ML12058A491

02/29/2012, Public Meeting Slides, Palisades Nuclear Plant

ML12058A491
Person / Time
Site:	Palisades
Issue date:	02/27/2012
From:	Pederson C Region 3 Administrator
To:
References
Download: ML12058A491 (27)

Text

Public Meeting to Discuss Recent Performance Issues at thePalisadesNuclear 1Nuclear Regulatory Commission -Region IIISouth Haven MichiganFebruary 29, 2012 the Palisades Nuclear Plant Introduction C y nthia Pederson yActing Regional Administrator, RIII 2

Purpose of Today's Meeting*NRC will address recent performance issues at Palisades 3-Discuss issues-NRC actions

-Q & A Agenda*Introduction *NRC role / mission

• Discussion of Palisades performance and NRC actions

-Licensed o perator leavin g his p ost 4pgp-Auxiliary feed water pump failure to function

-Service water pump coupling failure

-Complicated plant shutdown caused by fault during work on an electric panel *NRC response

• Break

• Q & A Region III OrganizationCynthia D. PedersonActing Regional AdministratorJennifer L. UhleActing Deputy Regional AdministratorDivision of Reactor ProjectsDivision of Reactor SafetyDivision of Nuclear Materials Safety 5K. Steven West, DirectorGary Shear, Deputy DirectorSteven A. Reynolds, DirectorKenneth O'Brien, Deputy DirectorJack GiessnerBranch 4 ChiefRegional SpecialistsPalisades Resident Inspection StaffTom Taylor, Senior Resident InspectorApril Scarbeary, Resident InspectorBranch StaffRobert Lerch, Project EngineerDiana Betancourt, Reactor EngineerSwetha Shah, Reactor EngineerAnne T. Boland, DirectorPatrick Louden, Deputy DirectorRegional Specialists Our Mission License and regulate nuclear materials to ensure adequate protection of public health and safety, promote the common defense and security, and protect the environment.

6-Establishing rules and regulations-Issuing licenses

-Providing oversight through inspection, enforcement, and evaluation of operational experience-Conducting research to provide support for regulatory decisions-Responding to events and emergencies Cornerstones Mission Strategic Pf 7 P er f ormance AreasCornerstones Significance Threshold of Inspection Findings and IndicatorsSafety significance NRC ResponseGreen (very low)Routine NRC InspectionsWhite(lowtomoderate)IncreasesNRCoversight 8 White (low to moderate)Increases NRC oversightYellow(substantial)Increases NRC oversight Red (high)Increases NRC oversight Action Matrix ConceptLicensee Response IRegulatory Response IIDegraded Cornerstone III Multiple/RepDegraded Cornerstone IVUnacceptable Performance V 9Increasing Safety SignificanceIncreasing NRC Inspection Efforts Increasing NRC/Licensee Management Involvement Increasing Regulatory Actions National Summary of Plant Performance Status as of 2/15/2012I Licensee Response 87 II Regulatory Response 12IIIDegradedCornerstonePalisadesnow3 10 III Degraded Cornerstone Palisades now 3IV Multiple/Repetitive Deg. Cornerstone1 V Unacceptable 0Total*103*Fort Calhoun -shutdown and requires NRC permission to restart Summary of Safety Significant FindingsPlant continues to operate safely, but performance has degraded*Operator leaves his post -Confirmatory Order.

• AnAuxiliaryFeedWaterpumpfailedtofunction

-11 An Auxiliary Feed Water pump failed to function (low to moderate safety significance)*Service Water Pump coupling failure -(low to moderate safety significance)*Complicated shutdown caused by fault during work on an electric panel -(substantial safety significance)

Palisades Issue: Operator Leaves His Post, October 2010What Happened: *Palisades licensed operator left the control room without following proceduresNRCaction:

12 NRC action:*NRC ensured plant t ook immediate actions*Increased observations of control room performance*NRC issued a Confirmatory Order requiring Entergy fleet, Palisades plant and the licensed operator to implement a wide range of corrective

actions Palisades Issue:

