ML25135A431
| ML25135A431 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Vogtle |
| Issue date: | 05/16/2025 |
| From: | Alan Blamey NRC/RGN-II/DORS |
| To: | Coleman J Southern Nuclear Operating Co |
| References | |
| Download: ML25135A431 (8) | |
Text
Jamie Coleman Regulatory Affairs Director Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc.
3535 Colonnade Parkway Birmingham, AL 35243
SUBJECT:
VOGTLE ELECTRIC GENERATING PLANT UNITS 3 & 4 - NOTIFICATION OF INSPECTION AND REQUEST FOR INFORMATION FOR NRC PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION AND RESOLUTION INSPECTION
Dear Jamie Coleman:
The purpose of this letter is to notify you that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
Region II staff will conduct a problem identification and resolution (PI&R) inspection at your Vogtle Electric Generating Plant Units 3 & 4 during the weeks of August 4-8, 2025, and August 18-22, 2025. The inspection team will be led by William Truss, the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant Units 1 & 2 resident inspector. This inspection will be conducted in accordance with the baseline inspection procedure, Procedure 71152, Problem Identification and Resolution, effective January 1, 2024.
The biennial PI&R inspection and assessment of the licensees Corrective Action Program (CAP) complements and expands upon the resident baseline inspections of routine daily screening of all corrective action program issues, quarterly focused issue reviews, and semiannual trend PI&R reviews.
On May 15, 2025, William Truss confirmed with William Garrett, Licensing Manager, the details and arrangements for the two-week inspection. Based on recent experience and to improve efficiency, we plan to conduct the first week (August 4-8, 2025) remotely and plan to complete the inspection on-site (August 18-22, 2025).
The enclosure lists documents that will be needed prior to the inspection. Please have the referenced information available no later than July 21, 2025. Contact William Truss with any questions concerning the requested information. The inspectors will try to minimize your administrative burden by specifically identifying only those documents required for inspection preparation.
If additional documents are needed, they will be requested when identified. Prior to the onsite inspection, William Truss will discuss with your staff the following inspection support administrative details: availability of knowledgeable plant engineering and licensing personnel to serve as points of contact during the inspection; method of tracking inspector requests during the inspection; access to licensee computers; working space; arrangements for site access; and other applicable information.
May 16, 2025
J. Coleman 2
The NRC inspection team requests that your staff be prepared to support these efforts.
Additionally, the inspection team is open to any suggestions regarding communications and coordination such that the overall effort from both the NRC inspection team and Vogtle Electric Generating Plant Units 3 & 4 support staff may be the most efficient while also prioritizing public health and safety.
In accordance with Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations 2.390, Public Inspections, Exemptions, Requests for Withholding, of the NRC's "Rules of Practice," a copy of this letter and its enclosure will be available electronically for public inspection in the NRCs Public Document Room or from the Publicly Available Records (PARS) component of the NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS). ADAMS is accessible from the NRC website at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html (the Public Electronic Reading Room).
Thank you for your cooperation in this matter. If you have any questions regarding the information requested or the inspection, please contact William Truss at (404) 997-5313.
Sincerely, Alan Blamey, Chief Reactor Projects Branch 3 Division of Operating Reactor Safety Docket Nos.: 05200025 and 05200026 License Nos.: NPF-91 and NPF-92
Enclosure:
Information Request for Vogtle Electric Generating Plant Units 3 & 4 Problem Identification & Resolution Inspection cc: w/Encl: via Listserv Signed by Blamey, Alan on 05/16/25
PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT STATEMENT This letter does not contain new or amended information collection requirements subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). Existing information collection requirements were approved by the Office of Management and Budget, control number 3150-0011.
PUBLIC PROTECTION NOTIFICATION The NRC may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a request for information or an information collection requirement unless the requesting document displays a currently valid Office of Management and Budget control number.
SUNSI Review X
Non-Sensitive
Sensitive X
Publicly Available
Non-Publicly Available OFFICE RII/DRS RII/DRS NAME B. Truss A. Blamey DATE 5/16/25 5/16/25
INFORMATION REQUEST FOR VOGTLE ELECTRIC GENERATING PLANT UNITS 3 & 4 PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION AND RESOLUTION INSPECTION (August 4-8, and 18-22, 2025)
This inspection will cover the period from August 3, 2022 (Unit 3), and July 28, 2023 (Unit 4),
through August 22, 2025. All requested information is limited to this period or to the date of this request unless otherwise specified. To the extent possible, the requested information should be provided electronically in word-searchable Adobe PDF (preferred) or Microsoft Office format. If the information is not available in electronic format, please contact the inspection team leader to coordinate other available methods to provide the information. If you determine that any information requested is sensitive, the specific handling of this information should be discussed in advance between the NRC inspectors and Vogtle Nuclear Plant representatives assigned to the problem identification and resolution inspection to ensure appropriate handling.
