ML20247D779

Forwards Order Imposing Civil Monetary Penalty in Amount of $100,000 Re Violation Noted During 890222-0311 Insp.Nrc Press Release Accurately Reflect Conclusions Expressed in 880803 Enforcement Ltr to Util

ML20247D779
Person / Time
Site:	Farley
Issue date:	03/28/1989
From:	Taylor J NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS (EDO)
To:	Hairston W ALABAMA POWER CO.
Shared Package
ML20247D787	List: ML20247D779 ML20247D797
References
EA-88-113, NUDOCS 8903310215
Download: ML20247D779 (2)

Text

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.j UNITED STATES -

[ NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION-WASHINGTON, D. C. 20555

" . j Q.%***4l MAR 281989 Lg u ,

Docket Nos.' 50-348:and 50-364 License Nos.- HPF-2 and NPF-8 EA 88-113' ,

Alabama Power Company i ATTH:L Mr. W. G. Hairston, III

. Senior Vice President-Nuclear x ,

.. Operations 1 Post Office Box 2641 m Birmingham, Alabama. 35291-0400 Gentlemen:

SUBJECT:

ORDER IMPOSING A CIVIL MONETARY PENALTY (FARLEY)

This refers to your; letter dated October 3,1988, in response to the Notice of Violation and Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalty (Notice) tent to you by our

-letter dated August 3, 1988. Our letter and Notice described a violation-

identified duringLan Operational Performance Assessment Inspection (OPA) conducted February 22 - March 11,1988. To emphasize the need to assure that appropriate investigations into observed system conditions are conducted, a

. civil' penalty of One Hundred Thousano Dollars ($100,000) was proposed.-

In'your response, you took exception to the violation as stated in the Notice 60 and stated your belief that you were in compliance with Technical Specification 3.5.2. . Furthermore, you stated that if the NRC concluded that the violation occurred,'-the alleged violation had minimal. safety significance and should merit no more than a Severity Level IV violation. You also stated that, since prompt corrective action was taken,: mitigation of the civil penalty is appro-

,priate.

Your response to the Notice of Violation was primarily directed to the application of generic pump performance ' data and many assumptions of expected conditions to determine the operability of the centrifugal charging pumps in the recirculation mode. The NRC staff emphasizes that, while. generic data and assumptions are relevant, there are too many uncertainties in their application to this case to determine the operability of the charging pumps without actual empirical data on the as-built configuration of the Farley plants being incor-porated.in the results to reduce these uncertainties. Also

-done after the fact to justify that the pumps wculd not fail;these analyses but our were principal concern was that the problem was not corrected years ago when first identified.

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. Additionally, we. do not accept your position that the requirements of Technical l' Specification surveillance requirement 4.5.2.1 apply only during the injection piase and not.during the recirculation phase. The surveillance requirement of 4.5.2.1 is applicable for any valve lineup configuration the system may be 4 placed in unless the requirement is araended based on an approved analysis that

' demonstrates the acceptability of reduced flow in a particular mode.

Your letter also expressed concerns that the NRC's August 4, 1988, press release did not present a fair characterization of the facts and issues involved ;g

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,, . MAR 281939 Alabama Power Company with the violation, conveyed major safety consequences, and identified problems in Farley management controls. The NRC press release accurately reflected our conclusions as expressed in the August 3,1988, enforcement letter to Alabama Power Company. Our evaluation of your disagreement with those conclusions is presented in the Appendix to the enclosed Order.

After consideration of your response, we have concluded for the reasons given in the Appendix attached to the enclosed Order Imposing Civil Monetary Penalty, that the violation occurred as stated in the Notice and was appropriately categorized. However, we did find that the proposed civil penalty should be mitigated by 50% of the base penalty in recognition of your previous good performance in the area of plant operations. Accordingly, we hereby serve the enclosed Orcer on Alabama amount of Seventy-Five ThousandPower Comany Dollars ($75,000 imposing)a . We will civil monetary review penalty in the the effective-ness of your corrective actions during a subsequent inspection.

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 the enclosure will be placed in the NRC's Public Document Room.

Sincerely,

/

da s'M. Taylo , Deputy Executive Director for Nuclear Reactor Regulation, Regional Operations and Research

Enclosure:

Order w/ Appendix cc w/ enc 1:

B. M. Guthrie, Executive Vice President D. N. Morey, General Manager -

14uclear Plant J. D. Woodard, Vice President -

Nuclear Generation J. W. McGowan, Manager-Safety Audit and Engineering Review S. Fulmer, Supervisor-Safety Audit and Engineering Review State of Alabama