ML052980035

G20050698/LTR-05-0499 - Christopher J. Dodd Ltr Re. Licensing Employees Who Perform HVAC Work at the Millstone Nuclear Power Plant

ML052980035
Person / Time
Site:	Millstone
Issue date:	11/04/2005
From:	Reyes L NRC/EDO
To:	Dodd C US SEN (Senate)
Wunder G, NRR/DLPM, 415-1494
Shared Package
ML052980040	List: ML052870108 ML052980035
References
FOIA/PA-2007-0093, G20050698, LTR-05-0499, TAC MC8616, TAC MC8617
Download: ML052980035 (3)

Text

November 4, 2005 The Honorable Christopher J. Dodd United States Senator 100 Great Meadow Road Wethersfield, CT 06109

Dear Senator Dodd:

On behalf of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), I am writing in response to your letter of October 7, 2005, in which you forwarded the concerns of your constituent, Mr. Robert Vivari, Jr. Mr. Vivari expressed concerns regarding the licensing of employees who perform work on heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems at the Millstone Nuclear Power Station (Millstone) in Waterford, Connecticut. In his letter, Mr. Vivari stated that when he asked whether or not in-house maintenance personnel who performed work on HVAC systems at Millstone were required to be licensed, he was told that there was no such requirement because it was not required by Federal regulation.

The NRC licenses Reactor Operators and Senior Reactor Operators at commercial nuclear power plants. This requirement is stated in Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Section 55.3. The NRC does not grant any other licenses to individuals for operation or maintenance of commercial nuclear power plants, neither does it exempt licensed facilities from any State requirements regarding the licensing of tradespeople.

With regard to your constituents concern that the performance of work on HVAC systems by unlicensed personnel could have an adverse impact on the environment, Appendix B of 10 CFR Part 50 (Appendix B) contains criteria for quality assurance for commercial nuclear power plants. The NRC conducts a program of safety inspection of all commercial nuclear power plants in the U.S. to ensure that they conform to the criteria of Appendix B. These inspections are carried out both by resident inspectors permanently assigned to each plant, and by experts from either NRC headquarters or from one of our four regional offices. These inspections cover all systems, including HVAC systems, important to protecting the public health and safety and the environment. Through this inspection program we would expect to identify and require the licensee to correct any safety problems in design, operation, or maintenance of systems important to safety. Moreover, our inspectors are also trained to look for patterns of poor maintenance practices so that any continued maintenance

C. J. Dodd deficiencies would be promptly identified and brought to the attention of the licensee for corrective action.

I trust that this addresses your concerns.

Sincerely,

/RA/

Luis A. Reyes Executive Director for Operations

C. J. Dodd deficiencies would be promptly identified and brought to the attention of the licensee for corrective action.

I trust that this addresses your concerns.

Sincerely,

/RA/

Luis A. Reyes Executive Director for Operations Distribution: G20050698 Public RidsNrrOd RidsNrrAdpt RidsEdoMail RidsOgcRp RidsOpaMail RidsOcaMailCenter RidsNrrWpcMail KGrimes RidsNrrDlpm RidsNrrDlpmLpdi RidsNrrDlpmLpdi2 RidsNrrPMGWunder RidsNrrLACRaynor PDI-2 Reading File RidsRgn1MailCenter LCox Package: ML052980040 Incoming: ML052870108 Accession Number: ML052980035 OFFICE PDI-2/PM PDI-2/LA PDI-2/SC PDI/D TechEd OGC DLPM/D NRR/D EDO OCA NAME GWunder CRaynor DRoberts CHolden PKleene MLemoncelli LMarsh JDyer LReyes DATE 10/27/05 10/27/05 10/25/05 10/27/05 10/25/05 10/27/05 10/27/05 11/01/05 11/4/05 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY