ML20236M277

Discusses Insp Rept 50-369/87-26 on 870803-07 & Forwards Notice of Violation & Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalty in Amount of $100,000.Penalty Based on Inoperability of Train a Emergency Diesel Generator on 870726 & 30

ML20236M277
Person / Time
Site:	McGuire
Issue date:	10/28/1987
From:	Grace J NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION II)
To:	Tucker H DUKE POWER CO.
Shared Package
ML20236M281	List: ML20236M277 ML20236M292
References
EA-87-163, NUDOCS 8711130069
Download: ML20236M277 (4)

See also: IR 05000369/1987026

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OCT 2 81987 1

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Docket No. 50-369

License No. NPF-9  ;

EA 87-163 4

Duke Pown, company

ATTN' Mr. H. B. Tucker, Vice President

Nuclear Production Department

422 South Church Street

Charlotte, NC 28242

Gentlemen:

,

SUBJECT: NOTICE OF VIOLATION AND PROPOSED IMPOSITION OF CIVIL PENALTY

(NRC INSPECTION REPORT NO. 50-369/87-26)

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This refers to the inspection conducted on August 3-7, 1987, at the McGuire l

Nuclear Plant, Huntersville, NC. The inspection included 'a review of the

circumstances surrounding the inoperability of the Unit 1, Train A, Emergency

Diesel Generator (D/G-1A), which occurred between July 26 and July 30, 1987. l

This event was identified by the plant staff and reported to the NRC. The j

report documenting this inspection was sent to you by letter dated September 10, '

1987. As a result of this inspection, significant failures to comply with NRC

regulatory requirements were identified, and accordingly, NRC concerns relative I

to the inspection findings were discussed .at an enforcement conference held on

September 15, 1987. The report documenting this conference was sent to you by

letter dated October 9,1987.

On July 26,'1987, at approximately 6:00 p.m., Removal and Restoration (R&R) l

No.17-169 was issued by the Assistant Shift Supervisor. to the Nuclear Equipment

Operators (NEO) to remove Unit 1, Train "A," Nuclear Service Water Cooling Pump '

(RN-1A) and associated equipment from service to permit RN-1A oil sampling.

The D/G-1A was included in Train "A" safety-related equipment that was removed

from service to prevent its operation without cooling water. On July 27, 1987,

the maintenance staff completed the oil sampling activities and two NEOs were

directed to restore RN-1A and its associated safety-related equipment (as

listed on R&R 17-169). The NE0s subsequently reported control power restored

to all components and R&R 17-169 completed. At approxitnately 5:00 a.m, the

control room declared all equipment associated with R&R 17-169 operable,

despite the fact that the control power had not been restored to D/G-1A. As a

result of the error, the 0/G-1A control power breaker remain'd e open, rendering

D/G-1A and associated Train "A" safety-related equipment inoperable.

On July 29, 1987, a Reactor Operator observed that the D/G-1A control switch

lights (red / green) in the control room were not illuminated which indicated

that 125VDC control power was not available to start D/G-1A. Additionally, the-

Reactor Operator observec ? rom the indication lights on the Unit 1 Bypass Panel

that D/G-1A was inoperable. Despite the multiple indicators available to him,

the Reactor Operator assumed the switch lamp socket was faulty and initiated a

work request to repair =the switch without attempting to verify the existence of

control power to D/G-1A.

85.1130069 871028 i

PDR ADOCK 05000369 )\

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Duke Power Company '

-2- OCT 28198T

On July 30, 1987, at approximately 3:30 a.m., R&R 17-185 was issued to remove

RN-1A from service to support the rodding out of the motor cooler heat exchanger-

While additional safety-related equipment was being removed from service the NEOs

discovered the D/G-1A control power breaker in the de-energized position and

reported their finding to the control room at approximately 5:30 a.m. At this

time, D/G-1A had been in an inoperable status for more than 72 hours8.333333e-4 days <br />0.02 hours <br />1.190476e-4 weeks <br />2.7396e-5 months <br />. On

July 30, 1987, at approximately 12:30 p.mc, the operability tests were completed

for D/G-1A which had then been inoperable for 90.5 hours5.787037e-5 days <br />0.00139 hours <br />8.267196e-6 weeks <br />1.9025e-6 months <br />. This sequence of

events resulted in D/G-1A being out of service for more than 72 hours8.333333e-4 days <br />0.02 hours <br />1.190476e-4 weeks <br />2.7396e-5 months <br />, leaving

the Train "A" emergency bus without an' emergency power supply. Unit 1 did not

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commence plant shutdown within 72 hours8.333333e-4 days <br />0.02 hours <br />1.190476e-4 weeks <br />2.7396e-5 months <br /> to reach a HOT STANDBY condition as-  !

required by Technical Specifications.

