ML25153A669
| ML25153A669 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 05000128 |
| Issue date: | 06/05/2025 |
| From: | Jeremy Bowen NRC/NRR/DANU/UNPO |
| To: | Joel Jenkins Texas A&M Univ |
| References | |
| EAF-NRR-25-0065 | |
| Download: ML25153A669 (10) | |
Text
EAF-NRR-25-0065 Mr. Jere Jenkins, Director Texas Engineering Experiment Station Texas A&M University System Nuclear Science Center 1095 Nuclear Science Road, MS 3575 College Station, TX 77843
SUBJECT:
TEXAS ENGINEERING EXPERIMENT STATION/TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY SYSTEM
- U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION INSPECTION REPORT NO. 05000128/2024201, DISPUTED CITED VIOLATION REVISED
Dear Mr. Jenkins:
This letter responds to your \
letter dated February 25, 2025 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML25057A001). In your letter you provided written responses to the January 29, 2025, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Inspection Report No. 05000128/2024201 (ML25014A182) disputing some aspects of Notice of Violation (NOV)050001282024201-01, which was associated with the failure to perform audits within the frequency required by the technical specifications. On March 19, 2025 (ML25070A156), the NRC acknowledged receipt of your letters.
The NRC conducted a detailed review of your responses and the applicable regulatory requirements consistent with Part I, section 2.8 of the NRC Enforcement Manual. The review included NRC staff who were not involved in the original inspection effort. The details of the NRCs evaluation are contained in the enclosure.
After consideration of the basis for your dispute of some aspects of the violation, the NRC concluded that the original enforcement problem should be separated into its constituent violations and those violations will be modified to change the cited violation criteria, violation duration, and the significance, as described in the enclosure. The NRC will reissue Inspection Report No. 05000128/2024201 to document the revised violations.
In accordance with Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Section 2.390, Public inspections, exemptions, requests for withholding, a copy of this letter, its enclosure, and your response if you choose to provide one, will be made available electronically for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room or from the Publicly Available Records component of NRCs document system ADAMS. ADAMS is accessible from the NRC website at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html (the Public Electronic Reading Room).
June 5, 2025
J. Jenkins 2
To the extent possible, your response should not include any personal privacy or proprietary information so that it can be made available to the public without redaction.
Should you have any questions concerning this letter, please contact Jared Nadel at 301-415-2157, or via email to Jared.Nadel@nrc.gov.
Sincerely, Jeremy S. Bowen, Director Division of Advanced Reactors and Non-Power Production and Utilization Facilities Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket No. 50-128 License No. R-83
Enclosure:
As stated cc w/enclosure: GovDelivery Subscribers Signed by Bowen, Jeremy on 06/05/25
J. Jenkins 3
SUBJECT:
TEXAS ENGINEERING EXPERIMENT STATION/TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY SYSTEM
- U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION INSPECTION REPORT NO. 05000128/2024201, DISPUTED CITED VIOLATION REVISED DATED: June 05, 2025 DISTRIBUTION:
EBrothman, NRR CSmith, NRR DAird, NRR PMcKenna, NRR RFelts, NRR TBrown, NRR JNadel, NRR JBowen, NRR JGreives, NRR DBetancourt, RIII KLambert, RIII GEdwards, RIII CStPeters, RIII SBakhsh, RIII JPeralta, OE ESanchezSantiago, RIII DBradley, OE ADAMS ACCESSION NO.: ML25153A669 NRC-002 OFFICE NRR/DANU/UNPO NRR/DANU/LA NRR/DANU/BC OE/EB NRR/DANU/DD NAME JNadel NParker TBrown DBradley JBowen DATE 6/02/2025 6/03/2025 6/04/2025 6/04/25 6/05/2025 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY
Enclosure U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Evaluation of Licensee Response to a Notice of Violation Restatement of Original Enforcement Problem On January 29, 2025, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued Inspection Report No. 05000128/2024201 and Notice of Violation (NOV) to Texas Engineering Experiment Station/Texas A&M University System (TEES) Nuclear Science Center (NSC) ADAMS Accession No. ML25014A182. An enforcement problem consisting of four related violations, NOV 2024201-01, was documented in the inspection report:
NOV 2024201-01 Violation: [Technical specification] (TS) 6.2.4, RSB Audit Function, states, in part, The audit function shall include selective (but comprehensive) examination of operating records, logs, and other documents. Audits shall include but are not limited to the following:
TS 6.2.4(1.) states, Facility operations, including radiation protection, for conformance to the Technical Specifications, applicable license conditions, and standard operating procedures: at least once per calendar year (interval between audits not to exceed 15 months). TS 6.2.4(2.)
