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10 CFR Part 50, Appendix B, Criterion III, Design Control, states, in part, that measures shall be established to assure that applicable regulatory requirements and the design basis, as defined in 50.2 and as specified in the license application, for those structures, systems, and components to which this appendix applies are correctly translated into specifications, drawings, procedures, and instructions
Title 10 CFR Part 50 Appendix A defines single failure as
A single failure means an occurrence which results in the loss of capability of a component to perform its intended safety functions. Multiple failures resulting from a single occurrence are considered to be a single failure. Fluid and electric systems are considered to be designed against an assumed single failure if neither: (1) a single failure of any active component (assuming passive components function properly); nor (2) a single failure of a passive component (assuming active components function properly), results in a loss of the capability of the system to perform its safety functions
Contrary to the above, from February 1, 2011, the date when the licensee was informed of the issuance of a compliance backfit, until March 2, 2011, the date the licensee committed to the NRC, via letter, to restore compliance, the licensee failed to ensure the SG PORVs power supplies met the design bases. Specifically, the licensee failed to ensure the SG PORVs were capable of performing their safety function assuming a single failure as defined by 10 CFR Part 50 Appendix A General Design Criteria for Nuclear Power Plants in their SGTR analysis
The NRC staff determined that this violation resulted from matters not reasonably within the licensees control; that is, the requirements could not be readily identified and therefore addressed.
Enforcement Policy Section 3.5, Violations Involving Special Circumstances, states in part, the NRC may reduce or refrain from issuing a civil penalty or an
NOV [Notice of Violation] for a
Severity Level II, III, or IV violation based on the merits of the case after considering the guidance in this statement of policy and such factors as the age of the violation, the significance of the violation, the clarity of the requirement and associated guidance... In this case, the lack of clarity of the requirement influenced the licensees ability to comply. As stated above, an exemption to the
backfit rule (a compliance
backfit) was documented. Therefore, in accordance with the
Enforcement Policy, and after consultation with the Director of the Office of Enforcement and the Region III Regional Administrator, the NRC has decided to exercise
enforcement discretion in accordance with Section 3.5 of the
NRC Enforcement Policy and to refrain from issuing enforcement action for the violation. In accordance with the NRCs Reactor Oversight Process, this condition will not be considered in the assessment process or the NRCs Action Matrix. The technical issue is considered open pending completion of the corrective actions.
