality control inupactora brought onnite for the refueling outage had not been adequately indoctrinated." The NRC has indicated that it is conaldering what action to take against PGE, the most likely being a fine. Given PGE'a chronic mismanagement of Trojan over the years, the time for a mere alap on the wriat han long nince paat. It la time for decisive action on the part of NRC and the State of Oregon to rectify this problem.

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' l PDR ADOCK 05000344 P PDR

The Coalition believes that the only solution to the problem is removal of those individuals responsible for the mismanagement. For the past ten years pGE has been relying on essentially the same people to direct operations of the plant.

The record of these individuals speaks for itself: it is time for a change. Therefore we request that you order major management changes in pGE's operation of the Trojan plant. A change in top personnel is the only way to addreas the chronic and unabated problem of mismanagement at Trojan and avoid a future nuclear accident.

I look forward to hearing from you concerning the action you plan to take on this matter.

Sincerely) wS

Nina Bell Executive Director l

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JUi. O'71986 i

Portland General Electric Company e 121 W. Salmon Street Portland, Oregon 97204 Attention: Mr. Robert H. Short Chairman of the Board and ,

Chief Executive Officer .

Dear Mr. Short:

h During my visit to the PGE corporate offices on May 6, 1986, I took the occasion to discuss with you and Mr Lindblad, PGE President, concerns which this office had regarding the lack.of strong emphasis by PGE on actively

, seeking out problem areas. As an example, we discussed the results of a 1

recent inspection by this of fice which had revealed the near absence of quality control involvement in maintenance activities at the Trojan plant for many years. fhis finding followed an equally disturbing finding earlier wherein the Quality Assurance Manager was not badged for access to the Trojan

, plant. We consider the Quality Assurance organization a direct extension of management and one of the key mechanisms by which senior management is continually apprised of the overall ef fectiveness of its nuclear activities.

1 1

During our meeting on May 6, I also discussed with you, briefly, a developing i concern regarding evidence of restrained thermal growth and resulting overstress of the reactor coolant system (PCS) piping. I told you at that

time that I suspected this was an instance of where ?GE had not actively

pursued symptoms of a problem. The purpose of this letter is to followup on i our prior discussion regardirg that concern. Developments since our meeting on

May 6 have revealed the f ollwing:

{ l. It has been confirmed that the RCS piping was subjected'to restrained

! thermal growth and resulting stress levels in excess of design thermal

, loading conditions.

2. There were apparent opportunities commencing in 1982, which if pursued .

could have provided earlier identification and correction of the l condition of restrained thermal growth.

3. At the time of our meeting on May 6, PGE's plans for evaluating and

correcting conditions which led to restrained thermal growth of the RCS were not satisfactory and had to be expanded to insure; (a) thorough inspection of the RC3 for evidence of the causes of I

restrained thermal growth, i

(b) a thorough root cauw analysis of previous steam generator hydraulic

• snubber failures, 860707 4 l ' tim ' ' A'D c k 0500' u

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- cry u.uy. rJgrygaWiH)s oversight of PGE's consultant involved in thermal expansion and RCS piping analyses, and

• ' (d) the development of an effective monitoring program to verify the adequacy of corrective actions during subsequent heatups of the RCS.

4.

Upon completion of PGE's expanded investigative efforts the problem of restrained thermal growth of the RCS was found to be more extensive than initially assessed by PGE's technical staff at the May 6 meeting.

To PCE's credit, once the full extent and nature of the problems were recognized, appfopriate corrective actions were taken and the problems were satisfactorily resolved.

My concern, therefore, is not with PGE's overall technical competency to satisfactorily handle engineering problems, nor am I concerned that the Trojan plant is being operated unsafely. I am concerned, however, about the missed opportunities over the years and by the excessive prodding required by the NRC staff in this instance to finally assess this problem thoroughly.

I believe this is an example which illustrates, that PGE is not as aggressive as they should be in searching out their own problems and may be an indication that you are becoming overly dependent upon the NRC to identify problems needing attention.

I have discussed this concern with your management on several occasions in the past, and have emphasized the need for a self-critical attitude by PGE to learn from past experiences. I have taken this opportunity to make sure my concerns are communicated to and understood by the highest management level within PGE.

My staff and I plan to meet with members of your staff in the near future to review in some detail performance improvement initiatives discussed by Mr. ~

Withers in his letter to this office of June 20, 1986. The success of such initiatives will be largely dependent upon the attitudes, direction, and involvement of PGE top management.

I would be pleased to meet with you and members of PGE's Board of Directors, if desired, to discuss any questions you, or they, may- have regarding tht ' l points I've attempted to communicate in this letter. Please let me know if such a meeting would be beneficial.

Your cooperation in this matter is appreciated.

. S I"CU'.ll': i..,.

i

, r . :: .rtia J. B. Martin Regional Administrator cc:

W. J. Lindblad, PGE B. D. Withers, PGE W. S. Orser, PGE J. W. Durham, Esq., PGE f

.