Information Notice 1992-66, Access Denied to NRC Inspectors at Five Star Products, Inc. and Construction Products Research, Fairfield, Connecticut

Access Denied to NRC Inspectors at Five Star Products, Inc. and Construction Products Research, Fairfield, Connecticut

ML031200381
Person / Time
Site:	Beaver Valley, Millstone, Hatch, Monticello, Calvert Cliffs, Dresden, Davis Besse, Peach Bottom, Browns Ferry, Salem, Oconee, Mcguire, Nine Mile Point, Palisades, Palo Verde, Perry, Indian Point, Fermi, Kewaunee, Catawba, Harris, Wolf Creek, Saint Lucie, Point Beach, Oyster Creek, Watts Bar, Hope Creek, Grand Gulf, Cooper, Sequoyah, Byron, Pilgrim, Arkansas Nuclear, Three Mile Island, Braidwood, Susquehanna, Summer, Prairie Island, Columbia, Seabrook, Brunswick, Surry, Limerick, North Anna, Turkey Point, River Bend, Vermont Yankee, Crystal River, Haddam Neck, Ginna, Diablo Canyon, Callaway, Vogtle, Waterford, Duane Arnold, Farley, Robinson, Clinton, South Texas, San Onofre, Cook, Comanche Peak, Yankee Rowe, Maine Yankee, Quad Cities, Humboldt Bay, La Crosse, Big Rock Point, Rancho Seco, Zion, Midland, Bellefonte, Fort Calhoun, FitzPatrick, McGuire, LaSalle, Fort Saint Vrain, Shoreham, Satsop, Trojan, Atlantic Nuclear Power Plant
Issue date:	09/01/1992
From:	Rossi C E Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
To:
References
IN-92-066, NUDOCS 9209010039
Download: ML031200381 (8)

II UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555 September

1, 1992 NRC INFORMATION

NOTICE 92-66: ACCESS-DENIED

TO NRC INSPECTORS

AT FIVE STAR PRODUCTS, INC. AND CONSTRUCTION

Addressees

All holders of operating

licenses or construction

permits for nuclear power reactors and all recipients

of NUREG-0040, "Licensee, Contractor

and Vendor Inspection

Status Report" (White Book).

Purpose

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission (NRC) is issuing this information

notice to alert addressees

to the NRC's concern that Five Star Products, Incorporated (Five Star), and its laboratory

contractor, Construction

Products Research (CPR), denied NRC inspectors

necessary

access to the contracted

test laboratory

and test data for grout and concrete mix products.

It is expected that recipients

will review this information

and consider actions, as-appropriate.

However, suggestions

contained

in this information

notice are not NRC requirements;

therefore, no specific action or written response is required.Description

of Circumstances

On Tuesday, August 18, 1992, NRC inspectors

arrived at the Five Star facility, located at Fairfield, Connecticut, to conduct an inspection

pursuant to the provisions

of Section 21.41, "Inspection," of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 21 (10 CFR Part 21). The NRC promulgated

10 CFR Part 21 under the authority

of Section 206 of the Energy Reorganization

Act of 1974, 42 U.S.C. 5846, and Sections 161b and 161o of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, (42 U.S.C. 2201(b) and 2201(o)).

Section 21.41 authorizes

NRC inspections

of facilities

supplying "basic components," or parts thereof, for commercial

nuclear power plants as that term is defined in 10 CFR Part 21.Five Star supplies grout and concrete mix materials, tested at its facility by CPR, to the commercial

nuclear industry.

Five Star certifies

these materials as being manufactured

and controlled

in accordance

with the requirements

of Appendix B to 10 CFR Part 50.2Ar 9209010039

_7DA\A)

ill IN 92-66 September

1, 1992 On Tuesday, August 18, 1992, and Wednesday, August 19, 1992, the NRC inspectors

were denied access necessary

for an inspection

of the CPR test laboratory

and test records on the Five Star premises.

On Wednesday, August 19, 1992, Five Star managers told the NRC inspectors

that they would not be allowed to continue the inspection

as of the end of the day even though the NRC inspectors

indicated

that they had not completed

the inspection.

Discussion

The NRC conducted

this inspection

to determine

the extent to which Five Star has supplied material or services to licensed nuclear plants, the adequacy of its quality assurance

and testing programs, and the adequacy of its products.Purchase orders reviewed during the limited inspection

indicated

that licensees

have purchased

concrete products from Five Star and are invoking the requirements

of Appendix B to 10 CFR Part 50 and 10 CFR Part 21 on the orders to Five Star. The NRC learned that licensees

and licensee contractors

auditing Five Star who requested

access to CPR's test laboratory

and test records were denied necessary

access to the test laboratory

and records.During the limited inspection

at Five Star, the NRC inspectors

found that not all licensees

purchasing

from Five Star had performed

implementation

audits of Five Star. In October, 1991, a member of the Nuclear Utility Procurement

Issues Council (NUPIC) performed

a NUPIC audit and concluded

that the Five Star quality assurance

program and its implementation

were unacceptable

and did not meet certain requirements

of Appendix B to 10 CFR Part 50. However,~thL-NRC-insp-ectors--determi-ned--that-some-l-fcensees-have-accepted

the-Five-Star~-

-quality assurance

program as meeting all applicable

Appendix B requirements.

