ML20236R568
| ML20236R568 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 07/06/1998 |
| From: | Callan L NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS (EDO) |
| To: | |
| References | |
| SECY-98-166, SECY-98-166-01, SECY-98-166-1, SECY-98-166-R, NUDOCS 9807220129 | |
| Download: ML20236R568 (13) | |
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POLICY ISSUE Juiv 6.1998 (InfOrTTlation)
SECY-98-166 EQB:
The Commissioners FROM L. Joseph Callan Executive Director for Operations
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SUBJECT:
SUMMARY
OF ACTIVITIES RELATED TO GENERIC SAFETY ISSUES PURPOSE:
To provide the annual summary report or activities related to generic safety issues (GSis).
BACKGROUND:
it has been the practice of the staff to provide the Commission with an annual update of its progress in resolving GSis. Further, in a staff requirements memorandum dated May 8,1998, in response to SECY-98-030 - Implementation of DSI-22, Research, the Commission directed the staff to provide an annual summary of activities related to open GSis.
The process for addressing GSis is an integral part of the Generic issues Program and consists of six steps; identification, prioritization, resolution, imposition, implementation, and verification.
Generally, safety concems associated with operating events, research results, or risk assessments form the basis for the identification of GSis by the staff, Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS), industry, or the public. After a potential GSI is identified, a decision is made conceming whether or not resources should be expended on the issue to define a resolution. This step, prioritization, may be completed by conducting an analysis of the potential safety or risk associated with the issue or by a management decision to treat the GSI as High priority. High and Medium priority GSIs enter the resolution step, and no additional action is taken for Low priority GSis. Resolution is the step which includes analysis of the GSI to identify potential cost beneficial actions to correct or resolve the GSI, in the imposition step, the affected licensees are required to prepare schedules for implementing any new requirements that may result from the resolution of the GSis. Implementation covers the step g
where the affected licensees perform the actions on their operating plants to satisfy the iq commitments made during the imposition step. Finally, verification is accomplished by NRC U inspection oflicensee actions.
Contact:
M @ L" chy ^ g A Ronald C. Emrit, RES (301) 415-6447 O33
.,ans.4 C
p 9007220129 980706
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(6 PDR SECY bg 98-166 R pg
The Commissioners 2
Over the years, the Generic issues Program focused on GSIs related to nuclear power plants.
However, following a Commission briefing on mechanisms for addressing GSis on December 19,1995, the staff expanded the program to include non-reactor GSis identified by the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards (NMSS).
GSis associated with nuclear reactor power plants are prioritized by the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES) using the methodology of NUREG-0933, "A Prioritization of Generic Safety issues." GSIs with a priority ranking of HIGH or MEDIUM are gener Py assigned to RES for resolution. In addition, RES is responsible for: (1) resolving GSis through the conduct of research, except those that involve high level waste; (2) tracking the status of all generic issues in the agency-wide Generic issue Management Control System (GIMCS); and (3) documenting the results in NUREG-0933. The Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) is responsible for managing the imposition, implementation, and verification stages of those GSIs that are related to nuclear reactors. For non-reactor GSis, NMSS is responsible for managing all six steps of the program. As of early this year, NUREG-0933 is being maintained on a publicly available NRC website.
DISCUSSION:
This report contains attachments which summarize the progress made by the staff in identifying, prioritizing, and resolving generic issues since the last report to the Commission. During the past year, no new reactu GSis were identified and eight new non-reactor GSIs were identified:
NMSS-5 Potential for Erroneous Calibration, Dose Rate, or Radiation Exposure Measurements NMSS-6 Criticality in Low-Level Waste NMSS-7 Criticality Benchmarks Greater than 5% Enrichment NMSS-8 Year 2000 Computer Problem - Non-reactor Licensees NMSS-9 Amersham Radiography Source Cable Failures NMSS-10 Troxler Gauge Source Rod Weld Failures NMSS-11 Spent Fuel Dry Cask Weld Cracks NMSS-12 Inadequate Transportation Packaging Puncture Tests is a listing of GSls prioritized and resolved since the last report and Attachment 2 is a listing of currently unresolved GSis.
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The annual review by the Office for Analysis and Evaluation of Operational Data (AEOD), NRR, and the Regional Offices of the 31 reactor GSis that were previously prioritized as LOW, taking into consideration newinformation that could affect their prioritization, resulted in two GSis being identified as cand; dates for reprioritization:
GSI 71 Failure of Resin Demineralized Systems and Their Effects on Nuclear Power Plant Safety GSI-107 Main Transformer Failures l
u__________________.____----
The Commissioners 3
Staff review of these GSis is not yet complete, but it appears that new requirements will not be needed.
