ML20248L724

Ack Receipt of & Check for $13,750 in Payment for Civil Penalty Proposed by NRC in Ltr

ML20248L724
Person / Time
Site:	Westinghouse
Issue date:	03/20/1998
From:	Lieberman J NRC
To:	Allen J WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC COMPANY, DIV OF CBS CORP.
References
EA-97-442, NUDOCS 9803240118
Download: ML20248L724 (3)

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UNITED STATES M j

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f NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 2066M001 k . . . . . ,d March 20, 1998 EA 97-442 Westinghouse Electric Corporation Commercial Nuclear Fuel Division ATTN: Mr. J. B. Allen, Columbia Plant Manager P.O. Drawer R Columbia, SC 29259 /

SUBJECT:

ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF CIVIL PENALTY PAYMENT

Dear Mr,

Allen:

This will acknowledge receipt of your letter dated February 5,1998, and your check for $13,750 in payment for the civil penalty proposed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in a letter dated January 6,1998. We have reviewed your response and noted that your corrective actions appeared to be acceptable. However, several of the identified corrective action completion dates exceeded one year. To ensure that adequate progress can be verified during the interim period, you are requested to identify appropriate subtasks and associated completion target dates. We also noted that you did not identify any actions that you had taken to ensure that an appropriate level of communication with the NRC was established and maintained by your staff. This item had been specifically requested in the January 6,1998 letter.,

in addition, please note that NRC maintains its position that implementation of the double contingency principle requires that appropriate nuclear criticality safety controls be identified and implemented prior to system operations. In the case described in our letter of January 6,1998, it was fortuitous that an acceptable safety margin could be demonstrated after the fact. Your licensing basis requires identification, establishment, and maintenance of appropriate safety controls prior to and during the processing of special nuclear material. Further, with regard to your stated position in your February 5,1998 letter that "it is acceptable to complete root cause investigations and implementation of corrective actions, beyond those required to establish system safety, after system restart," the NRC reaffirms that it is a licensee's responsibility to assure that all regulatory requirements are met. This includes implementation of all applicable license conditions that pertain to the subject system.

Therefore, we request that you provide, within 30 days of the receipt of this letter, a supplemental response to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ATTN: Document Control Desk, Washington, D.C. 20555, with a copy to the Director, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards, and the Regional Administrator, Region 11, addressing: (1) appropriate subtasks and l target completion dates for all proposed corrective actions that were not scheduled to be i

completed within one year, and (2) identify those actions that have been taken or will be taken to improve communications between your staff and the NRC.

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Westinghouse Electric Corporation 2 Because your response will be placed in the NRC Public Document Room (PDR), to the extent possible, it should not include any personal privacy, proprietary, or Safeguards information so that it can be placed in the PDR without redaction. However, if you find it necessary to include such information, you should clearly indicate the specific information that you desire not to be placed in the PDR, and provide the legal basis to support y6ur request for withholding the information from the public.

Sincerely, M

. mes Lieberman, Director ffice of Enforcement Docket No. 70-1151 License No. SNM-1107 i

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