The NRC inspectors

reviewed Five Star customer purchase orders for the period from 1988 to 1992 and determined

that at least seven licensees

and one licensee contractor

issued purchase orders to Five Star for grout and concrete mix products and specified

compliance

to Appendix B to 10 CFR Part 50 and 10 CFR Part 21. Purchasers

may have accepted the use of Five Star products upon performing

audits that did not include reviewing

the test laboratory

and test records. Therefore, the affected audits were not adequate to determine

the quality of the Five Star products.The denial of access to NRC inspectors

appears to be a willful violation

of Section 21.41, which permits the NRC access to Five Star's records, premises, activities, and basic components

as necessary

to effect the purposes of this part. Upon being denied access, the NRC could not examine the extent and adequacy of the products produced by Five Star and therefore

does not have reasonable

assurance

that the products produced are adequate for use in safety-related

applications

in nuclear power plants. Consequently, the NRC is interested

in receiving

any information

on tests or instances

of failure of Five Star products.

I IN 92-66 September

1, 1992 This information

notice requires no specific action or written response.

If you have any questions

about the information

in this notice, please contact one of the technical

contacts listed below or the appropriate

NRC Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) project manager.Charles E. Rossi, Director Division of Operational

Events Assessment

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Technical

contacts: Robert Pettis, NRR (301) 504-3214 Stewart Magruder, NRR (301) 504-3220 Attachment:

List of Recently Issued NRC Information

Notices Attachment

IN 92-66 September

1, 1992 Page I of I -LIST OF RECENTLY ISSUED NRC INFORMATION

NOTICES Information

Date of Notice No. Subject Issuance Issued to 92-65 Safety System Problems 09/03/92 All holders of OLs or CPs Caused by Modifications

for nuclear power reactors.That Were Not Adequately

Reviewed and Tested 92-64 Nozzle Ring Settings 08/28/92 All holders of OLs or CPs on Low Pressure Water- for nuclear power reactors.Relief Valves 92-63 Cracked Insulators

in 08/26/92 All holders of OLs or CPs ASL Dry Type Transformers

for nuclear power reactors.Manufactured

by Westing-house Electric Corporation

92-62 Emergency

Response 08/24/92 All U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Information

Require- Commission

licensees.

rents for Radioactive

Material Shipments 92-61 Loss of High Head 08/20/92 All holders of OLs or CPs Safety Injection

for nuclear power reactors.92-60 Valve Stem Failure 08/20/92 All holders of OLs or CPs Caused by Embrittlement

for pressurized

water reactors (PWRs).92-59 Horizontally-installed

08/18/92 All holders of OLs or CPs Motor-Operated

Gate for nuclear power reactors Valves 92-58 Uranium Hexafluoride

08/12/92 All Fuel Cycle Licensees.

Cylinders

-Deviations

in Coupling Welds 92-57 Radial Cracking of 08/11/92 All holders of OLs or CPs Shroud Support Access for boiling water reactors Hole Cover Welds (BWRs).92-56 Counterfeit

Valves in 08/06/92 All holders of OLs or CPs the Commercial

Grade for nuclear power reactors.Supply System OL -Operating

License CP -Construction

Permit

IN 92-66 September

1, 1992 This information

notice requires no specific action or written response.

If you have any questions

about the information

in this notice, please contact one of the technical

contacts listed below or the appropriate

NRC Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) project manager.Original Signed by Charles E. Rossi Charles E. Rossi, Director Division of Operational

Events Assessment

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Technical

contacts: Robert Pettis, NRR (301) 504-3214 Stewart Magruder, NRR (301) 504-3220 Attachment:

List of Recently Issued NRC Information

Notices Document Name: 92-66.IN* See Previous Concurrence

+ Per discussion

between CERossi & JLieberman

OFFICE NAME DATE VIB/DRIS SMagruder 8/24/92*VIB/DRIS GCwalina 8/24/92*VIB/DRIS LNorrholm 8/24/92*EDITOR JMain 8/24/92*DRIS/NRR BGrimes 8/25/92*DI RFortuna 8/24/92*OGC GLongo 8/25/92*OGCB:DOEA JJPetrosino

08/26/92*OGCB:DOEA GHMarcus 08/26/92*D t IR:OE fE ieberman 0- /92 086/92+

'-) IN 92-XX August XX, 1992 Page 3 o 3 This information

notice requires no specific action or written r sponse. If you have any questions

about the information

in this notice, p ease contact one of the technical

contacts listed below or the appropriat

NRC Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) project manager.Charles E. Ross/, Director Division of 0 rational Events Assessment

Office of Nu ear Reactor Regulation

Technical

contacts:

Robert Pettis, NRR (301) 504-3214 Stewart Magruder, N (301) 504-3220 Attachment:

