ML18096A863

LER 92-016-00:on 920701,discovered That Fire Watch Rove Personnel Were Apparently Not Performing Rounds.Caused by Failure to Comply W/Instructions.Applicable Personnel Suspended & Event Reviewed w/employees.W/920730 Ltr

ML18096A863
Person / Time
Site:	Salem
Issue date:	07/30/1992
From:	POLLACK M J, VONDRA C A Public Service Enterprise Group
To:	NRC OFFICE OF INFORMATION RESOURCES MANAGEMENT (IRM)
References
LER-92-016, LER-92-16, NUDOCS 9208040239
Download: ML18096A863 (6)

Text

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Public Service Electric and Gas Company P.O. Box 236 Hancocks Bridge, New Jersey 08038

• Salem Generating Station u. s. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Document Control Desk

• Washington, DC 20555

Dear Sir:

SALEM GENERATING STATION LICENSE NO. DPR-70 DOCKET NO. 50-272 UNIT NO. 1 LICENSEE EVENT REPORT 92-016-00 July 30, 1992 This Licensee Event requirements of the . 50.73{a)(2)(i)(B).

thirty (30). days of Report is being submitted pursuant to.the Code of Federal Regulations 10CFR This report is required to be issued within event discovery.

MJP:pc Distribution l'hE* EnerQy 9208040239 920730 PDR ADOCK 05000272 sincerely yours, c. A Vondra General Manager

• Salem Operations

_ -... -'l 95-2189 (10M) 12*89

• NRCFORM366 (6.S91 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION APPROVEO OMB NO. 3150-0104 EXPIRES: 4/30/92 LICENSEE EVENT REPORT (LER) ESTIMATEO BURO.EN PER RESPONSE TO COMPLY WTH .THIS INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST: 50.0* HRS. FORWARO COMMENTS REGARDING BURDEN ESTIMATE TO THE RECORDS AND REPORTS MANAGEMENT BRANCH (P*5301, U.S. NUCLEAR , REGULATORY COMMISSION, WASHINGTON, DC 20555: AND TO THE PAPERWORK REDUCTION PROJECT (3150-01041, "OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET, WASHINGTON, DC 20503. FACILITY NAME (1) Salem Generatina station -Unit 1 TITLE (41 l DOCKET NUMBER (21 I PAGE (3) o 1s101010121:?.12 doFI oi-5 Noncomnliance with Tech.* Snee.

Action*"a" due to nersonnel error. EVENT DATE (51 LER NUMBER (6) REPORT DATE 171 OTHER FACILITIES INVOLVED (Bl MONTH DAY YEAR YEAR .tt t?

MONTH DAY YEAR FACILITY NAMES DOCKET NUMBER(SI Salem Unit 2 o I 5 I 0 I o I .o I 31 l I *1 d l c 2 g j -o I 11 6 -al a* d 7. 3 I Q 9 I 2 HCGS 0 I 5 I 0 I 0 I 0 I 31 51 4 OPERATING THIS REPORT IS SUBMITTED PURSUANT TO THE OF 10 CFR §: (Chttek on* or moro of rho following}

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.____ 20.40li(cl 60.73(1112llivl 73.71(b) 20.405(11111(1) li0.31(cll11 60.73(1)(211*1 73.71(cl .._ ,___ 20.40511l11lilll

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,___ 50.7311l12llil 60.73(1)(2)(vll) 60.73(1)(2llvilll!AI . OTHER (Spocify in Absrr1cr ,___ below *nd in Tur, NRC Form 366AI ,___ 20.40511111111*1 li0.73(1l1211iil

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&0.73(1l12lliiil 60.7311l12llxl LICENSEE CONTACT FOR THIS LER 1121 NAME TELEPHONE NUMBER AREA CODE M.J. Pollack -LER Coordinator i:;lnl CAUSE SYSTEM COMPONENT I I I I I I I I COMPLETE ONE LINE FOR EACH COMPONENT FAILURE. DESCRIBED IN THIS REPORT 1131 MANUFAC* TUR ER I I . I I I I COMPONENT I I I I I I TURER I I I I I I SUPPLEMENTAL REPORT EXPECTED 1141 MONTH DAY YEAR I YES (If yos, EXPECTED SUBMISSION OA TEI bxi NO ABSTRACT (Limlr. ro 1400 spoces, i.* .* 1pproxim1toly_fifroon singl*-spac*