states, The results of action taken to correct those deficiencies that may occur in the reactor facility equipment systems, structures, or methods of operations that affect reactor safety: at least once per calendar year (interval between audits not to exceed 15 months). TS 6.2.4(5.)
states, The reactor facility security plan and implementing procedures: at least once every other calendar year (interval between audits not to exceed 30 months).
Contrary to TS 6.2.4(1.) and TS 6.2.4(2.), the inspectors identified that the licensee failed to perform an audit to include facility operations and an audit to include the results of action taken to correct those deficiencies that may occur in the reactor facility equipment systems, structures, or methods of operations that affect reactor safety at least once per calendar year.
Specifically, the licensee performed an audit, that included TS 6.2.4(1.) and TS 6.2.4(2.), on August 28, 2022, and performed the subsequent audit on April 2, 2024, which exceeded the allowable 15-month frequency.
Contrary to TS 6.2.4(5.), the inspectors identified that the licensee failed to perform an audit to include the reactor facility security plan and implementing procedures at least once every other calendar year. Specifically, the licensee performed an audit, that included TS 6.2.4(5.), on June 28, 2022, and had not performed a subsequent audit, which exceeded the 30-month requirement.
TS 6.2.5, Audit of ALARA Program, states, in part, The Chair of the RSB or designated alternate (excluding anyone whose normal job function is within the NSC) shall conduct an audit of the reactor facility ALARA program annually.
Contrary to TS 6.2.5, the inspectors identified that the licensee failed to conduct an audit of the reactor facility as low as is reasonably achievable (ALARA) program annually. Specifically, the licensee performed an audit, that included TS 6.2.5, on June 28, 2022, and performed the subsequent audit on April 3, 2024, which exceeded the annual requirement.
2 Separation of Original Enforcement Problem For simplicity of treatment, the original enforcement problem has been separated into its constituent violations as shown below:
Violation A TS 6.2.4, RSB Audit Function, states, in part, The audit function shall include selective (but comprehensive) examination of operating records, logs, and other documents. Audits shall include but are not limited to the following:
TS 6.2.4(5.) states, The reactor facility security plan and implementing procedures: at least once every other calendar year (interval between audits not to exceed 30 months).
Contrary to TS 6.2.4(5.), the inspectors identified that the licensee failed to perform an audit to include the reactor facility security plan and implementing procedures at least once every other calendar year. Specifically, the licensee performed an audit, that included TS 6.2.4(5.), on June 28, 2022, and had not performed a subsequent audit, which exceeded the 30-month requirement.
Violation B TS 6.2.4, RSB Audit Function, states, in part, The audit function shall include selective (but comprehensive) examination of operating records, logs, and other documents. Audits shall include but are not limited to the following:
TS 6.2.4(1.) states, Facility operations, including radiation protection, for conformance to the Technical Specifications, applicable license conditions, and standard operating procedures: at least once per calendar year (interval between audits not to exceed 15 months). TS 6.2.4(2.) states, The results of action taken to correct those deficiencies that may occur in the reactor facility equipment systems, structures, or methods of operations that affect reactor safety: at least once per calendar year (interval between audits not to exceed 15 months).