List of Recently Issued C Information

Notices* See Previous Concurrence

+ Per discussion

between CERossi & JLieberman

OFFICE VIB/DRIS VIBjDRIS VIB/DRIS EDITOR DRIS/NRR OI NAME SMagruder

GCwalina LNorrholm

JMain BGrimes RFortuna DATE 8/24/92* 8/24/92* 8/24/92* 8/24/92* 8/25/92* 8/24/92*OGC OGCB A OGCB:DOEA

DIR:DOEA DIR:OE GLongo JJ Pe 0o GHMarcus CERossi JLieberman

8/25/92* 0 08/26/92*

08/ /92 08/26/92+

IN 92-XX August XX, 1992 reasonable

assurance

that the products produced are adequate for use in safety-related

applications

in nuclear power plants. Consequently, the NRC is interested

in receiving

any information

on tests or i stances of failure of Five Star products.This information

notice requires no specific ac on or written response.

If you have any questions

about the information

i this notice, please contact one of the technical

contacts listed below or/the appropriate

NRC Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) project mai ger.,harles E. Rossi, Director Division of Operational

Events Assessment

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

4RR-, NRR NRC Information

Notices Technical

contacts:

Robert (301) !Stewa/(301)!Attachment:

List of Re ent t Magrudei 504-3220* See Previous Concurrence

+ Per discussion

between CERossi & JLieberman

OFFICE NAME DATE VIB/DRIS SMagruder 8/24/92*VIB/DRIS GCwal ina 8/24/92*VIB/DRIS LNorrholm 8/24/92*EDITOR JMain 8/24/92*DRIS/NRR BGrimes 8/25/92*0I RFortuna 8/24/92*OGC GLongo 8/25/92*OGCB:DOEA

DIR:DOEA GHMarcus Mo CERossi 08/2"/92 08/ /92 DIR:OE JLieberman

08/26/92+

K>If you have any questions

about the information

in this notice, please contact one of the technical

contacts listed below or the appropriate

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) project manager.T R S C E Charles E. Rossi, Di t Division of Operati 1 Events Assessment

Office of Nuclear actor Regulation

echnical contacts: tobert Pettis, NRR 301) 504-3214 tewart Magruder, NRR 301) 504-3220*See previous concurrence)ISTRIBUTION:

IIB R/F GCwalina OGCB CRossi IRIS R/F LNorrholm

0I;Magruder

BGrimes OGC/ gaf OI IFFICE VIB/DRIS VIB/DRIS VIB/DRIS EDITOR R I 1AME SMagruder

GCwalina LNorrholm

Jeff 1 es)ATE 8/24/92* 8j24/92* 8/24/92* 8/24/92* 8/5/ 92 8/24/92*OGC OGCB o&e-6 ; o: O.rA 8/25/92* 8/ /92 / A 4 C 4 performed

implementation

audits of Five Star. A Nuclear Utility Procurement

Issues Council (NUPIC) member audit performed

in October, 1991, concluded

that the Five Star quality assurance

program and its implementation

was unacceptable

and did not meet certain requirements

of Appendix B to 10 CFR Part 50. However, the NRC inspectors

determined

that some licensees

have accepted the Five Star quality assurance

program as meeting all applicable

Appendix B requirements.

Five Star customer purchase orders for the period between 1988 and the present were reviewed by the NRC inspectors.

From this review, it was determined

that at least 7 licensees

and one licensee contractor

issued purchase orders to Five Star for grout and concrete mix products and specified

compliance

to Appendix B to 10 CFR Part 50 and 10 CFR Part 21. Purchasers

may have accepted the use of Five Star products without review of the test laboratory

and test records. Therefore

the affected audits may be inadequate, and the acceptability

of Five Star products indeterminate.

The denial of access to NRC inspectors

appears to be a willful violation

of Section 21.41, which permits NRC access to Five Star's records, premises, activities, and basic components

as necessary

to effectuate

the purposes of this part. Because of the denied access, the NRC was unable to examine the extent and adequacy of the products produced by Five Star and therefore

does not have reasonable

assurance

that the products produced are adequate for use in safety-related

applications

in nuclear power plants.The NRC is interested

in receiving

any information

with respect to tests or instances

of failure of Five Star products.

However, suggestions

contained

in this information

notice are not NRC requirements;

therefore, no specific action or written response is required.If you have any questions

about the information

in this notice, please contact one of the technical

contacts listed below or the appropriate

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) project manager.Charles E. Rossi, Director Division of Operational

Events Assessment

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Technical

contacts: Robert Pettis, NRR (301) 504-3214 Stewart Magruder, NRR (301) 504-3220 DISTRIBUTION:

VIB R/F GCwalina 0I CRossi DRIS R/F LNorrholm

OGC SMagruder

BGrimes OGCB OFFICE VIB/I VIBkli VIB 2f Editor DRIS/NRR OI LvG NAME SMag I* G(A ina e.-LN'riiolm

Jeff BGrimes DATE 08/aLy92 08g2I/9] 08/2- 92 08/ /92 08/ /92 08/l//92\Nq (W k- ci OGCB 08/ /92