ML20212F496
| ML20212F496 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Millstone  |
| Issue date: | 09/20/1999 |
| From: | Linville J NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION I) |
| To: | Necci R NORTHEAST NUCLEAR ENERGY CO. |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20212F502 | List: |
| References | |
| 50-245-99-08, 50-336-99-08, 50-423-99-08, NUDOCS 9909280223 | |
| Download: ML20212F496 (4) | |
See also: IR 05000245/1999008
Text
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September 20,1999
Mr. R. P. Necci, Vice President
Nuclear Oversight and Regulatory Affairs
e/o Mr. D. A. Smith, Manager- Regulatory Affairs
Northeast Nuclear Energy Company
P.O. Box 128
Waterford, Connecticut 06385
SUBJECT:
NRC COMBINED INSPECTION 50-245/99-08,50-336/99-08,50-423/99-08
Dear Mr. Necci:
On August 9,1999, the NRC completed an inspection at Millstone Units 1,2, and 3 reactor
facilities. The enclosed report presents the results of that inspection.
During the eight-week period covered by this inspection, your staff conducted activities at the
Millstone Station with an appropriate focus on safe plant operations. Unit 3 operators performed
the reactor and plant startup from the sixth refueling outage in a deliberate and conservative
manner. Equipment performance posed few operational challenges to the operators and to the
Unit 2 and 3 plants. Our inspection activities at Unit 3 identified acceptable controls and priority
for maintenance activities, an appropriate understanding of the risk impacts on the plant, and
good coordination among departments. We also understand that Unit 3 management initiated
actions to review for potential improvements of those process controls affecting work flow and
equipment outage times, and to review the resultant impact upon the operational focus of the
plant.
.
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- However, our inspectors identified several instances at Unit 2 where your staff failed to initiate
condition reports for degraded equipment and take adequate corrective actions. Although we
consider the overall corrective action processes to be effective, we are concerned with the
number of corrective action issues 'recently identified by the NRC and the potential for some of
these issues to render safety-related systems inoperable. One example was the failure to
initiate a condition report and take timely corrective actions in response to evidsnce that there
,
was air trapped in one train of emergency core cooling system piping. The prompt verification
that the line was filled with water was required to ensure that there was no potential to air-bind
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the associated high pressure safety injection and containment spray pumps. A second example
was the failure to initiate a condition report and implement effective corrective actions when a
,
significant amount of water was identified in the oil removed from the outboard bearing of the "B"
auxiliary feed water pump during a scheduled oil change on April 12,1999. Although the
f
bearing oil was replaced at that time, the lack of additional actions resulted in the recurrence of
[
the condition on June 1,1999. Two other examples where a condition report was not initiated
involved excessive reactor building closed cooling water flow to the "B" containment air cooler
and a leaking safety injection tank isolation valve.
,
9909290223 990920
ADOCK 05000245
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Mr. R. P. Necci
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' Also during this period, we observed your staff performing a comprehensive review and
evaluation to understand the cause of a seven rem exposure to an individual's personal
radiation monitoring device. Based on available evidence, your staff determined that an actual
personnel exposure was not likely. Consequently, your staff is actively investigating the
possibility of tampering with the individual's dosimeter.
Based on the results of this inspection, the NRC has determined that four Level IV violations of
NRC requirements, which were associated with the above corrective actions issues, occurred.
The NRC has also determined that seven Level IV violations of NRC requirements, which were
associated with conditions described in Licensee Event Reports (LERs), occurred. Six of the
seven LERs concerned issues identified before 1999. These violations are being treated as
Non-Cited Violations (NCVs), consistent with the NRC Enforcement Policy. These NCVs are
described in the subject inspection report. If you contest the violation or severity level of these
NCVs, you should provide a response within 30 days of the date of this inspection report, with
the basis for your denial, to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ATTN: Document Control
Desk, Washington DC 20555-0001; with copies to the Regional Administrator, Region 1; the
Director, Office of Enforcement, United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington,
DC 20555-0001; and the NRC Resident inspector at the Millstone facility,
in accordance with 10 CFR 2.790 of the NRC's " Rules of Practice," a copy of this letter and its
enclosures will be placed in the NRC Public Document Room (PDR).
Sincerely,
ORIGINAL SIGNED BY:
James C. Linville, Director
Millstone Inspection Directorate
Office of the Regional Administrator
Region l
Docket Nos. 50-245,50-336 and 50-423
Enclosure:
NRC Combined inspection Report 50-245/99-08,50-336/99-08 and 50-423/99-08
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Mr. R. P. Necci
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cc w/ encl:
B. D. Kenyon, President - Generation Group
L. J. Olivier, Senior Vice President & Chief Nuclear Officer
M. H. Brothers, Vice President - Operations
F. C. Rothen, Vice President - Nuclear Work Services
D. Amerine, Vice President - Engineering Services
J. T. Carlin, Vice President - Human Services
G. D. Hicks, Director - Nuclear Training Services (CT)
C. J. Schwarz, Director - Unit 3 Operations
J. A. Price, Director- Unit 2 Operations
D. Landeche, Director - Unit 1 Operations
L. M. Cuoco, Senior Nuclear Counsel
J. R. Egan, Esquire
N. Burton, Esquire
V. Juliano, Waterford Library
J. Buckingham, Department of Public Utility Control
State of Connecticut SLO Designee
First Selectmen, Town of Waterford
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D. Katz, Citizens Awareness Network (CAN)
T. Concannon, Co-Chair, NEAC
R. Bassilakis, CAN
J. M. Block, Attorney, CAN
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G. Winslow, Citizens Regulatory Commission (CRC)
E. Woollacott, Co-Chair, NEAC
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Mr. R. P. Necci
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Distribution w/ encl:
Region i Docket Room (with.g_opy of concurrences)
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Nuclear Safety information Center (NSIC)
PUBLIC
NRC Resident inspector
H. Miller, RA/J. Wiggins, DRA
B. Davis, PiMB/ DISP
J. Linville, Millstone inspection Directorate, RI
M. Oprendek, DRP
D. Screnci, PAO
Distribution w/enci(VIA E-MAIL):
T. Madden, OCA
R. Correia, NRR
M. Tschiltz, OEDO
W. Dean, Chief, inspection Programs Branch, NRR
inspection Program Branch <lPAS>
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DOCUMENT NAME: G:\\ BRANCH 6\\ Mill 99-08.wpd
To receive a copy of this document, indicate in the box: "C" = Copy withou
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"E" = Copy
with ettachment/ enclosure
"N" = No copy
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