Contrary to TS 6.2.4(1.) and TS 6.2.4(2.), the inspectors identified that the licensee failed to perform an audit to include facility operations and an audit to include the results of action taken to correct those deficiencies that may occur in the reactor facility equipment systems, structures, or methods of operations that affect reactor safety at least once per calendar year. Specifically, the licensee performed an audit, that included TS 6.2.4(1.) and TS 6.2.4(2.), on August 28, 2022, and performed the subsequent audit on April 2, 2024, which exceeded the allowable 15-month frequency.
Violation C TS 6.2.5, Audit of ALARA Program, states, in part, The Chair of the RSB or designated alternate (excluding anyone whose normal job function is within the NSC) shall conduct an audit of the reactor facility ALARA program annually.
Contrary to TS 6.2.5, the inspectors identified that the licensee failed to conduct an audit of the reactor facility as low as is reasonably achievable (ALARA) program annually. Specifically, the licensee performed an audit, that included TS 6.2.5, on June 28, 2022, and performed the subsequent audit on April 3, 2024, which exceeded the annual requirement.
3 Licensee Contentions and NRC Evaluation In a \
letter dated February 25, 2025 (ML25057A001), TEES/NSC disputed NOV 2024201-01 in Inspection Report No. 05000128/2024201. The TEES/NSC letter included three specific contentions which are documented and addressed below:
Licensee Contention 1:
While we acknowledge the non-conformance related to the late 2023 audit, we take issue with the statement in the letter in paragraph three (3) that states, the licensee failed to identify the violation. We did self-identify and report that problem to the inspectors before they began their work for the week, and we also described the steps that were taken to mitigate the problem.
NRC Contention 1 Evaluation:
The NRC agrees with this contention. The statement that the licensee failed to identify the violation was made in error. The licensee failed to identify statement was used by the inspectors as the NRC Enforcement Policy criterion to disposition the violation as a cited violation and not a non-cited violation (NCV). The NRC Enforcement Policy, section 2.3.2.b contains four criteria that must be met for the NRC to disposition Severity Level IV violations as NCVs for licensees without an NRC reviewed corrective action program. In this case, the section 2.3.2.b NCV criteria not met was 2.3.2.b.3, the violation is not repetitive as a result of inadequate corrective action. Specifically, for Violation A only, the licensee has failed to correct this deficiency since it was first acknowledged during a December 2023 NRC security inspection. Inspectors documented an Inspector Follow up Item for the missed security audit in Inspection Report No. 05000128/2023202, which was released on April 11, 2024. At the time of the December 2024 inspection, the required security plan and implementing procedures audit still had not been performed, therefore credit could not be given for non-repetitive and adequate corrective action in accordance with section 2.3.2.b of the NRC Enforcement Policy. Therefore, Violation A will be updated to cite the correct enforcement criteria for disposition of the violation as a cited violation. Furthermore, due to the separate treatment of the constituent violations in the original enforcement problem, the above discussion does not apply to Violation B. The missed audit associated with Violation B was only missed once and it was subsequently performed. Therefore, Violation B will be changed to a minor violation. Violation C is addressed in licensee contention three below.
Licensee Contention 2:
We note here that the dates described in the NOV for the security plan audit do not match the facts, e.g., the NOV describes different datesby one calendar yearthan the inspection report dates of the last conducted audit and expiration of the 30-month requirement.
NRC Contention 2 Evaluation:
The NRC agrees with this contention. The contrary to statement in the NOV associated with the TS 6.2.4(5.) requirement to perform a security plan and implementing procedures audit at least once every other calendar year not to exceed 30 months, contained a typo. The date of the last security plan audit in the contrary to statement was listed as June 28, 2022. This date does not match the date provided in the description section, which was listed as June 2021.
The NRC review found that the correct date of the last performed security plan audit, as described in prior NRC security Inspection Report No. 05000128/2023202, is June 10, 2021.
