ML20248F283

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Forwards Insp Rept 50-423/98-205 on 980223-0306 & Notice of Violation
ML20248F283
Person / Time
Site: Millstone Dominion icon.png
Issue date: 05/08/1998
From: Imbro E
NRC (Affiliation Not Assigned)
To: Bowling M, Loftus P
NORTHEAST NUCLEAR ENERGY CO.
Shared Package
ML20248F288 List:
References
50-423-98-205, EA-98-166, NUDOCS 9806040179
Download: ML20248F283 (5)
v • d • e


See also: IR 05000423/1998205

Text

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UNITED STATES

E NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

f WASHINGTON, D.C. 20056 4 001

\w/ May 8,1998

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EA 98-166

Mr. M. L. Bowling, Recovery Officer, Unit 2

% Ms. Patricia Loftus

Director- Regulatory Affairs

P. O. Box 128

Waterford, CT 06385

SUBJECT: NOTICE OF VIOLATION, INDEPENDENT CORRECTIVE ACTION

VERIFICATION PROGRAM CORRECTIVE ACTION IMPLEMENTATION

INSPECTION OF MILLSTONE UNIT 3 AND EXERCISE OF ENFORCEMENT

DISCRETION (NRC INSPECTION REPORT NO. 50-423/98-205)

Dear Mr. Bowling:

During the period of February 23 through March 6,1998, a team from the U.S. Nuclear

Regulatory Commission's (NRC's) Special Projects Office (SPO), Office of Nuclear Reactor

Regulation, in accordance with SECY-97-003, " Millstone Restart Review Process," performed

one phase of a corrective action impicmentation inspection of your Unit 3 facility. The

independent Corrective Action Verification Program (ICAVP) corrective action inspection is

being conducted in several phases as corrective ac+ ions are completed by Northeast Nuclear

Energy Company. The scope of the ICAVP corrective action inspection includes reviewing

(1) corrective action for issues that you identified while conducting your Configuration

Management Plan (CMP) (including items that were identified within the 15- system ICAVP

review scope and items that were not in the scope of the ICAVP); (2) corrective action for all

confirmed Level 3 discrepancies identified by the ICAVP contractor; (3) corrective action

implemented in response to findings identified during the NRC inspections associated with the

NRC oversight of the ICAVP including inspections IR 50-423/97-206, "out of scope" system

inspection; IR 50-423/97-209, " Tier 2/3" inspection; and IR 50-423/97-210, "in scope" system

inspection; and (4) corrective action for design-related Licensee Event Reports (LERs)

associated with the recirculation spray system (RSS).

This phase of the inspection focused en your corrective action for issues related to the conduct

of your CMP, including corrective action you assigned to condition reports (CRs), adverse

condition reports (ACRs), LERs, and NRC inspection report violations, unresolved items, and

inspector follow up items. The NRC planr. to conduct additional corrective action inspections

prior to startup to complete the review of your corrective action for Sargent & Lundy (S&L), the

ICAVP contractor, discrepancy reports (DRs) and your implemented corrective action for NRC

inspection report findings.

M)\

in a letter to you dated, January 30,1998, the NRC stated that if either the ICAVP contractor or i

' the NRC staff review confirms an ICAVP Significance Level 3 finding, the NRC staff will

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consider expanding the scope of the ICAVP to require the evaluation of similar operational,

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9806040179 980500

PDR ADOCK 05000423

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procedural, or design attributes in other safety-related or risk significant systems for potential

nonconformances. For individual Significance Level 3 ICAVP findings, effective corrective

action needs to address both the specific " defect" as well as any broader implications for other

systems. The NRC determined that you have taken effective corrective action for the NRC

identified ICAVP Significance Level 3 finding identified during the Tier 2/3 inspection (Notice of

Violation 423/97-206-16). Therefore, expansion of scope is not warranted for this issue.

During the current inspection the NRC closed three licensee event reports (LERs) that

described events that were determined to be violations of NRC regulations. The NRC has

decided to exercise enforcement discration pursuant to Section Vll.B.1 of the NRC Enforcement

Policy for LERs (50-423/96-044-00 and 50-423/97-016-00) since these violations were licensee-

identified and corrected Severity Level 4 violations. Severity Level 4 violations as defined in the

NRC Enforcement Policy are the least significant within NRC's categorization of severity level

but are more than a minor concern; i.e., if left uncorrected they could lead to more seroius

concern. As discussed below, the NRC has exercised enforcement discretion pursuant to

Vll.B.2 of NRC's Enforcement Policy for the third LER (50-423/96-039-00).

On December 10,1997, the NRC sent to you a Notice of Violation and Proposed imposition of

Civil Penalty for $2.1 million for many violations identified in NRC inspections during 1995 and

1996, at the Millstone facility. During this inspection another violation was identified that was

not part of that civil penalty or part of other Notices of Violations. In LER 50-423/96-039-00,

dated November 14,1996, you reported that the RSS and emergency core cooling systems

were potentially inoperable following a postulated loss-of-coolant accident due to existing debris

in tht RSS sump and improper configuration of the sump.