rypowrirron lines} l1_6l EXPECTED SUBMISSION .DATE (151 I I On July 1, 1992**, firewatch supervision discovered that firewatch rove personnel at the Hope creek Generating station (HCGS) were apparently not performing rounds. Further investigation revealed that this problem also existed with Salem Generating station (both Hope Creek and Salem are located on the same site). Investigation revealed that seventeen of the 35 firewatch personnel were involved in this event. The uncompleted f irewatch roves is contrary to the requirements of Salem Station Technical Specification 3.7.11.Action "a". The cause of the occurrences was failure to comply with specific instructions and inappropriate work .practices by personnel performing the roves. Lack of adequate supervision and contractor oversight were also contributing factors. Investigation is continuing to understand and address all contributing root* causal factors. Corrective action taken included:

suspension of the firewatch personnel involved; instructing firewatch supervisors on their responsibilities for ensuring firewatch roves are correctly completed; review of this event with current firewatch employees; copies of recent NRC notices on falsification of records were posted and distributed to current firewatch employees; and supervisors will be retrained in supervisory techniques relating to people skills. A review of current practices for control of contractors will be conducted and corrective action will be takeh as appropriate.

N RC form 366 l6.S91 I

.. ' -LICENSEE EVENT REPORT {LER) TEXT CONTINUATION Salem Generating Station Unit 1 DOCKET NUMBER 5000272 PLANT AND SYSTEM IDENTIFICATION: -Westinghouse Pressurized Water Reactor LER NuMBER 92-016-00 PAGE 2 of 5 Energy Industry Identification System {EIIS) codes are identified in the text as {xx} IDENTIFICATION OF OCCuRRENCE:

Noncompliance with Technical Specification

3. 7 .11 Action a" due *to personnel error. Discovery Date: 07/01/92 Report Date: 07/30/92

• This report was initiated by Incident Report No.92-417. CONDITIONS PRIOR TO OCCURRENCE:

Salem Unit 1: Mode 5 {Cold Shutdown)

Salem Unit 2: Mode 5 Hope Creek: Mode 1 Rx. Power 100% 1100 MWe DESCRIPTION OF OCCURRENCE:

On July 1, 1992, at.1705 hours0.0197 days <br />0.474 hours <br />0.00282 weeks <br />6.487525e-4 months <br />, an Assistant Firewatch Supervisor noticed a firewatch, assigned to a roving patrol, was off his assigned round location.

After*

the fir'ewatch patrol herself, the Assistant Supervisor notified the on duty Senior Firewatch Supervisor that the f irewatch assigned to the Hope Creek Generating Station (HCGS) Service Water structure was apparently not performing his rounds. When the firewatch assigned to the HCGS Service Water structure called his rove into the f irewatch off ice, he was questioned and admitted that he had not checked the structure.

He.further admitted he did not check any areas on the Hope Creek site except the 163' elevation in.the Radwaste building.

As a result of this initial finding, the firewatch contractor and PSE&G began in depth investigations to determine if additional areas were missed and/or other firewatch personnel were not performing their assigned roves. Preliminary findings indicated several of the firewatch personnel were negligent in completing their *rounds* at both the Hope Creek *and Salem Stations.

It was reported to Salem Operations that the 84' to 64' elevation switchgear room roves were missed on 07/01/92 at 0740 hours0.00856 days <br />0.206 hours <br />0.00122 weeks <br />2.8157e-4 months <br />. A review of the card reader access system revealed 17 firewatch personnel had not entered areas which they logged as checking on their rove logs. PSE&G immediately suspended site access to those employees who had missed any locations of their assigned rove. *

• The uncompleted f irewatch roves are contrary to the requirements of

--I -LICENSEE EVENT REPORT (LER) TEXT CONTINUATION Salem Generating Station _ Unit 1 DOCKET NUMBER 5000272 DESCRIPTION OF OCCURRENCE: (cont'd) LER NUMBER 92-016-00 PAGE 3 of 5-Salem Station Technical Specification*3.7*11 Action "a" which states: "With one (1) or more of the above required fire penetrations within one hour either establish a continuous fire watch on at least one side of the affected " penetration, or verify the OPERABILITY of fire detectors on at. least one side of the inoperable fire barrier and establish an hourly fire watch patrol. Restore the inoperable fire barrier pene_tration(s) to OPERABLE status within 7. days or, in lieu .of any other report required by Specification 6.9.1, prepare and submit a Special Report to the Commission

• pursuant to Specification

6.9.2 within

the next 30 days outlining the action_ taken, the cause of the inoperable penetration and plans and schedule for restoring the fire barrier penetration(s) to OPERABLE status."*

The above Technical Specification Action is.from Unit 2's Technical*

Specifications.