A letter from the ACRS dated March 16,1998, stated that much work needs to be done by the staff to achieve a more efficient prioritization and resolution process for GSIs. As a result, RES l
has initiated an assessment of the GSI process to determine what improvements should be made. This activity is being pedormed with the assistance of Arthur Anderson in conjunction with a recent contract to improve NRC capability to conduct internal assessments. The results of the assessment of the GSI process will be available in August 1998 and the staff plans to brief the ACRS soon thereafter. The staff will provide the Commission with any significant recommendations to modify this program. A copy of the staff's response to the ACRS is provided in Attachment 3.
CONCLUSION:
The staff will continue to use the processes of NUREG-0933 and NMSS Policy and Procedures Letter 1-57 as well as the procedures of Management Directive 8.5 to identify, prioritize, and resolve reactor and non-reactor GSis. The Commission will be kept informed of any significant results of the ongoing assessment of these areas.
os p Callan Execu'ue Director for Operations Attachments:
- 1. GSis Prioritized or Resolved since May 19,1997
- 2. Unresolved GSis as of June 1998
- 3. Letter to R. Seale from L. Callan dated May 28,1998 DISTRIBUTION:
Conunissioners OGC OCAA 0IG OPA 0CA ACRS CIO CFO EDO REGIONS SECY l
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j NUCLEAR. REGULATORY COMMISSION 2
WASHINGTON, D.C. 30006 0001
\\*****f May 28, 1998 Dr. Robert L. Seale, Chairman Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C. 20555-0001
SUBJECT:
SECY-98-001, MECHANISM FOR ADDRESSING GENERIC SAFETY ISSUES
Dear Dr. Seale:
I am writing in response to your letter of March 16,1998, wherein the ACRS stated that much
{
work needs to be done by the staff to achieve a more efficient prioritization and resolution process for generic safety issues (GSis). The GSI resolution process has been in place for a long time and is in need of a systematic reevaluation. RES has initiated a reevaluation of the GSI process to determine what improvements should be made. This "get well' program will address all aspects of the GSI process including using operating experience to assess the effectiveness of the resolution process and providing additional funding that is required to resolve and prioritize backlog issues. While responses to the seven principal concems in your letter are provided below, the reevaluation of the GS1 process is continuing and additional changes may be made.
ACRS Concem 1 "The sporadic issuance of the quarterly reports on the generic information management control system (GIMCS) requires management attention. GIMCS updates have not Deen issued in approximately a year."
Resoonse: Over the past few months, management attention has been renewed and will continue to be given to the Generic issue Management Control System (GIMCS). Concems related to the accuracy of the data in GIMCS resulted in the decision to delay issuing the GIMCS update. Steps were taken to improve the quality and timeliness of the staff input. As a result, requests for information are now made through communications between Office Directors, and single points of contact have been established by each affected Office to coordinate the l
collection and dissemination of updates. A GIMCS report was recently issued on May 4,1998.
1 ACRS Coricem 2
- Several safety-related issues are being tracked in the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation l
(NRR) Directors Status Report but not in GIMCS. If such issues in the Directors Status Report are generic in nature, they should be incorporated into the GSI prioritization process and tracked by GIMCS."
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R.L.Seale Response
- Safety-related issues with genericimplications are being tracked in the NRR Director's Quarterly Status Report (DQSR) but not in GIMCS. These issues are generally brought to the attention of NRR primarily through the events assessment panel review process which involves direct participation from AEOD, NRR, and RES. RES participates in this process to assist in the determination of which issues should be classified as GSis. The generic issues retained by NRR are usually compliance related and have a relatively clear path to resolution.
As described in SECY 98-030, implementation of DSl-22 Research, dated February 25,1998, RES will continue to pnoritize reactor related GSls and evaluate them through the conduct of research. Consistent with this, work on several GSis will be transferred from NRR to RES. This includes GSI-168, " Environmental Qualification of Electrical Equipment,' and GSI-170, j
- Reactivity Transients and Fuel Damage Criteria for High Bum-up Fuel," which are presently being tracked in both GMCS and the DQSR. In response to the ACRS concern, NRR management will review the generic issues being tracked in the NRR DQSR to determine whether there is a need to change their designation to a GSI. In addition, the systems used to track GSis will be included as part of an assessment of the GSI process that will begin by June 1998.
ACRS Concem 3
'An adequate agency plan or schedule to resolve outstanding GSis in a timely manner does not exist, indeed, one HIGH- (GSI-23,1983) and several MEDIUM-ranked GSis (GSI B-17,1982; B-55, B-61,1983) that have been identified for quite some time remain to be resolved. The staff should establish schedules and resource requirements for resolution of GSis according to their prioritization. Issues prioritized as HIGH should not remain open for 15 years."