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There are two basic concerns with this event. First, we are concerned that

your Independent Verification Procedures, as well as Removal and Restoration 4

Procedures, were not followed by plant personnel. In particular, we are

concerned that a Senior Reactor Operator failed to properly review the R&R

document which, if done properly, would have.resulted in his detecting the

D/G-1A control power problem. Second, we are concerned r. bout the adequacy of,;

training for licensed Reactor and Senior Reactor Operators as well as NEOs.

During the time period while 0/G-1A was inoperable, six shift turnovers occurred =

without proper corrective action being_taken for the lack of control power

indication on the D/G-1A start /stop switch. . The six shift turnovers also 1

occurred without an adequate response to:the D/G-1A' inoperable indicator being I

illuminated on the Unit 1 Bypass panel, as required by Operations Management

Procedure 2-2. Training for NEOs regarding the removal and restoration of

safety-related equipment is also suspect and there are previous examples where

inadequate training may have significantly contributed to operational problems.

There were two earlier events documented which contained a number of similarities

to the incident for which this Notice is written. The first occurred on

January 3, 1985, and is addressed in Station Investigation Report 2-85-01 which

concerned an incident where a control board switch with indicator lights

extinguished went unnoticed for an unknown period of time. The second~ incident

occurred on October 22, 1985, and was addressed in Ctation Investigation Report

1-85-47 and Licensee Event Report '369/85-37. . This second event listed improper

independent verification as a primary cause in a Train "A" Engineered Safety

Features actuation.

To emphasize the need to improve independent verification, strict-compliance

with procedures, and attention to detail, I have been authorized, after consulta-

tion with the Director, Office of Enforcement, and the Deputy Executive Director

for Regional Operations, to issue the enclosed Notice.of Violation and Proposed

Imposition of Civil Penalty in the amount of One Hundred.Thousand Dollars

(5100,000) for the violations described in the enclosed Notice. In'accordance-

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

10 CFR Part 2,. Appendix C (1987) (Enforcement Policy), the violations described '

in the enclosed Notice have been categorized as al Severity Level-III problem

because of the safety significance involved. The base value of civil. penalty

for a Severity Level III violation or problem is $50,000. It is recognized

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Duke Power Company i- OCT 281987

bec w/ encl:

NRC Resident Inspector  ;

D. Hood, NRR

Document Control Desk

State of North Carolina

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JMTaylor, DEDO

TMartin, DEDRO  !

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LChandler, OGC

JLieberman, OE

JLuehman, OE

JNGrace, RII ,

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TMurley, NRR  !

BHayes, 01

SConnelly, OIA  ;

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FIngram, PA  !

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that the violations were eventually identified and reported by your staff;. 'j

however, the violations involved significant errors and there was ample oppor-  !

tunity for discovery and co' erection. The escalation and mitigation factorsLin

the Enforcement Policy were considered. The base civil penalty' amount has been' I

increased by 100 percent because of: (1) past poor performance in the area of I

concern as documented generally by Systematic Assessment of Licensee Performance

(SALP) in the operations area and specifically by the similar occurrences discussed

earlier, (2) the corrective actions taken on July 29, 1987 were not only inadequate

and non-conservative, in that it was assumed the problem was in the control panel.

indicators and not in the diesel generator itself, but untimely in that it.was.

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not recognized promptly that the indicator light was out. Specifically, multiple

shift turnovers occurred during the time the diesel generator was inoperable yet,

none of the licensed operators involved recognized the significance of the )

multiple indications of the problem available to them. l

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You are required to respond to 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.

actions you plan. to prevent recurrence.- After 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. Additionally,

your future plant operations will be closely reviewed to assure the NRC that

these events are, in fact, isolated problems.

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.

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

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

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

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Should you have any questions concerning this letter, please contact us.

Sincerely, 1

ORIGINAL SIGNED BY

M. L ERNST

J. Nelson Grace

Regional-Administrator

Enclosure:

Notice of Violation and

Proposed Imposition ,

of Civil Penalty '!

cc w/ encl:

T. L. McConnell, Station Manager

Senior Resident Inspector - Catawba

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