ML20216E787
| ML20216E787 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Beaver Valley |
| Issue date: | 03/09/1998 |
| From: | Wiggins J NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION I) |
| To: | Cross J DUQUESNE LIGHT CO. |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20216E791 | List: |
| References | |
| 50-334-98-80, 50-412-98-80, EA-98-072, EA-98-120, EA-98-121, EA-98-72, NUDOCS 9803180158 | |
| Download: ML20216E787 (5) | |
See also: IR 05000334/1998080
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March 9, 1998
EA No. 98-72
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Mr. J. E. Cross
President
. Generation Group
Duquesne Light Company (DLC)
Post Office Box 4
Shippingport, Pennsylvania 15077
SUBJECT:
NRC INSPECTION REPORT 50-334/98-80,50-412/98-80,
NOTICE OF VIOLATION AND EXERCISE OF ENFORCEMENT DISCRETION
Dear Mr. Cross:
This refers to the NRC Engineering Team inspection that was conducted at the Beaver
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Valley Power Station from January 5 through February 12,1998. The overall objective of
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the inspection was to determine whether engineering was providing support for safe plant
operations. This inspection included evaluation of the 10 CFR 50.59 safety evaluation
program for preparing safety evaluations relating tc changes, tests or experiments at the
plant.
On January 23,1998, Mr. Kaufman discussed the preliminary findings with you and other
members of your staff. At the conclusion of the inspection on February 12,1998, Mr.
' Kaufman discussed additional findings with Messrs. Sushil Jain and Dick'Brandt of your
staff at the site.
The inspectors judged that Duquesne Light Company (DLC) demonstrated a conservative
safety perspective when DLC decided to taka Unit 1 from hot shutdown to cold shutdown
on January 4,1998, to conduct further applicability engineering reviews to determine if an
identified Unit 2 nonconforming condition related to Westinghouse 7300 series circuit
cards also existed in Unit 1. Further, the inspectors concluded that your engineering staff
was providing timely support for emergent technical issues and was generally effective in
supporting safe plant operations. This inspection also determined that the 50.59 safoty
evaluation program was being implemented satisfactorily. However, while this inspection
found no specific problems regarding the prioritization of engineering work items, other
than for a residual heat removal (RHR) flow control valve, the inspectors noted that work
backlogs increased in many areas in 1997.
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Mr. J.~ E. Cross
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The inspectors also identified that violations of NRC requirements occurred. These
violations are cited in the enclosed Notice of Violation (Notice) and the circumstances
surrounding them are described in detail in the subject inspection report. The violations
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involved untimely corrective actions for a RHR valve and inadequate safety evaluations in
December 1997 for an operational procedure change associated with the RHR valve
problem and in December 1994 for a modification to the auxiliary intake structure.
You are required to respond to this letter and should follow the instructions specified in the
enclosed Notice when preparing your response. The NRC will use your response, in part,
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' to determine whether further enforcement action is necessary to ensure compliance with
regulatory requirements.
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Additionally, the NRC team reviewed your self-identified issue involving an old design -
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deficiency associated with Westinghouse 7300 circuit cards which failed to meet IEEE- 279-1971 design separation requirements. The issue was identified by your engineering
staff through voluntary initiatives. The NRC considers your initiatives to identify
longstanding design issues noteworthy. Corrective actions taken and planned were
comprehensive and should prevent recurrence. The design deficiency was subtle in nature
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and was not likely to be identified by routine surveillance or quality assurance activities.
The old design issue apparently stemmed from an inadequate initial design review, r id was
a violation of NRC requirements which could be considered for escalated enforcerr. iit and
subject to a civil penalty. However, after consultation with the Director, Office of
Enforcement, and the Regional Administrator, I have been authorized to not issue a Notice
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of Violation and not propose a civil penalty in this case in accordance with the provisions
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provided in Section Vll.B.3 of the NRC's Enforcement Policy. This decision.was made after
consideration that: (1) the violation was identified by your staff's good questioning
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attitudes during voluntary initiatives; (2) corrective actions, both taken and planned, were
comprehensive and timely; (3) the condition was subtle in nature and not likely to be
disclosed through routine surveillance or quality assurance activities; and (4) the violation
was not reasonably linked to current performance. The exercise of discretion
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acknowledges your good effort to identify and correct subtle violations, that would not be
identified by routine efforts, before the degraded safety systems are called upon.
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.790 of the NRC's " Rules of Practice," a copy of this letter,
its enclosures, and your response will be placed in the NRC Public Document Room (PDR).
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Should you have any questions concerning this inspection, please contact the team leader
Mr. Paul Kaufman at (610) 337-5082.
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Mr. J. E. Cross
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_ We appreciate your cooperation.
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Sincerely,
ORIGINAL SIGNED BY:
James T. Wiggins, Director
Division of Reactor Safety
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Docket Nos.: 50-334, 50-412
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License Nos: DRP-66, NPF-73
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Enclosures:
Inspection Report 50-334/98-80 and 50-412/98-80
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cc w/encis:
S. Jain, Senior Vice President, Nuclear Services
D. Brandt, Vice President, Nuclear Operations Group and Plant Manager
W. Kline, Manager, Nuclear Engineering Department
B. Tuite, General Manager, Nuclear Operations Unit
M. Pergar, Acting Manager, Quality Services Unit
J. Arias, Director, Safety & Licensing Department
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J. MacDonald, Manager, System and Performance Engineering
M. Clancy, Mayor
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
State of Ohio
State of West Virginia
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Mr. J. E. Cross
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Distribution w/encis:
Region i Docket Room (with concurrences)
PUBLIC
Nuclear Safety information Center (NSIC)
NRC Resident inspector
H. Miller, RA/W. Axelson, DRA (irs)
J. Wiggins, DRS
L. Nicholson, DRS
P. Kaufman, DRP
B. Boger, ADPR, NRR
J. Goldberg, OGC
J. Lieberman, OE (OEMAIL)
D. Holody, EO, RI
,
T. Walker, SES
N. Perry, DRP
D. Haverkamp, DRP
A. Linde, DRP
DRS File
Distribution w/enci (VIA E-MAIL):
J. Stolz, PDI-2, NRR
B. McCabe, OEDO
DOCDESK
Inspection Program Branch, NRR (IPAS)
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DOCUMENT NAME: A:BV98080. INS
To seeelve a copy of this f-
nadicate in $a boa: 'C' = Copy without ettschment/ enclosure
'E' = Copy with attachment / enclosure
- N* = No copy
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Rl/DRS
OFFICE
Rl/DRS
NAME
PKauftnan~ J/
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DATE
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03/4//98 'f P
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03//98
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OFF CIAL HECORD COPY
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Mr. J. E. Cross
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Distribution w/encls:
Region i Docket Room (with concurrences)
PUBLIC
Nuclear Safety information Center (NSIC)
NRC Resident inspector
H. Miller, RA/W. Axelson, DRA (irs)
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J. Wiggins, DRS
L. Nicholson, DRS
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P. Kaufman, DRP
B. Boger, ADPR, NRR
J. Goldberg, OGC
J. Lieberman, OE (OE*J c)
D. Holody, EO, RI
'
T. Walker, SES
N. Perry, DRP
D. Haverkamp, DRP
A. Linde, DRP
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DRS File
Distribution w/enci (VIA E-MAIL):
J. Stolz, PDI-2, NRR
B. McCabe, OEDO
DOCDESK
Inspection Program Branch, NRR (IPAS)
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DOCUMENT NAME: a:\\bv98080. ins
Ts receive a copy of this document, indicate in the box: "C" = Copy without attachment / enclosure
- E" = Copy with attachment / enclosure
"N" = No
copy
OFFICE
RI:DRS
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RI:DRS
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RI:DRP
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Al:DRS
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NAME
PKaufman*
GMeyer*
NPerry*
TWalket
JWiggins@/
DATE
03/05/98
03/ /98
03/ /98
03/6 N8
03/q/98 U
OFFICIAL RECORD COPY
'See Previous Concurrence Copy
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