ML20134Q038

EN-96-084:on 961126,notice of Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalty in Amount of $100,000 Issued to Licensee.Action Based on Several Instances Where Surveillances Not Performed & Mode Changes Made W/O Assurances That Equipment Operable

ML20134Q038
Person / Time
Site:	Columbia
Issue date:	11/21/1996
From:	Lieberman J, Satorius M NRC OFFICE OF ENFORCEMENT (OE)
To:
References
EA-96-327, EN-96-084, EN-96-84, NUDOCS 9612020081
Download: ML20134Q038 (1)

Text

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November 21, 1996 Plt '

EN 96-084 0FFICE OF ENFORCEMENT NOTIFICATION OF SIGNIFICANT ENFORCEMENT ACTION Licensee: Washington Public Power Supply System (EA 96-327)

Washington Nuclear Project, Unit 2 (WNP-2)

Docket No. 50-397 Sub.iect: PROPOSED IMPOSITION OF CIVIL PENALTY - $100,000 - EXERCISE OF ENFORCEMENT DISCRETION 1

This is to inform the Commission that a Notice of Violation and Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalty in the amount of $100,000 will be issued on or about November 26, 1996, to Washington Public Power Supply System. The action is based on several instances in which required surveillances were not performed. In some cases, mode changes were made without assurance that required equipment was operable, and in one case, a mode change was made with one train of the control room emergency filtration system inoperable. The violations have been collectively characterized as a Severity Level III problem.

i Because this was not the first escalated enforcement action within two years, I the staff considered whether credit was warranted for identification and I corrective action. Credit was warranted for identification because most of

, the violations were identified by the licensee. Credit was also warranted for corrective actions because the licensee took both prompt and comprehensive action. However, the root causes of the violations are similar to previous l

violations that were part of a Severity Level III problem and proposed $50,000 '

civil penalty issued in August 1995 (EA 95-096). Thus, to emphasize the failure of the licensee's previous corrective actions to preclude similar violations from occurring, and to emphasize the fundamental importance of  !'

having an effective program for assuring that surveillances are performed as required, the staff is exercising discretion under VII.A.1 of the Enforcement Policy and proposing a $100,000 civil penalty, i 4

It should be noted that the licensee has not been specifically informed of the s

enforcement action. The schedule of issuance and notification is:

i Mailing of Notice November 26, 1996 Telephone Notification of Licensee November 26, 1996 The State of Washington will be notified.

The licensee has thirty days from the date of the Notice in which to respond.

. Following NRC evaluation of the response, the civil penalty may be remitted, g mitigated, or imposed by Order.

N Contacts: M. Satorius, OE, 415-3280 J. Lieberman, OE, 415-2741 l 5 Distribution - -

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