However, this typo, by itself, does not result in any changes to the cited violation enforcement or severity level associated with Violation A. Violation A will be updated with the correct date of the last security plan audit.
4 Licensee Contention 3:
Paragraphs seven and eight of page one of the NOV describe a failure on the part of the Facility to conduct an audit of the ALARA Program as required by TS 6.2.5. Given that there is no separate ALARA program at the Facilityit is contained in Section 8 of the Radiation Safety Programthe audits of the ALARA program have been conducted during the Radiation Safety Program audit as required by TS 6.2.4.1. Those audits were performed by Tracy Tipping of the NETL at the University of Texas on 28 June 2022 (as noted in the NOV), 22 August 2023, and 30 August 2024.
All those reports were shared with the inspectors during the December 2024 audit. We do not agree to this being included as part of the NOV as a missed audit.
NRC Contention 3 Evaluation:
The NRC review could not confirm or deny if the inspectors reviewed the two audits performed by the representative of the Nuclear Engineering and Teaching and Research Lab (NETL) at the University of Texas during the December 2024 inspection. Therefore, they were specifically requested to be provided for purposes of this review. Two audits, performed by the NETL representative on the dates discussed above were provided on April 7, 2025, and reviewed by NRC staff. The review found that the documents were titled Health Physics Records Review and the dates and author information match what was provided in your response letter. The audits did not indicate that they were performed to fulfill any TS requirement. Furthermore, the documents indicated that the reviews were performed by the NETL representative at the request of the TEES Radiation Safety Officer (RSO). These aspects, combined with the lack of a formal ALARA program at the facility as described in your response, likely contributed to the confusion. The NRC review has determined that, considering this new information, the original violation for failure to perform ALARA audits in accordance with TS 6.2.5 requirements should be rescinded. However, TS 6.2.5 also specifically requires that the audit be performed by the Reactor Safety Board (RSB) chair or designated alternate. The NRC review could find no indication that NETL representative was specifically designated by the RSB chair to perform the reviews in 2023 or 2024. In fact, as described in the reviews themselves, the NETL representative was requested to perform the review by the RSO, not the RSB chair. Therefore, Violation C is being modified to a minor violation against TS 6.2.5 for not having the RSB chair or designated alternate perform the ALARA program reviews.
5 NRC Conclusion and Revised Violations As a result of the evaluation above, the NRC will be revising the constituent violations in the original enforcement problem as described below:
Revised Violation A:
Failure to conduct audits as required by the TSs Severity Report Section Severity Level IV NOV 2024201-01 Open 69001.09 A Severity Level IV NOV of TS 6.2.4(5.) was identified for the licensees failure to perform security plan audits within the required frequency.
==
Description:==
Technical specification 6.2.4 and TS 6.2.5 require the licensee to perform various audits. During an NRC security inspection performed December 11-14, 2023, it was noted that the security plan and implementing procedures audit required by TS 6.2.4(5.) was not performed since June 10, 2021, and was due December 10, 2023. It was also noted that the audit was scheduled for December 2023, but the auditor changed plans to conduct the audit in January 2024. During this December 2024 inspection, the inspectors confirmed no audit was conducted in January 2024 and still was not conducted in calendar year 2024. Subsequently, inspectors were informed that the audit was completed in April 2025.
Corrective Actions: The inspectors confirmed that the licensee placed the issue in their spreadsheet tracking all issues that need to be completed. The licensee informed the inspectors that an individual that works for the NSC and is not immediately responsible for the area would perform the audit in calendar year 2025. Subsequently, the audit was completed in April 2025, and it will be reviewed by the inspector during a future inspection.
Analysis: The violation was evaluated in accordance with the NRC Enforcement Policy. The violation is cited as a NOV because it constitutes a failure to meet regulatory requirements that has a more than minor safety significance and the licensee failed to correct the violation within a reasonable period of time.