Response Although the existing process (NUREG-0933) led to resolving many HIGH-priority GSis in a timely manner, the staff agrees with the ACRS that HIGH-priority GSis should not remain open for 15 years. As noted above, an evaluation of the GSI process will be completed by August 1998. These issues and others will be included in this effort. Also, as discussed in SECY-98-001, work is underway on developing a new Management Directive 6.4, " Generic Safety issues," that will address the consistency of action plans, the assignment of resources, and the timely resolution of GSis. Development of this new directive is scheduled to begin immediately following the completion of the assessment of GSI process.
ACRS Concem 4 *
"The planning assumptions of the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES) call for the prioritization of two to three generic issues a year. The ACRS has not been briefed on any pnontizations during the past year, although we have been informed that the staff is currently working on two issues, GSI-169 (Boiling Water Reactor Main Steam Isolation Valve Failure Due to Accumulator Pressure) and GSI-107 (Main Transformer Failures).*
Response Since the ACRS review of the Ninth Group of Priority Rankings of GSis on j
^
July 20,1995, the staff has prioritized 21 reactor and 5 non-reactor generic issues. The staff recommends that the ACRS conduct a revienw of these 26 issues (Tenth Group) and, if needed, schedule a briefing to discuss its comments with the staff. Specifically, GSI-169, " Boiling Water l
.s e
R. L. Seale Reactor Main Steam isolation Valve Failure Due to Accumulator Pressure," was prioritized in March 1998 and is included in the 21 reactor issues above. The reevaluation of GSI-107, " Main Transformer Failures," is scheduled for completion in FY-1998.
ACRS Concem 5 "As noted in NUREG/CR-4674, the Office for Analysis and Evaluation of Operational Data reports on operational events indicate that a number of GS!s designated as RESOLVED (e.g.,
Loss of Offsite Power, GSl-47; Failure of Protective Devices on Essential Equipment, GSI-2; and Containment Emergency Sump Performance, GSI-A43) may not have been adequately resolved."
Response The role of each office in the review of operational data is described in Management Directive 8.5, ' Operational Safety Data Review." Operating experience, including Accident Sequence Precursor (ASP) reports (NUREG/CR-4674), is currently reviewed by AEOD, as well as by other appropriate offices, to determine whether the information warrants agency action.
Such action may include reopening any GSI that has been previously resolved. To the best of our knowledge, the ASP program has not identified any generic risks associated with operating events which indicate that previously resolved GSis have not been adequately resolved.
However, an in-depth analysis of the ASP implications with respect to resolved GSis has not been performed as part of that program.
The main objective of the ASP program is to systematically evaluate operating experience to identify those events which are most significant (from a risk perspective) in terms of the potential for inadequate core cooling and core damage. The principal attributes of these most risk significant events must then be further assessed with other operational experience data, studies, l
and expectations to determine appropriate agency action.
The occurrence of operating events related to resolved GSis can be expected and is not, by itself, an indication of flawed GSI resolution. The resolution of GSis is not intended to eliminate all events related to a GSI, but to ensure that the expected frequency and consequences are acceptable generically. Operating experience must be reviewed within the context of each specific GSI, considering the overall safety concems in the GSI and the way it was resolved.
When operating events provide evidence of (1) the existence of a substantial new phenomenon, (2) an indication that previous GSI close-out assumptions were invalid, or (3) event occurrence at a higher frequency than anticipated, then such events warrant reevaluation of previously l
closed GSis.
i lt should be noted that AEOD issued a final report,
- Emergency Diesel Generator Power System Reliability 1987-1993,* in February 1996, and a draft report for comment, " Evaluation of Loss of Offsite Power Events at Nuclear Power Plants: 1980-1996," which provide analyses of operating i
experience related to GSI A 44, " Station Blackout." These reports confirmed some of the assumptions pertinent to the resolution of this GSI, such as the frequency of loss-of-offsite power events and the reliability of EDGs. Although a comprehensive evaluation of the GSI resolution was not made as part of these studies, the staff is not aware of any contradiction in these reports to the bases of the GSI A-44 resolution. These efforts are examples of the use of operating experience to evaluate the effectiveness of GSI resolutions.
l R. L. Seale In addition, the staff is in the process of evaluating whether the regulations accomplished their intended purposes for station blackout and ATWS and whether the licensees' resolution of the shutdown decay heat removal issue (GSI A-45) was adequate. These efforts, being performed as part of the PRA implementation Plan, will also provide insight on whether the associated GSI was adequately resolved.