Auxiliary Feed Water Pump Did Not Function, May 2011What Happened: *The pump tripped dur ing routing testing*In 2010, maintenance greased a pump component that should not have been greased, which resulted

in p um p failure 13 pp NRC action:*Ensured immediate corrective actions completed

• Observed testing to validate pump's reliability

• Assessed risk of not having the pump available as moderate/White and issued a violation for pump failure Turbine Driven Auxiliary Feedwater Pump Schematic Palisades Issue:

Service Water Pump Coupling Failed, August 2011What Happened: *1 of 3 service water pumps failed. The cause was the #6 coupling (that connects two shaft pieces) fractured*Similar to a failure on the same pump in 2009 (#7 coupling)

• Failure was caused by stress corrosion cracking 15*Type of steel used was not adequately evaluated NRC action:*Ensured immediate corrective actions were complete

• Dispatched a team of experts to evaluate the issue

• Assessed the risk of the event as moderate/White and issued a violation for pump failure Affected Service Water Pump Section Palisades Issue: Complicated Plant Shutdown Caused by Fault During Work on an Electric Panel , September 2011What Happened: *While performing maintenance on an electrical panel, metal from the panel contacted another metal piece of an opposite charge, resulting in a 'short' and complicated shutdown -Loss of indications and control of equipmentEquipmentoperationchallengedoperators 17-Equipment operation challenged operators-Degradation of safety culture possibly contributed to event NRC action:*Required immediate corrective actions completed prior to plant startup*Dispatched a team of experts to evaluate the issue

• Assessed the risk of the event as significant/Yellow and issued violation Electrical Panel Issue, September 2011 BeforeA reactor scram occurred when a worker was performing maintenance activities on an electrical panel. The highlighted metal pieces have opposite charge, when they came into contact, they caused an electrical arc and loss of the bus.

After Palisades Current Performance*Palisades continues to operate safely

• NRCplacedPalisadesinColumnIIIofthe 19*NRC placed Palisades in Column III of the Action Matrix (Degraded Cornerstone)*If the NRC determines the plant is not operating safely, we will shut down the plant NRC's Response to Issues 2011 *Routine inspections ~ 2000-2500 hours 20*Additional inspections to address plant issues -over 1000 hours0.0116 days <br />0.278 hours <br />0.00165 weeks <br />3.805e-4 months <br /> NRC's Response to Issues 2012*NRC required immediate actions from the site*NRC will do follow-up inspections on all three greater than green findings and confirmatory order

• NRCwillindependentlyevaluatetheissues 21 NRC will independently evaluate the issues -Adequate actions to prevent the issue from occurring again-Determine if the condition that existed could exist in other equipment-Determine the root/underlying causes and evaluate if those causes could lead to other events-Determine if problems with safety culture caused or significantly contributed to the events Closing Remarks C y nthia Pederson yActing Regional Administrator, RIII 22 Questions/Comments 23 Open to the Public*The NRC places a high priority on keeping the public and stakeholders informed of its

activities.

24*At www.nrc.gov, you can:-Find public meeting dates and transcripts;-Read NRC testimony, speeches, press releases, and policy decisions; and -Access the agency's Electronic Reading Room to find NRC publications and documents.

Contacting the NRC*Report an emergency-(301) 816-5100 (call collect)*Report a safety concern 25-(800) 695-7403 -Allegation@nrc.gov*General information or questions-www.nrc.gov

-Select "What We Do" for Public Affairs NRC Representatives*Viktoria Mitlyng, Office of Public Affairs, RIII-(630) 829-9662*John "Jack" Giessner, Branch Chief, Division of Reactor Pro j ects 26 j-(630) 829-9619*Tom Taylor, Senior Resident Inspector-(269) 764-8971*April Scarbeary, Resident Inspector-(269) 764-8972 Reference Sources*Reactor Oversight Process-http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/

ASSESS/index.html

• PublicElectronicReadingRoom 27 Public Electronic Reading Room-http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm.html*NRC Information Digest-http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr1350/*Public Document Room-1-800-397-4209 (Toll Free)