All requested documents should be provided electronically (e.g., Certrecs IMS) where possible.
If an online inspection management system is used to provide the requested information, please ensure that all uploaded documents are searchable by title and/or identification number (for example, Condition Report (CR) 1234567).
Lists of documents (summary lists) should be provided in Microsoft Excel or a similar sortable format. Please be prepared to provide any significant updates to this information on July 28, 2025, and as new information becomes available throughout the inspection. As used in this request, corrective action documents refers to corrective action types/products as defined in your corrective action program procedures (e.g., Corrective Action Reports (CARs), Technical Evaluations (TEs) used to track CAP Corrective Actions to Preclude Repetition (CAPR),
Corrective Actions (CA), Effectiveness Reviews (EFFRs), and Work Orders (WOs) to implement a corrective actions condition report.
- 1. Procedures:
Copies of the corporate and site level procedures and sub-tier procedures associated with the corrective action program. For these procedures, include all revisions that were in effect at any time during the period. This should include procedures related to:
1.1.
Corrective action process 1.2.
Cause evaluation 1.3.
Operability determination process 1.4.
Operating experience program 1.5.
10 CFR Part 21 and programs for reporting defects and non-compliance 1.6.
Employee concerns program 1.7.
Procedures that implement/maintain a SCWE 1.8.
Self-assessment program 1.9.
Maintenance rule program and implementing procedures 1.10.
System health process or equivalent equipment reliability improvement programs 1.11.
Quality assurance program 1.12.
Work management program 1.13.
Preventive maintenance deferral process 1.14.
Conduct of Operations procedures Enclosure
- 2. Plant Risk:
Using Risk Achievement Worth (RAW) or Birnbaum importance measures for internal event core damage frequency (CDF), provide the following information from your most recent Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) model. Please provide by June 30, 2025:
2.1. A list of top ten most risk significant components; if the list uses system designators, provide a list of the associated equipment/system names.
2.2. A list of top ten most risk significant operator manual actions 2.3. A copy of the PRA quantification or importance measures report
- 3. Document Lists:
Note: For these summary lists, please include, if applicable, the document/reference number, the type (i.e., TE, CAPR, CAR, WO, etc.,) document title, long-text description of the issue, affected system, initiation date, current status, due date, priority/severity level, responsible organization/department, and associated condition report.
3.1.
Summary list of all open actions from construction database (Maximo ATV) and a cross reference to those actions in operating database (Maximo ES).
3.2.
Summary list of all corrective action documents related to significant condition adverse to quality that were opened, closed, or evaluated during the period.
3.3.
Summary list of all corrective action documents related to conditions adverse to quality that were opened or closed during the period.
3.4.
Summary list of all CRs related to non-conditions adverse to quality that were opened or closed during the period.
3.5.
Summary list of all apparent cause evaluations (or equivalent causal determinations) performed during the period.
3.6.
Summary list of all conditions adverse to regulatory compliance (CARC) (as defined in your CAP procedure NMP-GM002001) identified during the period.
3.7.
Summary list of all corrective maintenance WOs and modifications (if not included as part of request item 1.a) for safety-related structures, systems, and components (SSCs) and any work considered high risk. Include the WO/modification number, brief description, affected system, date of initiation, date of completion (if completed), and associated CR (if applicable).
3.8.
Summary list of all CRs that have been canceled during the period. Provide the CR number, brief problem description, and reason for canceling.
3.9.
Summary list of all currently open corrective action documents associated with conditions first identified prior to the beginning of the inspection period.
3.10.
Summary list of all corrective action documents that were upgraded or downgraded in priority/significance during the period (these may be limited to those downgraded from, or upgraded to, apparent cause level or higher).
3.11.
Summary list of all corrective action documents initiated during the period that identify an adverse or potentially adverse trend in (1) safety-related or risk-significant equipment performance and (2) in any aspect of the plants safety culture.
3.12.
Summary lists of operator workarounds, operator burdens, temporary modifications, and control room deficiencies (1) currently open and (2) that were evaluated and/or closed during the period; this should include the date that each item was opened and/or closed. Include corresponding condition report and/or WO number.
