IR 05000272/2016005

Mid-Cycle Assessment Letter for Salem Nuclear Generating Station - Unit Nos. 1 and 2 (Report 05000272/2016005 and 05000311/2016005)

ML16242A099
Person / Time
Site:	Salem
Issue date:	08/31/2016
From:	Scott M L Reactor Projects Branch 3
To:	Sena P P Public Service Enterprise Group
References
IR 2016005
Download: ML16242A099 (7)

Text

August 31, 2016

Mr. Peter P. Sena, III President and Chief Nuclear Officer PSEG Nuclear LLC - N09 P.O. Box 236 Hancocks Bridge, NJ 08038

SUBJECT: MID-CYCLE ASSESSMENT LETTER FOR SALEM NUCLEAR GENERATING STATION, UNIT NOS. 1 AND 2 (REPORT 05000272/2016005 AND 05000311/2016005)

Dear Mr. Sena:

On August 9, 2016, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) completed its mid-cycle performance review of Salem Nuclear Generating Station, Unit Nos. 1 and 2 (Salem). The NRC reviewed the most recent quarterly performance indicators (PIs) in addition to inspection results and enforcement actions from July 1, 2015 through June 30, 2016. This letter informs you of the NRC's assessment of your facility during this period and its plans for future inspections at your facility.

The NRC determined that overall, Salem Unit 1 operated in a manner that preserved public health and safety and met all cornerstone objectives. The NRC determined the performance at Salem Unit 1 during the most recent quarter was within the Licensee Response Column of the NRC's Reactor Oversight Process (ROP) Action Matrix because all inspection findings had very low (i.e., green) safety significance, and all PIs indicated that your performance was within the nominal, expected range (i.e., green). Therefore, the NRC plans to conduct ROP baseline inspections for Salem Unit 1.

The NRC determined that overall, Salem Unit 2 operated in a manner that preserved public health and safety and met all cornerstone objectives. The NRC determined the performance at Salem Unit 2 during the most recent quarter was within the Regulatory Response Column of the NRC's ROP Action Matrix due to a White PI for "Unplanned Scrams per 7,000 Hours Critical."

This PI changed to White in the second quarter of 2016 due to a reactor trip on June 28, 2016, preceded by three other unplanned reactor trips (August 5, 2015, February 4, 2016, and February 14, 2016) within the assessment period.

Therefore, in addition to ROP baseline inspections, the NRC plans to conduct a supplemental inspection at Unit 2 in accordance with Inspection Procedure 95001, "Supplemental Inspection for One or Two White Inputs in a Strategic Performance Area," upon notification of your readiness. The inspection will be focused on ensuring that root causes and contributing causes of the unplanned scrams are understood, the extent of condition and causes are identified, and the corrective actions implemented are sufficient to prevent recurrence. The enclosed inspection plan lists the inspections scheduled through June 30, 2018. Routine inspections performed by resident inspectors are not included in the inspection plan. The inspections listed during the last half of the inspection period in the inspection plan are tentative and may be revised at the end-of-cycle performance review. The NRC provides the inspection plan to allow for the resolution of any scheduling conflicts and personnel availability issues.

The NRC will contact you as soon as possible to discuss changes to the inspection plan should circumstances warrant any changes. This inspection plan does not include security related inspections, which will be sent via separate, non-publicly available correspondence. In response to the accident at Fukushima, the Commission issued Order EA-12-049, "Order Modifying Licenses with Regard to Requirements for Mitigation Strategies for Beyond-Design-Basis External Events," and Order EA-12-051, "Order Modifying Licenses with Regard to Reliable Spent Fuel Pool Instrumentation." The NRC conducted audits of licensee efforts towards compliance with these Orders, and the information gathered will aid staff in development of the ultimate Final Safety Evaluation for the site. After the NRC staff receives the Final Compliance letter for the Salem site, the Safety Evaluation will be issued. Then, the NRC staff will confirm through inspections, the full implementation of the orders mentioned above by performing Temporary Instruction 2515-191, "Inspection of the Implementation of Mitigation Strategies and Spent Fuel Pool Instrumentation Orders and Emergency Preparedness Communication/Staffing/Multi-Unit Dose Assessment Plans."

In Staff Requirements Memorandum - SECY 16-0009, "Recommendations Resulting from the Integrated Prioritization and Re-Baselining of Agency Activities," (ADAMS Accession No. ML16104A158) the Commission approved the NRC staff recommendation to discontinue the formal mid-cycle assessment process beginning in calendar year 2017. This will be the final mid-cycle assessment letter. The staff will continue to conduct assessment reviews and communicate changes in the assessment of licensee performance quarterly, and will also issue end-of-cycle assessment letters. In accordance with Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 2.390 of the NRC's "Rules of Practice," a copy of this letter will be available electronically for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room or from the Publicly Available Records (PARS) component of NRC's Agencywide Document Access Management System (ADAMS). ADAMS is accessible from the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html (the Public Electronic Reading Room). Please contact Fred Bower at (610) 337-5200 with any questions you have regarding this letter.

Sincerely,/RA/ Michael L. Scott, Director Division of Reactor Projects Docket Nos. 50-272 and 50-311 License Nos. DPR 70 and DPR 75

Enclosure:

Salem Inspection/Activity Plan

Cc w/encl: Distribution via ListServ