ML031710879
| ML031710879 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Callaway  |
| Issue date: | 06/20/2003 |
| From: | Gwynn T Region 4 Administrator |
| To: | Randolph G Union Electric Co |
| References | |
| EA-03-060, IR-03-008 | |
| Download: ML031710879 (8) | |
See also: IR 05000483/2003008
Text
June 20, 2003
Garry L. Randolph, Senior Vice
President and Chief Nuclear Officer
Union Electric Company
P.O. Box 620
Fulton, Missouri 65251
SUBJECT: FINAL SIGNIFICANCE DETERMINATION FOR A WHITE FINDING AND
NOTICE OF VIOLATION (NRC INSPECTION NO. 50-483/03-08; CALLAWAY
PLANT)
Dear Mr. Randolph:
The purpose of this letter is to provide you the final results of our significance determination of
the preliminary White finding identified in the subject inspection report. The inspection finding
was assessed using the Significance Determination Process and was preliminarily
characterized as White, a finding with low to moderate increased importance to safety, which
may require additional NRC inspections. This White finding involved a failure to establish the
means to notify certain members of the public in your emergency planning zone in the event of
an emergency at your Callaway plant. The finding was based on the conclusions that from
1998 through November 2002: (1) your database of tone alert radio recipients was inaccurate
and was continuing to degrade due to programmatic and implementation inadequacies; (2) the
failure to maintain an accurate database resulted in the failure to distribute tone alert radios to
members of the public that required tone alert radios for emergency alerting; and (3) your
program was not capable of identifying the errors in a timely manner such that compensatory
measures could be taken to alert affected members of the public.
In a telephone conversation with Mr. Troy Pruett of my staff on or about May 15, 2003, Mr. Mark
Reidmeyer of your staff indicated that Union Electric Company did not contest the
characterization of the risk significance of this finding and that you declined your opportunity to
discuss this issue in a Regulatory Conference. He stated that you would provide a written
response to the subject inspection report.
The NRC received your response letter dated June 10, 2003. This letter confirmed your
acceptance of the White finding as preliminarily characterized, but also requested clarification
of our characterization of the cross cutting aspects of the finding which are documented in the
subject inspection report. The NRC acknowledges and agrees with your comments in the letter
concerning the promptness and adequacy of the immediate actions you took following your
November 2002 discovery of the inadequate distribution of tone alert radios. Our primary cross
cutting concern related to the White finding was the failure of your audit programs and
supervisory oversight of surveillance activities to identify the inaccurate tone alert radio
database prior to the occurrence of an external event (change in electric service providers)
Union Electric Company -2-
which prompted its discovery. The subject inspection report inaccurately characterized these
failures as a human performance cross cutting issue. This inspection did not evaluate the
effectiveness of your corrective action programs and processes, but concluded that the White
finding had cross cutting aspects related to problem identification. The cross cutting aspects of
the White finding were documented in Section 4OA2 to facilitate future NRC inspection.
You have 30 calendar days from the date of this letter to appeal the staffs determination of
significance for the identified White finding. Such appeals will be considered to have merit only
if they meet the criteria given in NRC Inspection Manual Chapter 0609, Attachment 2.
The NRC has also determined that the failure to establish the means to notify certain members
of the public in the emergency planning zone is a violation of 10 CFR 50.47(b)(5), as cited in
the attached Notice of Violation (Notice). The circumstances surrounding the violation are
described in detail in the subject inspection report. In accordance with the NRC Enforcement
Policy, NUREG-1600, the Notice of Violation is considered escalated enforcement action
because it is associated with a White finding (50-483/0308-01).
You are required to respond to this letter and should follow the instructions specified in the
enclosed Notice when preparing your response.
Because plant performance for this issue has been determined to be in the regulatory response
band, we will use the NRC Action Matrix to determine the most appropriate NRC response for
this event. We will notify you, by separate correspondence, of that determination.
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.790 of the NRCs Rules of Practice, a copy of this letter, its
enclosure, and your response will be available electronically for public inspection in the NRC
Public Document Room or from the Publicly Available Records (PARS) component of NRCs
document system (ADAMS). ADAMS is accessible from the NRC Web site at
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html (the Public Electronic Reading Room).
Sincerely,
//RA//
Thomas P. Gwynn
Acting Regional Administrator
Enclosure: Notice of Violation
Docket: 50-483
License: NPF-30
Union Electric Company -3-
cc w/Enclosure:
Professional Nuclear Consulting, Inc.
19041 Raines Drive
Derwood, Maryland 20855
John ONeill, Esq.