2
3.13.
Summary list of all prompt operability determinations or other engineering evaluations to provide reasonable assurance of operability; if fewer than approximately 20, provide full documents and attachments.
3.14.
Summary list of plant safety issues raised or addressed by the Employee Concerns Program (or equivalent) (sensitive information should be made available by appropriate means after discussion with the team lead).
3.15.
Summary list of all SSCs which were classified as (a)(1) in accordance with the Maintenance Rule during the period. Include date of classification in (a)(1),
reason for being placed in (a)(1), and planned actions and their status.
3.16.
Summary list of all Maintenance Preventable Functional Failures (MPFF). Include identification number, brief description, associated system, actions completed, and status.
3.17.
Summary list of CRs related to equipment aging issues identified during the period (e.g., system erosion and/or corrosion problems; electronic component aging or obsolescence of circuit boards, power supplies, relays, etc.;
environmental qualification). Provide CR number, brief problem description, priority/severity level, associated system, and status.
3.18.
Summary list of training deficiencies, requests for training improvements, and simulator deficiencies for the period.
- 4. Full Documents with Attachments:
4.1.
All root cause determinations/evaluations completed during the period; include a list of any planned or in progress 4.2.
Quality Assurance Program audits and/or assessments performed during the period, including the last two audits/assessments of the corrective action program.
4.3.
Functional area/department self-assessments and non-NRC third-party assessments (e.g., peer assessments performed as part of routine or focused station self-and independent assessment activities; do not include Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO) assessments) that were performed or completed during the period; include a list of those that are currently in progress.
4.4.
Any assessments of the safety conscious work environment (SCWE) at Vogtle units 3 and 4 including any safety culture survey results; if none performed during the inspection period, provide the most recent.
4.5.
Corrective action program documents related to cross-cutting issues (human performance, problem identification and resolution, and SCWE) identified via trending, self-assessments, safety review committee or other oversight methods 4.6.
Corrective action documents generated during the period associated with the following:
4.6.1.
NRC findings and/or violations issued to Vogtle units 3 and 4 4.6.2.
Licensee Event Reports issued by Vogtle units 3 and 4 Please provide a crosswalk or key tying corrective action documents to specific findings or violations.
4.7.
Corrective action documents generated for the following:
4.7.1.
NRC Information Notices, Bulletins, and Generic Letters issued or evaluated during the period 3
4.7.2.
Part 21 reports issued or evaluated during the period 4.7.3.
Vendor safety information letters (or equivalent) issued or evaluated during the period 4.7.4.
Other external events and/or operating experience evaluated for applicability during the period 4.8.
Corrective action documents generated for the following:
4.8.1.
Adverse trends in equipment, processes, procedures, or programs that were evaluated during the period.
4.8.2.
Action items generated or addressed by offsite review committees during the period.
- 5. Logs and Reports:
Note: For item 5.3-5.5, if there is no log or report maintained separate from the corrective action program, please provide a summary list of corrective action program items for the category described.
5.1. If already compiled, copy of departmental trend reports, and corrective action trend reports, including any human performance and equipment reliability trends.
5.2. If not included as part of request item 5.1, a copy of the latest corrective action program statistics such as the number of CRs initiated by department, human performance errors by department, and others as may be available.
5.3. Radiation protection event logs during the period.
5.4. Security event logs and security incidents during the period (sensitive information should be made available during the teams second weekdo not provide electronically)-Handling of this item will need additional discussion.
5.5. Employee Concerns Program (or equivalent) logs (sensitive information should be made available during the teams second week of inspectiondo not provide electronically).
5.6. System health reports, system design basis documents, maintenance rule functions and status, and system description information for the top ten risk-significant systems.
Other:
5.7. Organization charts for plant staff and long-term/permanent contractors.
5.8. Electronic copies of the Updated Final Safety Analysis Report (or equivalent), technical specifications, and technical specification bases.
5.9. P&IDs/schematics for VES, PXS and IDS.
5.10.
For each week the team is inspecting, provide the following:
5.10.1. Planned work/maintenance schedule for the station 5.10.2. Schedule of management, maintenance rule, correction action related, or corrective action review meetings (e.g. operations focus meetings, condition report screening meetings, Corrective Action Review Boards, Management Review Meetings, challenge meetings for cause evaluations, etc.)
5.10.3. Agenda and material for these meetings Additionally, please note that system or areas for increased inspection focus will be identified following receipt of this initial information request, and additional documentation may be requested.
4