IR 05000482/2014001

Annual Assessment Letter for Wolf Creek Generating Station (Report 0500482/2014001)

ML15063A490
Person / Time
Site:	Wolf Creek
Issue date:	03/04/2015
From:	Pruett T W NRC/RGN-IV/DRP
To:	Heflin A C Wolf Creek
N. O'Keefe
References
IR 2014001
Download: ML15063A490 (5)

Text

March 4, 2015

Mr. Adam C. Heflin, President and Chief Executive Officer Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation P.O. Box 411 Burlington, KS 66839

SUBJECT: ANNUAL ASSESSMENT LETTER FOR WOLF CREEK GENERATING STATION (REPORT 0500482/2014001)

Dear Mr. Heflin:

On February 17, 2015, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) completed its end-of-cycle performance review of Wolf Creek Generating Station. The NRC reviewed the most recent quarterly performance indicators (PIs) in addition to inspection results and enforcement actions from January 1, 2014, through December 31, 2014. This letter informs you of the NRC's assessment of your facility during this period and its plans for future inspections at your facility.

The NRC determined that overall, Wolf Creek Generating Station operated in a manner that preserved public health and safety and met all cornerstone objectives. The NRC determined the performance at Wolf Creek Generating Station during the most recent quarter was within the Regulatory Response Column of the NRC's Reactor Oversight Process (ROP) Action Matrix because of one Greater-than-Green Security Cornerstone input and one White finding in the Emergency Preparedness Cornerstone. The Security issue was described in Inspection Report 05000482/2014405 (ML14069A025), and the White Emergency Preparedness finding associated with a failure to maintain adequate methods for assessing the potential consequences of a radiological emergency condition, was described in Inspection Report 05000482/2014503 (ML14182A628). After you notified the NRC of your readiness for inspection, your actions to address each of these findings was inspected during the week of December 1, 2014. On January 7, 2015, the NRC issued Inspection Report 05000482/2014505 (ML15007A298), which informed you of the inspection results from the supplemental inspection and closed the White finding in the Emergency Preparedness Cornerstone. On January 15, 2015, the NRC issued Inspection Report 05000482/2014406 (ML15015A701), which informed you of the inspection results from the supplemental inspection and closed the Greater-than-Green finding in the Security Cornerstone. The NRC issued a Follow-Up Assessment letter, dated January 20, 2015 (ML15020A342) to inform you of your movement from the Regulatory Response column to the Licensee Response Column of the NRC's Action Matrix. Therefore, the NRC plans to conduct ROP baseline inspections at your facility. The enclosed inspection plan lists the inspections scheduled through June 30, 2016. Routine inspections performed by resident inspectors are not included in the inspection plan. The inspections listed during the last nine months of the inspection plan are tentative and may be revised at the mid-cycle performance review. The NRC provides the inspection plan to allow for the resolution of any scheduling conflicts and personnel availability issues. The NRC will contact you as soon as possible to discuss changes to the inspection plan should circumstances warrant any changes. This inspection plan does not include security-related inspections, which will be sent via separate, non-publicly available correspondence.

The NRC also issued a Chilling Effect Letter (CEL) (ML13233A208) to Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation on August 19, 2013. The CEL was issued because the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) had issued a finding of discrimination for raising safety concerns against a former employee of an engineering contractor employed by Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation, and due to the NRC identifying that a chilled work environment existed within your facility's Quality Assurance Group. Issuance of a CEL meets the NRC criteria in Inspection Manual Chapter (IMC) 0305, "Operating Reactor Assessment Program," for the identification of a cross-cutting theme in the area of safety conscious work environment (SCWE). The NRC assessed your 30-day and 6-month responses to the CEL, and conducted a public meeting in the Region IV office on January 22, 2014, to discuss the actions that you were taking to address the working environment at your facility. The NRC decided not to open a substantive cross-cutting issue in the area of SCWE at that time because the NRC staff did not have a concern with your actions. After you notified the NRC of your readiness, an inspection of your actions to address the CEL began on January 26, 2015. When that inspection is completed, the NRC will use the results to inform our decision whether to close the CEL and the SCWE cross-cutting theme. In a letter titled "30-Day Response on Planned Actions to Restore Compliance Regarding Essential Service Water Design Issues," dated December 16, 2014, Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation revised previous commitments to restore compliance for two open violations. In 2010, the NRC issued Notice of Violation 05000482/2010006-05 (ML102560258) for failure to correct a significant condition adverse to quality associated with recurring column closure water hammer events that resulted in leaks in the containment coolers (EA-10-160). In 2012, the NRC issued Notice of Violation 05000482/2012007-03 (ML12191A269) for the failure to determine the cause of a significant condition adverse to quality and prevent repetition when additional column closure water hammer events caused leaks in the essential service water piping (EA-12-135). In the letter, Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation committed to install a modification to mitigate the adverse effects of column closure water hammer in the essential service water system prior to plant start-up from Refueling Outage 20, which started on February 28, 2015. You are also ensuring the reliability of the four containment coolers in the future by replacing the tube bundles and changing the design. The NRC plans to inspect your planned modifications and to evaluate whether your actions have restored compliance.