Shaw, Pittman, Potts & Trowbridge
2300 N. Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20037
Mark A. Reidmeyer, Regional
Regulatory Affairs Supervisor
Regulatory Affairs
AmerenUE
P.O. Box 620
Fulton, Missouri 65251
Manager - Electric Department
Missouri Public Service Commission
301 W. High
P.O. Box 360
Jefferson City, Missouri 65102
Ronald A. Kucera, Deputy Director
for Public Policy
Department of Natural Resources
P.O. Box 176
Jefferson City, Missouri 65102
Rick A. Muench, President and
Chief Executive Officer
Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation
P.O. Box 411
Burlington, Kansas 66839
Dan I. Bolef, President
Kay Drey, Representative
Board of Directors Coalition
for the Environment
6267 Delmar Boulevard
University City, Missouri 63130
Manager
Quality Assurance
AmerenUE
P.O. Box 620
Fulton, Missouri 65251
Union Electric Company -4-
Jerry Uhlmann, Director
State Emergency Management Agency
P.O. Box 116
Jefferson City, Missouri 65101
Scott Clardy, Director
Section for Environmental Public Health
P.O. Box 570
Jefferson City, Missouri 65102-0570
Manager
Regulatory Affairs
AmerenUE
P.O. Box 620
Fulton, Missouri 65251
Technical Services Branch Chief
FEMA Region VII
2323 Grand Blvd., Suite 900
Kansas City, Missouri 64108-2670
David E. Shafer
Superintendent, Licensing
Regulatory Affairs
AmerenUE
P.O. Box 66149, MC 470
St. Louis, Missouri 63166-6149
Union Electric Company -5-
Electronic distribution by RIV:
Acting Regional Administrator (TPG)
DRP Director (ATH)
Acting DRS Director (TWP)
Senior Technical Analyst (DAP)
Senior Resident Inspector (MSP)
Branch Chief, DRP/B (DNG)
Senior Project Engineer, DRP/B (RAK1)
Staff Chief, DRP/TSS (PHH)
RITS Coordinator (NBH)
State Liaison Officer (WAM)
Only inspection reports to the following:
Mel Fields (MBF1)
CWY Site Secretary (DVY)
Sanborn, ACES (GFS)
OEMAIL
Dixon-Herrity, OE (JLD)
ADAMS: 2 Yes * No Initials: _jlh_____
2 Publicly Available * Non-Publicly Available * Sensitive 2 Non-Sensitive
S:\DRS\DRSLTRS\CW2003-08NOV.wpd
RIV:DRS/PSB C:PSB(acting) C:DRP\B ORA/ACES D:DRS(acting)
RELantz* MPShannon* DNGraves* GFSanborn* TWPruett*
/RA/ /RA/ /RA/ /RA/ /RA/
6/16/2003 6/16/2003 6/16/2003 6/17/2003 6/17/2003
DDChamberlain TPGwynn KDSmith
/RA/ /RA/ /RA/
6/20/03 6/20/03 6/20/03
OFFICIAL RECORD COPY *previously concurred T=Telephone E=E-mail F=Fax
NOTICE OF VIOLATION
Union Electric Company Docket No. 50-483
Callaway Plant License No. NPF-30
During an NRC inspection conducted on February 10 through March 21, 2003, a violation of
NRC requirements was identified. In accordance with the "General Statement of Policy and
Procedure for NRC Enforcement Actions," NUREG-1600, the violation is listed below:
10 CFR 50.54(q) provides in part that [a] licensee authorized to possess and operate a
nuclear power reactor shall follow . . . emergency plans which meet the standards in
[section] 50.47(b). . . .
10 CFR. 50.47(b) requires that the onsite emergency response plans for nuclear power
reactors must meet each of 16 planning standards, of which, standard (5) states, in part:
the . . . means to provide early notification and clear instruction to the populace within
the plume exposure pathway Emergency Planning Zone have been established. The
licensees emergency plan described the means to provide early notification and clear
instruction to the populace within the plume exposure pathway Emergency Planning
Zone (EPZ) to include tone alert radios and emergency sirens.
Contrary to the above, from 1998 through November 2002, the licensee failed to follow
its emergency plan designed to meet planning standard (5) in 10 C.F.R. 50.47(b).
Specifically, the licensee failed to provide tone alert radios to 98 residences in portions
of the EPZ that relied upon tone alert radios as the primary means of emergency
notification (i.e., areas of the EPZ that were outside of the range of emergency sirens).
This violation is associated with a White Significance Determination Process finding.
Pursuant to the provisions of 10 CFR 2.201, Union Electric Company is hereby required to
submit a written statement or explanation to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ATTN:
Document Control Desk, Washington, DC 20555 with a copy to the Regional Administrator,
Region IV, and a copy to the NRC Resident Inspector at the Callaway Plant, within 30 days of
the date of the letter transmitting this Notice of Violation (Notice). This reply should be clearly
marked as a "Reply to a Notice of Violation; EA-03-060, and should include: (1) the reason for
the violation, or, if contested, the basis for disputing the violation, (2) the corrective steps that
have been taken and the results achieved, (3) the corrective steps that will be taken to avoid
further violations, and (4) the date when full compliance will be achieved. Your response may
reference or include previous docketed correspondence, if the correspondence adequately
addresses the required response. If an adequate reply is not received within the time specified
in this Notice, an Order or a Demand for Information may be issued as to why the license
should not be modified, suspended, or revoked, or why such other action as may be proper
should not be taken. Where good cause is shown, consideration will be given to extending the
response time.
If you contest this enforcement action, you should also provide a copy of your response, with
the basis for your denial, to the Director, Office of Enforcement, United States Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
-2-
Because your response will be made available electronically for public inspection in the NRC
Public Document Room or from the Publicly Available Records (PARS) component of NRCs
document system (ADAMS), to the extent possible, it should not include any personal privacy,
proprietary, or safeguards information so that it can be made available to the public without
redaction. ADAMS is accessible from the NRC Web site at the Public Electronic Reading
Room, http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. If personal privacy or proprietary
information is necessary to provide an acceptable response, then please provide a bracketed
copy of your response that identifies the information that should be protected and a redacted
copy of your response that deletes such information. If you request withholding of such
material, you must specifically identify the portions of your response that you seek to have
withheld and provide in detail the bases for your claim of withholding (e.g., explain why the
disclosure of information will create an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy or provide the
information required by 10 CFR 2.790(b) to support a request for withholding confidential
commercial or financial information). If safeguards information is necessary to provide an
acceptable response, please provide the level of protection described in 10 CFR 73.21.
Dated this 20th day of June 2003