The ACRS also provided a recommendation that the staff expand the scope of the annual review of recent operating experience to include consideration of GSis classified as resolved. A further recommendation was made that AEOD take the initiative in this regard. As part of the annual review of operating experience, the staff will continue to check the need for reassessment of LOW-Priority GSis. The staff will consider this recommendation as part of the
' planned assessment of the GSI process. However, our initial thoughts on this subject are that the existing process has been effective ar.i that the changes proposed by ACRS would be a -
significant tiurden due to the number and scope of GSis that are in the resolved category. Until a final position is established on this issue, RES wi!! continue with its routine practice of assessing information provided by AEOD to determine whether resolved GSis warrant reevaluation.
ACRS Concem 6 "We also note that agency expectations regarding the resolution of certain GSis have not always j
been realized. Certainly, the planned resolution of GSI-172 (Multiple System Responses Program) largely sternmed from the premise that multiple system interaction issues would be addressed in the individual plant examination / individual plant examination of extemal events (IPE/IPEEE) process. A review of certain IPE/IPEEE submittals, however, has revealed that this l
premise has not always been correct. The IPEEEs that are based on qualitative analyses such as the Seismic Margins Method and the FIVE (Fire-induced Vulnerability Evaluation) Method cannot resolve the issues of multiple system interactions."
Response The staff shares the ACRS concem regarding the adequacy of the closure of the many GSis, based on the assumptions that their contribution to CDF would be assessed on a plant-by-plant basis in the IPE and IPEEE review process. The review of the GSI process includes an examination of the GSIs which the staff expected to be addressed by inclusion in the IPE/IPEEE efforts. It has been clear for some months that the expectation of generic resolutions would not be met. In the case of the IPE process, the review of licensee submittals revealed nonuniform consideration of applicable GSis. Staff efforts are underway to determine which of these GSis will require prioritization or resolution independent of the IPE process. In the case of the IPEEE process, review guidance was developed by the staff to check licensee consideration of applicable GSis, plant by plant.
ACRS Concem 7
{
"The SRM 951219A encouraged the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards (NMSS) to evaluate and assign priorities to NMSS-related generic issues to ensure consistency of prioritization with reactor-related GSis administered by RES and prioritized according to risk following the process described in NUREG-0933. In our discussions with the staff, we were informed that the prioritization of non-reactor NMSS-related GSis was difficult. Even though A
R. L. Sarla 3 NMSS his a m:asura of tha cons:qu:nc;s associat:d with a particular event, it doss not have a method for assessing its frequency. Therefore, NMSS cannot perform a quantitative prioritization process similar to that' used for reactor-related GSis. This circumstance makes the requirement for establishing consistency of prioritization between non-reactor and reactor generic issues a challenge. We encourage NMSS to develop better capability to apply risk assessment methodology in the pr'oritization of non-reactor GSis. Until such capability is developed, the current practice of prioritization on the basis of qualitative consequences should be continued."
Resoonte: The staff agrees that establishing consistency of prioritization between non-reactor and reactor generic issues is a challenge. NMSS is developing recommendations to the Commission for evaluating the application of risk assessment techniques to the regulation of diverse nuclear material activities in response to Commission direction regarding Direction Setting Issue (DSI) 12, " Risk-Informed, Performance-Based Regulation." This effort is currently unbudgeted and a schedule for completing it has not been estab'ished. When the work is completed, the staff hopes to gain insights as to how these techniques may be applied to the prioritization of non-reactor generic issues. In the interim, the staff plans to continue its current practice, as the ACRS recommends.
We appreciate the long-standing ACRS interest in the GSI process. As the evaluation of the GSI process is completed, the staff will schedule a briefing with the ACRS to discuss the GSI program.
Sincerely, MN D* ' "
bd M ED L. Joseph Callan Executive Director for Operations cc: Chairman Jackson Commissioner Dicus Commissioner Diaz Commissioner NicGaffigan SECY OCA OPA OGC Cin CFO Distribution: See page 6
- See Previous Concurrence DocName: A:\\ACRS-GSI.001 ra r.c.iv.. copy or (m. nocum.nunancet. In th. bor "C" a Copy w@out auchmenvencMure T = Copy w@ auchmenvenemure v = No copy OFFICE GSIB/DET lC GSIB/DET lC GSIB/DET lC D/ DST /RES lC D/DRA/RES C'
NAME R. Emrit*
F. Coffman*
T.O. Martin
- W. Hodges*
J. Craig*
DATE 04 /01/98 04 /01/98 04/23/98 04/03/98 05/01/98 unummumm sunnumameusensmuu num --- -- mensmem===
OFFICE D/DET/RES lC DIRES C
D/AEOD C
D/NRR C
D/NMSS C
NAME L. Shao*
M. Knapp*
T.T. Martin
- S. Collins
- C. Paperiello*
l DATE 05/01/98 05h3//98 05/07/98 05/06/98 04/06/98
= = = = =.: use =--
a==s-a==
NAME A. Thadani L.C Wan DATE 5 /()/98
[/btr98
/