ML20236B983

Discusses Insp During Nov 1988 & Forwards Notice of Violation & Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalty in Amount of $50,000.Advises That Any Inaccurate Info Provided to NRC in Future May Result in Violation & Enforcement Action

ML20236B983
Person / Time
Site:	South Texas
Issue date:	03/17/1989
From:	Martin R NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION IV)
To:	Goldberg J HOUSTON LIGHTING & POWER CO.
Shared Package
ML20236B986	List: ML20236B983 ML20236B999
References
EA-89-001, EA-89-1, NUDOCS 8903210417
Download: ML20236B983 (4)

Text

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9% 4 UNITED STATES -

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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION .

eih f . REGION IV -

h $, 8 611 RYAN PLAZA DRIVE. SUITE 1000 ARLINGTON. TEXAS 79011

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' MAR l 71989 q l

l Docket No. 50-498-License No. NPF-76  ;

EAL89-01 Houston Lighting &. Power Company ATTN: . J.-H. Goldberg, Group Vice President, Nuclear Post Office Box 1700 Houston,' Texas 77001 i

Gentlemen:

SU8 JECT: < NOTICE OF VIOLATION AND PROPOSED IMPOSITION OF CIVIL' PENALTY

(

.NRC INSPECTION REPORT NO. 50-498/88-73 & 50-499/88-73)

This is'in reference to a Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). inspection

~

conducted November 1-30, 1988', at. Houston Lighting & Power Company's South

~ Texas Project (STP) nuclear power plant, to NRC's discussions with HL&P officials- at'an enforcement conference in our offices on January 26, 1989, an'd'to additional discussions between.HL&P.and NRC officials following the enforcement confe'rence.

On November 29, 1988, HL&P reported that it had discovered that vortex suppressors(stainlesssteelgratings)hadnotbeeninstalled,althoughthey had been relied upon in the design of the STP Unit I containment. building emergency sumps. The discovery of-this apparent violation of NRC requirements resulted in-HL&P. declaring a Notification of1 Unusual Event, a declaration that the emergency cooling: subsystems that relied on these suppressors were

, inoperable and the initiation of an orderly shutdown of STP Unit'1, which was operating at-the time. ,

The fact that the vortex suppressors were missing is' viewed as significant.

They were relied upon in the design of the plant to prevent vortexing from occurring under specific emergency conditions during which the safety injection or containment' spray pumps would draw cooling water from the containment.

emergency sumps. Should vortexing occur, degradation of pump performance could I

1 CERTIFIED MAIL RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED Q

[ l 8903210417 890317 \

PDR ADOCK 05000498 W ,

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.- .. MAR I 71989 Houston Lighting & Power Company t occur because of air ingestion and these important safety systems could be  !

degraded. Not only did HL&P take credit for the suppressors in the plant's 1 Final Safety Analysis Report (FSAR), but also took credit for them in a request to NRC to dispense with certain startup tests of the safety injection and containment spray systems. In the NRC's view, the significance of this matter 1 is increased by the recognition that the intended location of these devices, if not installed in accordance with the FSAR, greatly reduced both the opportunity to discover and the likelihood of discovering the fact they were missing.

HL&P stated during the enforcement conference that under no circumstances would pump degradation significant enough to prevent system functioning have occurred. The NRC determined that HL&P's preliminary conclusions were based on a number of non-conservative assumptions and therefore the NRC concluded that "

the HL&P position had not adequately been supported by analysis. Additional analysis, performed for HL&P by consultants using different methodology, reached a conclusion similar to that originally arrived at by HL&P. Further assessment of this problem by the NRC leads us to conclude that it is unlikely that a full loss of system function would have resulted from the failure to have the vortex suppressors installed. We further conclude that a degradation rather than a loss of safety function would have occurred had these safety systems been called upon to draw water from the emergency sumps. Nevertheless, a significant violation of NRC requirements occurred and it is only fortuitous that it did not result in loss of a safety function. In accordance with the

" General Statement of Policy and Procedure for NRC Enforcement Actions," 10 CFR Part 2, Appendix C (1988) (Enforcement Policy), the violation described in the enclosed Notice of Violation and Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalty (Notice) has been classified at Severity Level III.