Salem Unit l's differs only in that its Technical Specification uses the term "functional" instead of "OPERABLE".

-. ' APPARENT CAUSE dF OCCURRENCE:

The cause of the occurrences was failure to comply with specific instructions and inappropriate work practices by-personnel performing the roves. All firewatch personnel are instructed on the methods of .performing roves and actions to be taken if* an area was missed-or inaccessible.

Lack of adequate supervisic:m and contractor oversight were also contributing factors. Investigation is continuing to understand and.address all contributing root causal_factors.

ANALYSIS OF OCCURRENCE:

A review of firewatch roves for the month of June indicated 17 of the 35 firewatch personnel had not fully completed their assigned rounds as indicated on their rove log. Each of the firewatch personnel were initially interviewed by contractor management to determine why the roves were not completed.

Results indicated personnel-did not perform rounds for reasons such as* inclement weather, low esteem associated with the type of work and mechanical failures which inhibited entry into some of the areas. A review of the time and frequency of the missed rounds indicated that 72%. of the.misses occurred during day shift, while second shift accounted for 15%, and 13% missed on the midnight shift. Roving firewatches are required for:-* Appendix R*issues; combustible loading; impaired penetrations; impaired fire dampers; or impaired fire detection systems. A review of prior LERs was completed.

Those involving overdue firewatch roves were identified and were due to isolated cases of --

LICENSEE EVENT REPORT {LER) TEXT CONTINUATION Salem Generating Station Unit'l DOCKET NUMBER 5000272 ANALYSIS OF OCCURRENCE: (cont'd) personnel error. LER NUMBER 92-016--00 PAGE -4 of 5 The incident posed minimal safety significance.

The Salem Station detection systems were operable in the areas to alert fire protection department personnel if a fire would have occurred.

• If a detector became inoperable at Salem Station, a continuous fire watch would have been established.

The HCGS detection systems were operable . except for area. This area does not contain equipment necessary to achieve cold shutdown.

Additionally, as most missed roves occurred on day shift, additional plant personnel presence would have reduced the risk of a fire going undetected in the affected areas. 'As discussed above, the health and safety of the_ public was not affected by this event. However, since Technical Specification 3.7.11 Action "a" {both Salem Units) was not fully complied with, it is reportable to Nuclear Regulatory commission per Code of .Federal Regulations lOCFR 50.73{a) {2) {i) {B). CORRECTIVE ACTION: PSE&G immediately-suspended site-access to those firewatch personnel involved.

Firewa_tch supervisors were instructed to: 1) intensify field checks; 2) brief firewatch personnel on the significance of *non and 3) brief firewatch personnel that false representation may be considered a criminal act. All firewatch personnel were also instructed to call-in to the firewatch office from the 64' elevation switchgear room and the 130 1 elevation Fuel Handling Building.as these calls will di$play the f irewatch phoning location on the phone confirming the firewatch location.

v Random checks of card reader entries to areas requiring f irewatch roves will be performed.

-Current f irewatch employees have been instructed on the company ethics policy. New hires will be instructed on the company ethics policy as part of their indoctrination.

An aggressive rove challenge prograin has been instituted to reinforce positive behavior.

Copies of recent NRC notices on falsification of records have been posted and distributed to current firewatch employees.

New employees will receive copies on NRC notices as part of their indoctrination process. The presence of the PTI Ombudsman Line (internal reporting system) has been reemphasized to encourage employees to communicate directly to the corporate off ice on any and all nonconformance or misconduct LICENSEE EVENT REPORT (LER) TEXT CONTINUATION Salem Generating station Unit 1 CORRECTIVE ACTION: (cont'd) issues. DOCKET NUMBER 5000272 LER NUMBER 92-016-00 PAGE *5 of 5 PTI supervisors will be retrained in supervisory techniques relating to people skills. A review of current practices for control of contractors, per administrative procedure NC.NA-AP.ZZ-0068

("Control of On-Site Contractor.

Personnel"), will be conducted and corrective action will be. taken as appropriate.

Upon completion of root cause investigations, additional corrective actions will be .implemented as appropriate.

Salem MJP:pc SORC Mtg.92-087