ML20247R250

Ack Receipt of Util & Payment of Civil Penalty in Response to NRC 890313 Order

ML20247R250
Person / Time
Site:	FitzPatrick
Issue date:	06/05/1989
From:	Lieberman J NRC OFFICE OF ENFORCEMENT (OE)
To:	Brons J POWER AUTHORITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK (NEW YORK
References
EA-88-304, NUDOCS 8906070183
Download: ML20247R250 (3)

Text

_

>A KEG Dcs

' 'f T'~, UNITED STATES g NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

.g p WASHINGTON, D. C. 20555

%,.....,/

JUN oy 1989 Docket flo. 50-333 License No. DPR-59 EA 88-304 f.ew York Power Authority James A. Fitzpatrick Nuclear Power Plant ATTH: Mr. John C. Brons Executive Vice President Nuclear Generation 123 Main Street White Plains, New York 10201 Gentlemen:

This will acknowledge receipt of ycur letter dated April 10, 1989 and your check for $75,000 in payment for the civil penalty proposed by NRC in a letter dated March 13, 1989.

Additionally, your April 12, 1989 letter in response.to the Notice of Violation has been reviewed and evaluated. In general your corrective actions appear acceptable; however, we disagree with several issues. In your response to Violations ~II.A and II.B ycu state that " tacit concurrence of the Resident Inspector" had been given for continuing to operate the plant while a safety evaluation was being documented. In this case, the inspector did not concur tacitly or otherwise with operation of the plant outside a safety design basis condition without properly evaluating the. safety issues. The inspector questioned your staff, (as has done at other sites, during the past hot and cry sumer) whether there were any safety concerns with the higher-than-normal lake temperatures. He was informed that there were none since 1) no Technical Specifications for lake temperature existed, 2) concenser vacuum could be maintained, and 3) the reactor building closed loop cooling heat exchanger temperature design limit of 95F had not been exceeced. This information was the basis for the inspector's determination that there were no immediate safety ccocerns and thus the continued safe operation of the plant was not questioned. At this time the inspector oid not know, nor was he made aware of, the design limit of 77F for the safety-related cooling water systems, that the temperature was above this limit, and that the accident analyses were based upon this limit.

Subsequently, the inspector noted while reviewing the Final Safety Analysis Report that 77F was used as the desigr assumption for service water inlet temperature during a Design Easis Loss of Coolant Accident (DBA LOCA). The inspector requested further information and determined that this assumption included the two safety related service water systems that would be called upon to operate in a LEA LOCA condition. This significant finding was not providea in your initial discussions with the inspector. Further, in your response to Violation II.B ycu state that plant management was aware of this l

8906070163 890605 PDR ADOCK 05000333 g

Q PDC L '

James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant cesign limit and that exceeding it was believed to be acceptable without a formal safety evaluation being completed. Prior management knowledge of this problem is a concern to the NRC, since an Occurrence Report was not issued as is required by your Administrative Procedure 8.2, Reporting Variations from Normal Plant Operation and 10 CFR El Requirements, and since a formal 50.72 notification was not made to the NRC. In any case, notification of the Resident Inspector, while appropriate and encouraged, does not relieve you of the formal reporting requirements of 10 CFR 50.72.

You further state that you intend-to develop a program for providing justi-fication for continued cperation in future cases, while a formal 10 CFR 50.59 safety evaluation is being prepared. You are cautioned in this regard, that a 10 CFR 50.59 evaluation must be performed prior to exceeding a design basis condition, or immediately after such a condition is found.

Your corrective actions will be examinea during future inspections.

Sincerely, M

James Lieberman, Director Office of Enforcement cc: J. P. Bayne, President R. E. Beedle, VP Nuclear Support S. S. Zulla, VP Nuclear Engineering A. Klausmann, Senior VP Appraisal and Compliance Services R. L. Patch, Quality Assurance Superintendent G. H. Wilverding, Manager, Nuclear Safety Evaluation Gerald C. Goldstein, Assistant General Counsel Dept of Public Service, NY NY Department of Law PDR LPDR NSIC NRC Resicent Inspector

+  ;,

.e-

-JUN;of1gegL

• l ,,. -.

' James A. FitzPatrick

-Nuclear Power Plant Region:I-Docket' Room Managenent Assistant. DRMA Section Chief,: DRP Robert J.. Bores, DRSS fi , -, 'Stata Liaison Officer-D. LaBarge, NRR R..Kiessel, NRR-

- B.~ Clayton, ED0

.D. Holody, Region I

• J. Luehman, OE EA File OE File e

OEh JLuehman R

WRu e

- 0 L eberman 5/25/89 5 89 ,/89 i

__ ___- - ___ - _ - _ - _ a