ML20213A116

Discusses Insp Repts 50-354/86-41,50-354/86-47 & 50-354/86-50 on 860813-1013 & Forwards Notice of Violation. Civil Penalty Not Proposed for Violation a Re Inoperable Vacuum Relief Sys Due to Prompt Corrective Actions

ML20213A116
Person / Time
Site:	Hope Creek
Issue date:	01/27/1987
From:	Murley T NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION I)
To:	Corbin McNeil Public Service Enterprise Group
Shared Package
ML20213A118	List: ML20213A116 ML20213A127
References
EA-86-192, NUDOCS 8702030105
Download: ML20213A116 (4)

See also: IR 05000354/1986041

Text

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JM 2 71987

Docket No. 50-354

License No. NPF-57

EA 86-192

Public Service Electric & Gas Company

ATTN: Mr. C. A. McNeill, Jr.

Vice President - Nuclear

Post Office Box 236"

Hancocks Bridge, New Jersey 08038

Gentlemen:

SUBJECT: NOTICE OF VIOLATION (NRC INSPECTION REPORT NOS. 50-354/86-41;

86-47; 86-50)

This refers to three NRC inspections conducted between August 13, 1986 and

October 13, 1986 at the Hope Creek Nuclear Power Station. The three inspection

reports documenting the results of the inspections were sent to you on October 6,

31, and November 6, 1986, respectively. One of the inspections was conducted

to review the circumstances associated with a violation of the Technical Speci-

fications which was identified by your staff and promptly reported to the NRC.

This violation involved the inoperability of the suppression chamber / reactor

building vacuum relief system. Another violation of the plant Technical

Specifications was identified during the other two inspections involving the

inoperability, in the event of a loss of offsite power, of acoustic monitors

for safety relief valves. Accordingly, on November 17, 1986, an enforcement

conference was conducted with you and members of your staff to discuss the

violations, their causes and your corrective actions.

Violation A described in the enclosed Notice of Violation involves the inoperable

vacuum relief system. This system was inoperable in that the differential

pressure transmitters' (DPT) sensing lines, which sense suppression chamber and

reactor building relative pressure, were reversed when connected to the DPT.

In this configuration, the butterfly valve, when required to open due to a

vacuum in the suppression chamber, would actually remain closed and, when

required to remain closed on increasing suppression chamber pressure, would

actually have opened. This error occurred because an engineer had incorrectly

described the connection of the sensing lines to the DPT on the design documents,

and neither subsequent reviews nor post installation testing resulted in iden-

tification of this error. Although the NRC recognizes that manual operation

of the butterfly valves was not affected by the error, and a reactor operator,

in fact, manually opened the valves after recognizing that the suppression

chamber vacuum had exceeded its technical specification limit, loss of this

automatic feature for operating the valves constitutes a significant violation

of the Technical Specifications.

OFFICIAL RECORD COPY Cp PKG HOPE CREEK - 0001.0.0

8702030105 87c127 01/27/87

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Public Service Electric &

Gas Company 2

This violation is classified as a Severity Level III violation in accordance

with the " General Statement of Policy and Procedure for NRC Enforcement Actions,"

10 C.F.R. Part 2, Appendix C (Enforcement Policy) (1986). Although a civil

penalty is normally considered for a Severity Level III violation, after

consultation with the Director, Office of Inspection and Enforcement, I have

decided that a civil penalty will not be proposed in this case because (1) the

violation was identified by your staff and promptly reported to the NRC; and

(2) your corrective actions, both short-term and long-term, were unusually

prompt and extensive.. Nonetheless, the NRC emphasizes that any similar viola-

tions in the future may result in escalated enforcement action.

The other Technical Specification violation, Violation B, involves the inoper-

able acoustic monitors in the event of a loss of offsite power. Since it is

considered of lower safety significance, it has been classified as a Severity

Level IV violation. In view of the fact that your staff uncovered other

deficiencies involving the failure to meet certain commitments concerning

uninterruptable power sources, as discussed in the inspection reports, we

emphasize that any similar violations in the future may result in additional

enforcement action.

4

You are required to respond to the this letter and should follow the instructions

specified in the enclosed Notice when preparing your response. In your response,

you should document the specific actions taken and any additional action you

plan to prevent recurrence. After reviewing your response to this Notice,

including your proposed corrective actions, the NRC will determine whether

further NRC enforcement action is necessary to ensure compliance with NRC regula-

tory requirements.

In accordance with Section 2.790 of the NRC's " Rules of Practice," Part 2,

Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, a copy of this letter and its enclosures

will be placed in the NRC Public Document Room.

The responses directed by this letter and the enclosed Notice are not subject

to the clearance procedures of the Office of Management and Budget, as required

by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980, Pub. L. No.96-511.

Sincerely,

,

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Crin! al rigned by

TheaniE. Mur107.

Thomas E. Murley

Regional Administrator

Enclosure: Notice of Violation

1

0FFICIAL RECORD COPY CP PKG HOPE CREEK - 0002.0.0

01/27/87

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Public Service Electric &

Gas Company 3

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cc w/ encl:

P. R. H. Landrieu, Vice President - Engineering (Newark)

R. S. Salvesen, General Manager, Hope Creek Operations

A. E. Giardino, Manager, Station Quality Assurance

R. L. Mitti, General Manager, Nuclear Assurance and Regulation

W. H. Hirst, Manager, Joint Generation Projects Department, Atlantic

Electric Company

L. A. Reiter, General Manager - Licensing and Reliability

Rebecca A. Green, Bureau of Radiation Protection

Public Document Room (PDR)

local Public Document Room (LPDR)

Nuclear Safety Information Center (NSIC)

NRC Resident Inspector

State of New Jersey

4

0FFICIAL RECORD COPY CP PKG HOPE CREEK - 0003.0.0

01/27/87

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Public Service Electric &

Gas Company 4

bec w/ enc 1:

Region I Docket Room (with concurrences)

Management Assistant, DRMA (w/o encl)

DRP Section Chief

Robert J. Bores, DRSS

SECY

CA

J. Taylor, IE

B. Beach, IE

T. Murley, RI

H. Denton, NRR

D. Holody, RI

J. Lieberman, OGC

V. Stello, EDO

J. Sniezek, OED/ROGR

Enforcement Directors RII-III

Enforcement Officers RIV-RV

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F. Ingram, PA '

) J. Crooks, AE00

B. Hayes, OI

S. Connelly, DIA

D. Nussbaumer, OSP

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IE/EA File

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DCS

Office of State Programs

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