To emphasize the irportance of verifying that equipment that is relied upon in the design of the plant is in fact installed and available, I have been authorized, after consultation with the Director, Office of Enforcement, and the Deputy Executive Director for Materials Safety, Safeguards and Operations '

Support, to issue the enclosed Notice of Violation and Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalty in the amount of Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000) for the violation described in the enclosed Notice.

The base value of a civil penalty for a Severity Level III violation is $50,000.

The NRC Enforcement Policy allows for increasing or reducing a civil penalty under certain circumstances. In this case, no adjustment of the base civil penalty was deemed appropriate. The NRC recognizes that HL&P discovered this condition, reported it to NRC and implemented prompt and extensive corrective actions. Because HL&P took credit for the suppressors in the plant's Final Safety Analysis Report and in a request to the NRC to dispense with certain startup tests of the safety injection and containment spray systems, it should have been aware that the suppressors were not installed. For that reason miti-gation for your identification and corrective action was offset by the duration of the violation.

It should be noted that the NRC is concerned that your certification of the readiness of the plant to operate has been shown in this case to have been i inaccurate. We wish to make it known that such statements could, under certain {

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r MAR I 71989 Houston Lighting & Power Company - 3. -

l circumstances, constitute a violation of the " accurate andl complete information" requirement of 10 CFR 50.9, and we wish to emphasize that any inaccurate information provided to the NRC in the future may result in a violation and appropriate enforcement action.

1 You are required to respond to this letter and should follow the instructions I specified in the enclosed Notice when preparing your response. In your response, you should document the specific actions taken and any additional actions you plan to prevent recurrence. Af ter reviewing your response to this Notice, including your proposed corrective actions and the results of future inspections, the NRC will determine whether further NRC enforcement action is necessary to ensure compliance with NRC regulatory 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 enclosure will be placed in the NRC Public Document Room.

I 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, p 7

& k ' Ytti Robert D. Martin Regional Administrator  ;

Enclosure:

Notice of Violation and Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalty cc:

See attached i

, L- ,

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l MAR l 71983 Houston Lighting & Power Company \- ]

l cc:

Texas Radiation Control Program Director-Houston Lighting & Power Company Houston Light & Power Company ',

. ATTN: M. A. McBurnett, Manager ~ ATTN: Gerald E. Vaughn, Vice President Operations Support Licensing Nuclear Operations P.O. Box 289 .P.O. Box 289 ,

Wadsworth, Texas 77483 Wadsworth, Texas 77483  ;

Houston Lighting & Power Company L Central Power & Light Company ATTN: J. T. Westermeier, General Manager ATTH: R. L. Range /R. P. Verret

. South Texas Project P.O. Box 212 P.O._ Box 289 . Corpus Christi, Texas 78403 Wadsworth, Texas 77483- q

-City of Austin Electric Utility- Newman & Holtzinger, P.C.

ATTN: R. J. Miner, Chief Operating ATTN: J. R. Newman, Esquire  !

Officer 1615 L Street, N.W.

721.Barton Springs Road Washington, D.C. 20036' Austin, Texas 78704 . .

H 1

Houston Lighting & Power Company Houston Lighting & Power Company ATTN: S. L. Rosen ATTN: .R. W. Chewning, Chairman.- __  ;

P.O. Box 289 .

Nuclear Safety Review Board Wadsworth, Texas 77483 P.O. Box 289 Wadsworth, Texas 77483 City Public Service Board ATTN: R. J. Costello/M. T. Hardt P.O. Box 1771 San Antonio, Texas 78296 i

Houston Lighting & Power Company

ATTN: Licensing Representative .

Suite 610 Three Metro Center

-Bethesda, Maryland 20814 i

l 1

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