Part 50.54(q) of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations requires that licensees maintain and follow an
emergency plan that meets the requirements of
10 CFR 50.47(b);
10 CFR 50.47(b)(6) and 50.47(b)(10) require in part that the licensee establish systems for prompt communication to emergency response personnel, and establish a range of protective actions for emergency workers and the public. Contrary to this, on April 14, 2008, the licensee discovered a Gai-tronics speaker in the Unit 2 high pressure turbine area was
inoperable because the speaker cone was stuffed with material. The inspector determined this speaker was relied upon during operations to communicate with emergency response personnel and to warn licensee employees to take protective actions during an emergency. This issue was identified in the
CAP as Smart Form 2008-001325. The inspector determined that a speaker could be degraded or
inoperable for up to 2 years before being discovered through the licensees routine surveillance and testing program, and that multiple Gai-tronics speakers have been routinely found stuffed with material following unit outages since at least 1999 (per Smart Form SMF-1999-000659), without effective corrective action to prevent the problem. This finding is of very low safety significance because it is a failure to comply with NRC requirements, the finding is associated with planning standards
10 CFR 50.47(b)(6) and 50.47(b)(10), the finding is not associated with the risk-significant aspects of 50.47(b)(10), and the finding is not a functional failure of the planning standards because many of the Gai-tronics speakers remained
operable