Enforcement:
Severity: The violations is categorized at Severity Level IV in accordance with section 6.9.d of the NRC Enforcement Policy.
Violation: TS 6.2.4, RSB Audit Function, states, in part, The audit function shall include selective (but comprehensive) examination of operating records, logs, and other documents.
Audits shall include but are not limited to the following:
TS 6.2.4(5.) states, The reactor facility security plan and implementing procedures: at least once every other calendar year (interval between audits not to exceed 30 months).
Contrary to TS 6.2.4(5.), the licensee failed to perform an audit to include the reactor facility security plan and implementing procedures at least once every other calendar year.
Specifically, the licensee performed an audit, that included TS 6.2.4(5.), on June 28, 2021, and did not perform a subsequent audit until April 22, 2025, which exceeds the 30-month requirement.
6 Enforcement Action: This violation is being cited as a Notice of Violation, consistent with sections 2.3.2 and 2.3.3 of the NRC Enforcement Policy.
This closes Inspector Follow Up Item 05000128/2023202-01.
Revised Violation B:
Minor Violation 69001.09 Minor Violation: Technical specification 6.2.4, RSB Audit Function, states, in part, The audit function shall include selective (but comprehensive) examination of operating records, logs, and other documents. Audits shall include but are not limited to the following:
TS 6.2.4(1.) states, Facility operations, including radiation protection, for conformance to the Technical Specifications, applicable license conditions, and standard operating procedures:
at least once per calendar year (interval between audits not to exceed 15 months).
TS 6.2.4(2.) states, The results of action taken to correct those deficiencies that may occur in the reactor facility equipment systems, structures, or methods of operations that affect reactor safety: at least once per calendar year (interval between audits not to exceed 15 months).
Contrary to TS 6.2.4(1.) and TS 6.2.4(2.), the licensee failed to perform an audit to include facility operations and an audit to include the results of action taken to correct those deficiencies that may occur in the reactor facility equipment systems, structures, or methods of operations that affect reactor safety at least once per calendar year. Specifically, the licensee performed an audit, that included TS 6.2.4(1.) and TS 6.2.4(2.), on August 28, 2022, and performed the subsequent audit on April 2, 2024, which exceeded the allowable 15-month frequency.
Screening: The missed 2023 audits were identified by the licensee, were not repetitive, and were corrected on April 2, 2024. As a result, the inspectors determined that failure to meet the requirements of TS 6.2.4(1.) and 6.2.4.(2.) constitutes a violation of minor significance in accordance with section 2.0 of the NRC Enforcement Policy. This minor violation was corrected by the licensee and this issue is closed.
Enforcement: The failure to comply with TS 6.2.4 constitutes a minor violation that is not subject to enforcement action in accordance with the NRC Enforcement Policy.
Revised Violation C:
Minor Violation 69001.09 Minor Violation: Technical Specification 6.2.5, Audit of ALARA Program, states, in part, The Chair of the RSB or designated alternate (excluding anyone whose normal job function is within the NSC) shall conduct an audit of the reactor facility ALARA program annually.
Contrary to TS 6.2.5, the 2023 and 2024 ALARA program audits were not performed by the chair of the RSB or a designated alternate. Specifically, the Health Physics Records Review(s) were performed by a representative of the NETL at the University of Texas on August 22, 2023, and August 30, 2024, and both reviews state that the NETL representative was requested to perform the review by the TEES RSO, not the RSB chair.
7 Screening: Since the required audits were still performed and inspectors identified no significant deficiencies with the audits themselves, it was determined that the failure to meet the requirements of TS 6.2.5 constitutes a violation of minor significance in accordance with section 2.0 of the NRC Enforcement Policy. The licensee will determine appropriate corrective actions prior to the 2025 ALARA program audit.
Enforcement: The failure to comply with TS 6.2.5 constitutes a minor violation that is not subject to enforcement action in accordance with the NRC Enforcement Policy.