Additionally, an NRC audit of licensee efforts towards compliance with Order EA-12-049, "Order Modifying Licenses with Regard to Requirements for Mitigation Strategies for Beyond-Design-Basis External Events," and Order EA-12-051, "Order Modifying Licenses with Regard to Reliable Spent Fuel Pool Instrumentation" is ongoing. This audit includes an onsite component in order for the NRC to evaluate mitigating strategies as described in licensee submittals, and to receive and review information relative to associated open items. This onsite activity will occur in the months prior to the unit achieving compliance with the Orders, and will aid staff in development of a Safety Evaluation for the site. The date for the onsite component at your site is being coordinated with your staff. A site-specific audit plan for the visit will be provided in advance to allow sufficient time for preparations. In accordance with 10 CFR 2.390 of the NRC's "Rules of Practice," a copy of this letter will be available electronically for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room or from the Publicly Available Records (PARS) component of NRC's document system (ADAMS). ADAMS is accessible from the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html (the Public Electronic Reading Room).

Please contact Mr. Neil F. O'Keefe at 817-200-1141 with any questions you may have regarding this letter.

Sincerely,/RA/ Troy W. Pruett, Director Division of Reactor Projects Docket: 50-482 License: NPF-42

Enclosure:

Wolf Creek Generating Station Inspection/Activity Plan Page 1 of 102/26/201519:47:52Report 22UnitNumberPlanned DatesStart EndInspection ActivityTitleNo. of Staffon SiteWolf CreekInspection / Activity Plan03/01/2015-06/30/2016EXAM-INITIAL OPERATOR EXAM51 INITIAL EXAM WC(11/2015)X0254910/19/201510/23/20151 INITIAL EXAM WC(11/2015)X0254911/16/201511/20/2015RS 13 PI-RADIATION SAFETY21 IPRadiological Hazard Assessment and Exposure Controls71124.0103/09/201503/13/20151 IPIn-Plant Airborne Radioactivity Control and Mitigation71124.0303/09/201503/13/20151 IPOccupational Exposure Control Effectiveness71151-OR0103/09/201503/13/20151 IPRETS/ODCM Radiological Effluent Occurrences71151-PR0103/09/201503/13/201571111.08-INSERVICE INSPECTION11 IPInservice Inspection Activities - PWR7111108P03/09/201503/20/2015RS 24-RADIATION SAFETY21 IPOccupational ALARA Planning and Controls71124.0206/22/201506/26/20151 IPOccupational Dose Assessment71124.0406/22/201506/26/2015EB1-17T-WC PERMANENT PLANT MODS & 50.5931 IPEvaluations of Changes, Tests, and Experiments and Permanent Plant Modifications7111117T07/06/201507/17/2015EP-2-HAB EXERCISE INSPECTION51 IPEmergency Action Level and Emergency Plan Changes711140412/07/201512/11/20151 IPExercise Evaluation - Hostile Action (HA) Event711140712/07/201512/11/2015EP-3-EP PERFORMANCE INDICATORS21 IPDrill/Exercise Performance71151-EP0112/07/201512/11/20151 IPERO Readiness71151-EP0212/07/201512/11/20151 IPAlert & Notification System Reliability71151-EP0312/07/201512/11/2015EB1-21T-WC COMPONENT DESIGN BASIS INSPECTION11 IPComponent Design Bases Inspection711112103/28/201604/29/2016EB1-07T-WC HEAT SINK PERFORMANCE11 IPHeat Sink Performance7111107T05/23/201605/27/2016RS 5678-RADIATION SAFETY - TEAM41 IPRadiation Monitoring Instrumentation71124.0505/23/201605/27/20161 IPRadioactive Gaseous and Liquid Effluent Treatment71124.0605/23/201605/27/20161 IPRadiological Environmental Monitoring Program71124.0705/23/201605/27/20161 IPRadioactive Solid Waste Processing and Radioactive Material Handling, Storage, and Transportation71124.0805/23/201605/27/2016This report does not include INPO and OUTAGE activities. This report shows only on-site and announced inspection procedures.