ML12039A123

EN-12-009, Issuance of Final Significance Determination and Notice of Violation - Palisades

ML12039A123
Person / Time
Site:	Palisades
Issue date:	02/08/2012
From:	Eul R, David Furst NRC/OE
To:
Eul R
References
EA-11-243 EN-12-009
Download: ML12039A123 (3)

Text

February 8, 2012 EN 12-009 OFFICE OF ENFORCEMENT NOTIFICATION OF SIGNIFICANT ENFORCEMENT ACTION Licensee: Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. EA-11-243 Palisades Nuclear Plant Docket Nos. 50-255

Subject:

ISSUANCE OF FINAL SIGNIFICANCE DETERMINATION AND NOTICE OF VIOLATION This is to inform the Commission that a Notice of Violation will be issued on or about February 14, 2012, to Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. (licensee) for a violation associated with a Yellow Significance Determination Process finding identified during an inspection of the Palisades Nuclear Plant. This Yellow finding, an issue of substantial safety significance, will require additional U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) inspections. It involves the failure of Palisades personnel to ensure that the work performed on Electrical Bus D11-2 (all activities affecting quality) was prescribed by documented instructions or procedures of a type appropriate to the circumstances and accomplished in accordance with the instructions or procedures. Specifically, the work orders did not provide logical step progression for the work to be performed. The work orders contained critical steps in the work instructions; however, no critical steps were identified in the work order instructions. The work orders also included action steps in a work instruction note to, Insulate or support load side bus bars to ensure they do not fault, which was not implemented. In addition, the electricians performing work in the field, attempted to remove a positive horizontal bus bar in Bus D11-2, which was not a prescribed step in the work instructions. As a result, during the field work on September 25, 2011, the positive horizontal bus bar rotated and contacted the negative horizontal bus bar that in turn caused an electrical fault, loss of the left train 125-Volt direct current (DC) safety-related system, and loss of both preferred alternating current (AC) sources associated with the left train DC system.

The Notice of Violation is based on the licensees failure to meet 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix B, Criterion V, Instructions, Procedures, and Drawings, which states, in part, that activities affecting quality shall be prescribed by documented instructions, procedures, or drawings of a type appropriate to the circumstances and shall be accomplished in accordance with these instructions, procedures or drawings.

In response to the preliminary determination letter, the licensee attended a Regulatory Conference and provided additional information on their assessment of the significance of this finding. After reviewing the information developed during the inspection and the information provided by the licensee, the staff concluded that the inspection finding is appropriately characterized as Yellow. Entergy has informed the NRC that multiple corrective actions are in place and/or planned. Their corrective actions include, in part: (1) work order quality and risk management improvement actions; (2) management observation and oversight for procedure adherence, safety culture, and risk mitigation; (3) temporary modifications for faulted breakers and replacement of damaged bus connectors and, (4) additional guidance for nuclear safety when working on energized circuits.

It should be noted that the licensee has not been specifically informed of the enforcement action.

The schedule of issuance and notification is:

Mailing of Final Significance Determination February 14, 2012 Telephone Notification of Licensee February 14, 2012 The State of Michigan will be notified.

Contacts: Ryan Eul, OE, (301) 415-8743 Dave Furst, OE, (301) 415-7634

It should be noted that the licensee has not been specifically informed of the enforcement action.

The schedule of issuance and notification is:

Mailing of Final Significance Determination February 14, 2012 Telephone Notification of Licensee February 14, 2012 The State of Michigan will be notified.

Contacts: Ryan Eul, OE, (301) 415-8743 Dave Furst, OE, (301) 415-7634 Distribution: EN-12-2009, February 8, 2012 OWFN OWFN TWFN EBB Regional Offices Chairman Jaczko EDO OCFO NMSS RI RII Comm. Svinicki DEDR OP CENTER RIII RIV Comm. Apostolakis DEDMRS FSME Comm. Magwood OE OIG MAIL Comm. Ostendorff OGC RES ADAMS SECY NRR ACRS OE staff OCA OI NSIR PA IP Electronic DISTRIBUTION:

R. Zimmerman, OE N. Hilton, OE A. Rivera, OE D. Furst, OE R. Eul, OE OE r/f EN binder ADAMS ML12039A123 Publicly Available OFFICE OE:ES OE:BC NAME R. Eul D. Furst DATE 2/7/12 2/7/12 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY