ML20217D621
| ML20217D621 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Clinton  |
| Issue date: | 03/20/1998 |
| From: | Grobe J NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION III) |
| To: | Walter MacFarland ILLINOIS POWER CO. |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20217D624 | List: |
| References | |
| 50-461-98-04, 50-461-98-4, EA-98-159, NUDOCS 9803300109 | |
| Download: ML20217D621 (4) | |
See also: IR 05000461/1998004
Text
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March 20, 1998
EA 98-159
Mr. Walter G. MacFarland, IV
Chief Nuclear Officer
Clinton Power Station
lilinois Power Company
Mail Code V-275
P.O. Box 678
Clinton,IL 61727
SUBJECT:
NRC SPECIAL INSPECTION REPORT 50-461/98004(DRS) AND EXERCISE
Dear Mr. MacFarland:
- On February 16,1998, the NRC completed a special inspection at your Clinton Nuclear Power
Station. The enclosed report presents the results of this inspection.
The purpose of this inspection was to_ review the circumstances surrounding a loss of shutdown
cooling event which occurred on February 13,1998, and a potential division 2 emergency diesel
generator overload event which occurred on February 11,1998.
For the loss of shutdown cooling event, the inspectors focused on: (1) the status and reliability
of plant equipment supplying power to the shutdown cooling isolation valve containment
isolation logic, (2) actions taken by the control room staff to respond to the event, (3) corrective
actions taken in response to the event, (4) work planning scheduling and risk assessment, and
(5) the adequacy and implementation of relevant procedures.
Following a review of this event, we determined that actions taken to prevent recurrence of
inverter failures were ineffective, which re-enforces our previous concems with the station's
corrective action program. We also determined that, prior to the removal of the inverter's
backup power supply from service, the associated risk was not adequately considered.' The
Clinton Power Station shutdown risk management program has also previously been of concem
to the NRC. Finally, we identified that some operators had not been adequately briefed on the
event, were not knowledgeable of procedures written to address a potential recurrence of the
event, and had not been adequately informed of the status of important plant equipment
affected during the event. Although management expectations were that the operating crews
would be knowledgeable of all of the aspects of the event, operations management failed to
ensure that these actions were accomplished.
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W. MacFarland
2
March 20, 1998
Despite the problems which occurred prior to the event and which resulted in unnecessarily -
' challenging the control room staff, no significant deficiencies were identified in the performance
of their duties. Shutdown cooling was restored in a timely manner.
For the potential emergency diesel generator overload event, the inspectors focused on:
(1) indications available to the operators that an overload condition existed, (2) the response of
the operations staff to questionable local indications, and (3) planned corrective actions.
Following a review of this event, we determined that your operations staff failed to adequately
question and take a conservative approach to address differing indications from two separate
pieces of equipment. At the end of the inspection, a root cause for the differing indications had
.
not been identified, therefore your staff had not been able to determine whether an actual
overload condition existed. However, the troubleshooting activities you have taken or planned
- to take to address this event appeared appropriate.
Based on the results of this inspection, which are briefly discussed above, the NRC has
' determined that violations of NRC requirements occurred. Individually and collectively the
violations are of regulatory concem because the barriers and processes in place at the time of
the events were not adequate or effective to assure that: (1) conditions adverse to quality were
promptly identified and corrected, and (2) written procedures were adequate and properly
implemented.
However, I have been authorized after consultation with the Director Office of Enforcement and
the Regional Administrator, to exercise enforcement discretion in accordance with Section
Vll.B.2, " Violations identified During Extended Shutdowns or Work Stoppages," of the " General
. Statement of Policy and Procedures for NRC Enforcement Actions" (Enforcement Policy), and
not issue a Notice of Violation in this case. The decision to apply enforcement discretion was
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based on consideration of the following: (1) significant NRC enforcement action was taken
against the Illinois Power Company for several programmatic breakdowns (including procedure
adherence / adequacy and corrective actions) for which Clinton Power Station's corrective
actions encompassed the root causes for these violations; (2) additional enforcement action
was not considered to be necessary to achieve remedial action for these violations due to
CPS's commitments in its Plan For Excellence to take actions to address procedural and
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. corrective action problems prior to plant restart; (3) the violations were related to problems
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which were present prior to the events leading to the shutdown; (4) the violations would not be
- classified at a severity level higher than Severity Level 11; (5) the violations were not willful, and
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- (6) lilinois Power Company will meet with the NRC to explain their efforts to resolve these
Issues prior to restart as reflected in the NRC's September 26,1997. Demand for information
(EA 97-435). Effective corrective actions will need to be demonstrated prior to restart. The
NRC must emphasize that failure to achieve effective performance improvement would lead to -
more significant regulatory sanctions.
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W. MacFarland
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March 20, 1998
in accordance with 10 CFR 2.790 of the NRC's " Rules of Practice," a copy of this letter and its
enclosure will be placed in the NRC Public Document Room.
We will gladly discuss any questions you have concerning this inspection.
Sincerely,
Original Signed by J. A. Grobe
John A. Grobe, Director
Division of Reactor Safety
Docket No. 50-461
License No. NPF42
Enclosure:
Inspection Report 50-461/98004(DRS)
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cc w/ encl:
G. Hunger, Station Manager
R. Pharss, Manager, Nuclear Safety
and Performance improvement
J. Sipek, Director - Licensing
Nathan Schloss, Economist
Office of the Attorney General
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G. Stramback, Regulatory Licensing
Services Project Manager
General Electric Company
Chairman, DeWitt County Board
State Liaison Officer
Chairman, Illinois Commerce Commission
Distribution:
Docket File w/ enc!
DRP w/enct
SRI Clinton w/ enc!
PUBLIC IE-01 w/enct
Project Managt .JRR VIencl
Rlll PRR w/ encl
Rlli Enf. Coordh
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IEO w/enci(E-mail)
TSS w/enci
A. B. Beach w/enci
DOCDESK (F.-in,
Deputy RA w/enci
DRS (2) w/ei cl
GREENS
J. Lieberman, OE
J. Goldberg, OGC
B. Boger, NR 3
' DOCUMENT NAME: G:\\DRS\\CLl98004.DRS (SEE PREVIOUS CONCURRENCE)
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in accordance with 10 CFR 2.790 of the NRC's " Rules of Practice," a copy of this letter and its
enclosure will be placed in the NRC Public Document Room.
.
We will gladly discuss any questions you have concerning this inspection.
Sincerely,
John A. Grobe, Director
Division of Reactor Safety
Docket No. 50-461
License No. NPF-62
Enclosure:
Inspection Report 50-461/98004(DRS)
cc w/ encl:
W. D. Romberg, Assistant Vice President
R. Phares, Manager, Nuclear Safety and
Performance improvement
J. Sipek, Director - Licensing
Nathan Schloss, Economist,
Office of the Attorney General
G. Stramback, Regulatory Services
Project Manager, General Electric Company
Chairman, DeWitt County Board
State Liaison Officer
Chairman, Illinois Commerce Commission
Distribution
Docket File w/enct
Rill PRR w/enci
Rlli Enf. Coordinator w/ encl
PUBLIC IE-01 w/ encl
SRI, Clinton w/enci
TSS w/enci
LPM, NRR w/enci
J. L. Caldwell, Rlli w/ encl
DOCDESK w/ encl
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DRP w/enci
A. B. Beach, Rlll w/enci
CAA1 w/enci
DRS w/enci
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DOCUMENT NAME: G:\\DRS\\CLl98004.DRS
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