IR 05000458/1989018

Discusses Insp Rept 50-458/89-18 on 890501-05 & 15-19 & Forwards Notice of Violation

ML20247E750
Person / Time
Site:	River Bend
Issue date:	07/21/1989
From:	Martin R NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION IV)
To:	Deddens J GULF STATES UTILITIES CO.
Shared Package
ML20247E757	List: ML20247E750 ML20247E761
References
EA-89-122, NUDOCS 8907260303
Download: ML20247E750 (4)

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c[ %g UNITEo STATES

$ [T k NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

$3 S

f REGloN IV

.f 611 RYAN PLAZA ORIVE. SU'TE 1000

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ARLINGTON, TEXAS 76011 ,

I l L JUL 211989 {

Docket No. 50-458 License No. NPF-47 {

EA 89-122 Gulf States Utilities ATTN: Mr. James C. Deddens SeniorVicePresident(RBNG)

Post Office Box 220 St. Francisville, Louisiana 70775 i Gentlemen:

SUBJECT: NOTICE OF VIOLATION (NRC INSPECTION REPORT N0. 50-458/89-18)

This is in reference to the NRC inspection conducted during the period May 1-5 and May 15-19, 1989, at the River Bend Station (RBS), located in St. Francisville, and to NRC's~ discussion of the inspection findings with Gulf States Louisiana,(GSU) officials at an enforcement conference in Arlington, Texas, on Utilities June 9, 198 As you know, NRC's concerns stenning from this inspection focused on the failure to establish a test program which would have assured the operability of the safety-related ventilation systems associated with the fuel building and the main control room. The results of the inspection were documented in NRC

' Inspection Repcrt No. 89-18, dated June 6,198 During the June 9 enforcement conference, two apparent violations resulting from this inspection were discussed. The violation in the enclosed Notice of Violation (Notice) involves an apparent failure to assure, through the establishment of a test program, the operability of two independent fuel building ventilation subsystems and two subsystems associated with the main stem in accordance with the requirements of control room airSpecifications plant Technical conditioning sy(T.S.) 3.6.5.6 and 3.7.2. As a result of River Bend Station's self-initiated Safety System Functional Inspection (SSFI) of the Instrument Air System (IAS) and SSFI followup actions, GSU discovered design and installation flaws that would have prevented these required subsystems from performing their intended function under certain condition NRC has concluded that GSU's failure to have developed an adequate test program resulted in a significant violation of RBS's T.S. in that GSU failed to assure operability of fuel building ventilation and main control room air conditioning subsystems. These subsystems are important for ensuring the maintenance of a negative pressure within the fuel building and limiting any release of radio-activity within 10 CFR Part 100 limits following a design basis or fuel handling accident, and ensuring that the control room will remain habitable for operations personnel during and following all design basis accident ADOCK 05000458 (Q l PDR Q PDC g I

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-2- DOL 211989 Gulf States Utilities Had GSU established an adequate testing and surveillance program to evaluate IAS design and operation, it would have been determined that the subsystem associated with the fuel building ventilation was inoperable from initial fuel load in August 1985 and that the subsystem associated with the main control room air conditioning was inoperable for an indeterminate tim Generic Letter 88-14, " Instrument Air Supply System Problems Affecting Safety-Related Equipment," alerted licensees to potential IAS problems and required a response verifying that IAS quality, functional characteristics, and design were 1 as intended. A response was required by February 8, 1989, or if operations were affected, the next refueling or scheduled outage in order to avoid adverse j system interactions. GSU determined through a self-initiated SSFI conducted during the period November 17 to December 21, 1988, and through SSFI followup actions that solenoid operated valves, check valves, and accumulator tanks would not function as designed for the subsystems associated with the main control room air conditioning and fuel building ventilation systems. These conditions were corrected promptly upon discover The NRC has classified the violation in the enclosed Notice at Severity Level III in accordance with Supplement I of the " General Statement of Policy and Procedure for NRC Enforcement Actions," 10 CFR Part 2, Appendix C (Enforcement Policy), as published in the Federal Register on October 13, 1988. While the NRC could consider imposing a monetary civil penalty for a Severity Level III violation, I have determined in this case after consultation with the Director, Office of Enforcement, and the Deputy Executive Director for Nuclear Materials Safety, Safeguards and Operations Support, that no penalty will be assesse I base this decision on discretionary provisions in Section V.G. of the Enforcement Policy. The NRC encourages and supports licensee efforts for self-initiated identification and correction of problems and intends on applying enforcement discretion in cases such as this one in which the problems were identified by a GSU self-initiated SSFI and were promptly corrected. However, the NRC is concerned that upon discovery GSU did not consider the deportability j

of the problems. Prompt evaluation fnr deportability and timely reporting are significant issues. Had the problems discovered not been of a highly technical nature, requiring extensive evaluation and review before determining a possible operability problem existed, your failure to promptly repot c them could have resulted in additional enforcement action being take You are required to respond to this letter and should follow the instructions specified in the enclosed Notice when preparing your response. In your response, you should document the specific actions taken and any additional

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actions you plan to prevent recurrence. After reviewing your response to this Notice, including your proposed corrective actions, and the results of future inspections, the NRC will determine whether further NRC enforcement action is necessary to ensure compliance with NRC regulatory requirements.

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Gulf States Utilities -3- JUL 211989 In accordance with Section 2.790 of the NRC's " Rules of Practice," Part 2, Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, a copy of this letter and its enclosure will be placed in the NRC Public Document Roo The response directed by this letter and the enclosed Hotice are not subject to the clearance procedures of the Office of Management and Budget as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980, Pub. L. No. 96-51 Sincerel.y,  !

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'(. bb e ^G l q<}$ 3 Robert D. Martin Regional Administrator Enclosure: Notice of Violation cc:

Louisiana Radiation Control Program Director >

NRC Public Document Room Local Public Document Room l

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P JUL 211989 -

Gulf State Utilities i DISTRIBUTION:

SECY-CA

'JMTaylor, DEDR HThompson, DEDS TMurley, NR J..Partlow, NRR i JLieberman, OE

JGoldberg, 0GC Enforcement Coordinators RI, RII, RIII, RIV, RV F. Ingram, GPA/PA EJordan, AEOD i MHalsch, 0lG BHayes, 01 OE:ES

.0E:EA File OE:Chron M $-

RIV DISTRIBUTION:

RMartin JMontgomery LJCallan-JLMilhoan JPJaudon

.IBarnes RStewart LE11ershaw W. B. Jones, RI, RB JG11111and(1trhd)

CHackney WBrown RWise E0 Files RIV Files DRS Division Files DRP Division Files RSTS Operator MIS Coordinator G \"

OE y :n RIV D:0E DEDS HThompson k I\

JLaphman RDMJrtin JLieberman 7/iq/89 7/h/89 7/9()/89 7SO/89 ,

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