The NRC has reviewed the RSS deficiencies that you identified in LER 50-423/96-039-00, and

has determined that a violation of NRC requirements occurred. This violation was considered

for escalated enforcement and subject to a civil penalty. However, I have decided, after

consultation with the Director, Office of Enforcement, to exercise enforcement discretion

pursuant to Vll.B.2 of the NRC's Enforcement Policy and not issue a formal Notice of Violation

because the violation war (1) based on licensee activities prior to the events leading to the

shutdown; (2) not classified higher than a Severity Level ll; (3) not willful; and (4) plant restart

requires NRC concurrence. Discretion is appropriate because the NRC has in place a formal

restart plan that is currently providing a broad-based evaluation of MiPstone readiness for

restart that confirmed that you have taken corrective action for this issue and further

enforcement action is not necessary to achieve remedial action. The fundamental performance

issues related to this violation are similar to the performance issues that resulted in the many

violations cited with the $2.1 million civil penalty.

The findings from the current inspection were presented to you and your staff during a public

meeting on April 9,1998. The enclosed inspection report also describes examples of the failure

to take adequate corrective action that are cited as violations in the enclosed Notice of

Violation. Please note that you are required to respond to the Notice of Violation and should

follow the instructions specified when preparing your response. The violations contained in this

report that are being cited have been categorized as being equivalent to ICAVP Significance

Level 3 findings. ICAVP Level 3 findings have been defined by the NRC to occur if a system is

outside its licensing or design bases but is still able to perform its intended function.

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This inspection is part of the NRC's ongoing assessment of the effectiveness of your CMP. The

findings of this inspection will be combined with 'he results of other NRC inspections to make an

overall determination of the restart readiness of bait 3 and your configuration management

practices.

In accordance with Title 10 of the Code of FederalRegulations, Section 2.790(a), a copy of this

letter and the enclosures will be placed in the NRC Public Document Room. For the item in the

attached inspection report for which the NRC exercised enforcement discretion, no response is

required.

If you have any questions concerning the enclosed inspection report, please contact the project .

manager, Mr. J. Andersen at 301-415-1437, or the inspection team leader, Mr. S. Tingen, at

301-415-1280. ,

Sincerely,

Eugene V. Imbro, Deputy Director

ICAVP Oversight

Special Projects Office

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Docket No. 50-423

Enclosures:

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1. Notice of Violation

2. Inspection Report 50-423/98-205

cc w/ enclosures: See next page

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p -3-

l- This inspection is part of the NRC's ongoing assessment of the effectiveness of your CMP. The

i

findings of this inspection will be combined with the results of other NRC inspections to make an

overall determination of the restart readiness of Unit 3 and your configuration management

practices.

,

In accordance with Title 10 of the Code of FederalRegulations, Section 2.790(a), a copy of this

! letter and the enclosures will be placed in the NRC Public Document Room. For the item in the

i attached inspection report for which the NRC exercised enforcement discretion, no response is

required.

i If you have any questions concerning the enclosed inspection report, please cuntact the project

! manager, Mr. J. Andersen at 301-415-1437, or the inspection team leader, Mr. S. Tingen, at

301-415-1280.

Sincerely,

OT18 1nal Signog by;

Eugene V. Imbro, Deputy Director

ICAVP Oversight

Special Projects Office

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Docket No. 50-423

Enclosures:

1. Notice of Violation g-, j

2. Inspection Report 50-423/98-205 p> ], '

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cc w/ enclosures: See next page E lj y',

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Distribution: p, g .

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Docket File 2 r.i

PUBLIC

SPO R/F

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SCollins -

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('see previous concurrence)

DOCUMENT NAME:A:Tingen This document was reviewed by a Tech Editor on

April 21,1998

To r*ceive a copy of this document, indicate in the box "C" copy w/o attach /enci "E" copy w/ attach /enci "N" no copy

OFFICE ICAVP c ICAVP c C:lCAVP c OE c DD:lCAVP

NAME Stinger /sr PKoltay SReynolds JA JLieberman Elmbro

DATE 4/22/98* 4/22/98* 5/998 5/4/98* 5/f/98

OFFICIAL RECORD COPY

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cc w/ encl:

B. Kenyon, President and Chief Executive Officer

l M. H. Brothers, Vice President - Operations

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J. McElwain, Unit 1 Recovery Officer

~J. Streeter, Recovery Officer, Nuclear Oversight

G. D. Hicks, Unit Director - Millstone Unit 3

J. A. Price, Unit Director - Millstone Unit 2

'

. D._ Amerine, Vice President for Engineering and Support Services

P. D. Hinnenkamp, Director, Unit 1 Operations

F. C. Rothen, Vice President, Work Services

i J. Cantrell, Director - Nuclear Training

l S. J. Sherman, Audits and Evaluation

_

L. M. Cuoco, Esquire

J. R. Egan, Esquire

V. Juliano, Waterford Library

J. Buckingham, Department of Public Utility Control

S. B. Comley, We The People

State of Connecticut SLO Designee

D. Katz, Citizens Awareness Network (CAN)

R. Bassilakis, CAN

J. M. Block, Attorney, CAN

S. P. Luxton, Citizens Regulatory Commission (CRC)

Representative T. Concannon

E. Woollacott, Co-Chairman, NEAC

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