IR 05000341/2007001

(Eco) Power Plant Assessment Letter (Report 05000341-07-001)

ML070610263
Person / Time
Site:	Fermi
Issue date:	03/02/2007
From:	Christine Lipa NRC/RGN-III/DRP/RPB4
To:	Cobb D Detroit Edison
References
IR-07-001 IR-07-001
Download: ML070610263 (7)

Text

rch 2, 2007

SUBJECT:

ANNUAL ASSESSMENT LETTER - FERMI NUCLEAR POWER PLANT, UNIT 2 (REPORT 05000341/2007001)

Dear Mr. Cobb:

On February 14, 2007, the NRC staff completed its performance review of the Fermi 2 Nuclear Power Plant. Our technical staff reviewed performance indicators (PIs) for the most recent quarter and inspection results for the period from January 1 through December 31, 2006. The purpose of this letter is to inform you of our assessment of your safety performance during this period and our plans for future inspections at your facility.

This performance review and enclosed inspection plan do not include physical protection information. A separate letter designated as "Exempt from Public Disclosure in Accordance with 10 CFR 2.390" and marked as "Official Use Only - Security-Related Information" will include the physical protection review and resultant inspection plan.

Overall, Fermi 2 operated in a manner that preserved public health and safety and fully met all cornerstone objectives. Plant performance for the most recent quarter, as well as for the first three quarters of the assessment cycle, was within the Licensee Response column of the NRCs Action Matrix, based on all inspection findings being classified as having very low safety significance (Green) and all PIs indicating performance at a level requiring no additional NRC oversight (Green). Therefore, we plan to conduct reactor oversight process baseline inspections at your facility.

In our mid-cycle assessment letter, dated August 31, 2006, [ADAMS Ref. ML062430336]

we advised you of a substantive cross-cutting issue in the area of problem identification and resolution, based on a number of findings with ineffective evaluations. The end-of-cycle assessment of the cross-cutting issue included a review of inspection results over the 12-month period of January 1 through December 31, 2006. During this period, we observed improvement in the effectiveness of your corrective actions to address the issue, although the staff identified more than three green inspection findings for the current 12-month assessment period with documented cross-cutting aspects in the area of problem identification and resolution, and the continued presence of a cross-cutting theme associated with these findings. Specifically, management and staff at the facility have taken a number of steps to improve the corrective action program including, training staff and management on apparent cause evaluations, reorganizing the corrective action review board, changing the corrective action manager, and enforcing due dates more rigorously. Based on this observed improvement, the staff no longer has a concern with the scope of your efforts or progress in the cross-cutting area of problem identification and resolution because the range of corrective actions and observable trends indicate you have effectively addressed the cross-cutting theme associated with these findings.

Therefore, the cross-cutting issue is now closed. The staff notes that sustained licensee progress will require continued strong management involvement given the number of findings in the problem identification and resolution area and the continued presence of the cross-cutting theme. We will continue to monitor your performance in this area during NRC baseline inspections.

The enclosed inspection plan details the inspections, less those related to physical protection, scheduled through June 30, 2008. The inspection plan is provided to allow for the resolution of any scheduling conflicts and personnel availability issues well in advance of inspector arrival onsite. Routine resident inspections are not listed due to their ongoing and continuous nature.

The inspections in the last 9 months of the inspection plan are tentative and may be revised at the mid-cycle review.

In accordance with 10 CFR 2.390 of the NRCs Rules of Practice, a copy of this letter and its enclosure will be made 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), accessible from the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html (the Public Electronic Reading Room).

If circumstances arise which cause us to change this inspection plan, we will contact you to discuss the change as soon as possible. Please contact me at 630-829-9619 with any questions you may have regarding this letter or the inspection plan.

Sincerely,

/RA/

Christine A. Lipa, Chief Branch 4 Division of Reactor Projects Docket No. 50-341 License No. NPF-43 Enclosure: Fermi 2 Inspection/Activity Plan DISTRIBUTION See next page