ML20212M227

Monthly Status Rept on Licensing Activities & Regulatory Duties of Nrc

ML20212M227
Person / Time
Issue date:	08/31/1999
From:	NRC
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Shared Package
ML20212M224	List: ML20212M221 ML20212M227 ML20212M231 ML20212M233
References
NUDOCS 9910080231
Download: ML20212M227 (13)

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1 MONTHLY STATUS REPORT ON THE LICENSING ACTIVITIES AND REGULATORY DUTIES OF THE UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION I August 1999 1

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Enclosure 1 9910080231 990920 PDR COPMS NRCC CORRESPONDENCE PDR 5,? 4 l () 0 B$53)

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k TABLE OF CONTENTS \

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l. Implementing Risk-Informed Regulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 i i

11. Nuclear Plant Assessment, inspection and Enforcement Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 l

111. Status of Issues in the Reactor Generic issue Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 )

i IV. Licensing Actions and Other Licensing Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 V. Status of Calvert Cliffs License Renewal Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...... 8 VI. Status of Review of Private Fuel Storage, Limited Liability Corporation's (PFS)

Application for a License to Operate an Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation i (ISFSI) on the Reservation of the Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians . . . . . . . . . . . 8  !

Vll. Summary of Reactor Enforcement by Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 l

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1. Implementing Risk-Informed Regulations On July 27,1999, the South Texas Project (STP) submitted requests to exempt low- and non-risk significant systems, structures, and components (SSCs) from special treatment normally  !

required by the regulations. The effect of granting these exemptions will be essentially identical l to reducing the scope of SSCs covered by those sections of Part 50 requiring special treatment. j Option two of the Commission's June 8,1999 Staff Requirements Memorandum directed the I staff to develop risk-informed definitions for " safety-related" and "important to safety" to reduce '

the scope of SSCs requiring special treatment. Therefore, review of STPs' requests is being closely coordinated with the Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) team implementing option two. 1 1

The staff completed its review of the last pilot application for using risk insights to support j changes to in-Service inspection (ISI), in-Service Testing (IST), and Quality Assurance programs and to plant specific Technical Specifications (TS). The last pilot application was a request to implement a risk-informed ISI program for Arkansas Nuclear One. The staff issued the first non-pilot application to change IST intervals (South Texas Project). The staff also approved a topical report for TS applications. This topical report was prepared by the Boiling Water Reactor's Owners Group and described a methodology which may be used to support the extension of the time that low pressure injection system and containment spray system equipment may be out of service. Approval of a topical allows individuallicensees that use the methodology to simply reference the Topical instead of describing and defending the method.

II. Nuclear Plant Assessment, inspection, and Enforcement Processes The staff has continued to meet on a biweekly basis with Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) and other stakeholders to refine the proposed changes to its assessment, inspection and f enforcement processes. Activities include the following: j e The pilot program of the revised reactor oversight process described in Commission Papers SECY-99-007 and SECY-99-007A began on May 30,1999, at nine (9) plants.

The NRR staff is monitoring implementation and reviewing results of the pilot program. ]

The date for full implementation of the revised oversight process is April 1,2000, e A request for public comment on the pilot program of the revised oversight process has 4 been published in the Federal Register. The comment period expires on November 30, 1999.

. Changes to the enforecment policy to make it consistent with the revised oversight process for pilot plants have been published in the Federal Register. The NRC will evaluate the comments received from the public and revise the enforcement policy accordingly. Following the pilot program, the NRC will evaluate the results and will incorporate any changes into the enforcement policy for full implementation at all reactor plants that are regulated in accordance with 10 CFR Part 50.

• The Pilot Program Evaluation Panel (PPEP), a cross-disciplinary group consisting of 12 representatives from NRC, NEl, pilot plant licensees, the Union of Concerned Scientists, and the State of Illinois, conducted its first two meetings on July 28 and August 17, I

1999. The objective of the PPEP is to monitor and assess the implementation of the new regulatory oversight processes. The PPEP discussed the rules and procedures for the conduct of PPEP and provided feedback on the criteria the staff had established to measure the success of the pilot program. Transcripts of the PPEP meetings will be placed on the web page.

• At a public meeting held on August 3,1999, NRC senior managers, NEl, and the Chief Nuclear Officers of the 9 pilot plants discussed the revised oversight process pilot program. This meeting provided valuable feedback and insights to the NRC senior managers.

e NRR managers and members of the inspection Program Branch are continuing to interface with NRC staff and stakeholders to discuss the revised oversight process, answer questions, and obtain feedback. The NRC staff participated in the inspection finding significance determination process workshop sponsored by NEl on August 12-13,1P99. The workshop was well attended by many licensees, including licensee's of non-pilot plants.

Ill. Status of issues in the Reactor Generic issue Program Changes in the status or resolution dates for Generic Safety issues since the July 1999 report and the reasons for the changes are described below:

GSI Number: 168 TITLE: Environmental Qualification of Electrical Equipment SCHEDULED RESOLUTION DATE: 12/2000 STATUS: It was discovered that the scheduled resolution date for GSI-168 was not reported correctly in the original monthly status report provided to the Congress in December 1998. The originally reported resolution date was listed as 09/2000, but should have been listed as 12/2000. The reason for the error appears to have been a clerical error.

IV. Licensing Actions and Other Licensing Tasks Licensing actions may be defined as requests for license amendments, exemptions from regulations, relief from inspection or surveillance requirements, topical reports submitted on a plant specific basis, notices of enforcement discretion, or other licensee requests requiring NRC review and approval before it can be implemented by the licensee. The FY 1999 NRC Performance Plan incorporates three output measures related to licensing actions -- size of the licensing action inventory, number of licensing action completions per year, and age of the licensing action inventory.

Other licensing tasks may be defined as licensee responses to NRC requests for information through generic letters or bulletins, NRR responses to 2.206 petitions, NRC review of licensee 2

m topical reports, NRR responses to regional requests for assistance, and NRC review of licensees' 10 CFR 50.59 analyses and FSAR updates. The FY 1999 NRC Performance Plan incorporates an output measures related to other licensing tasks (number of other licensing tasks completed).

The actual FY 1998 results, the FY 1999 goals, and the FY 1999 results through July 31,1999, for the four NRC Performance Plan output measures are shown in the table below.

PERFORMANCE PLANT i .

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Output Measure' ' FY 1998 Actual FY 1999 Target FY 1990' Actual (thru 7/31/99)E Licensin0 actions 1425 1670 1423 completed per year Size of licensing 1113 1000 911 actions inventory Age of licensing 65.6% s 1 year; 80% s 1 year; 85.9%s 1 year; action inventory 86.0% s 2 years; and 95% s 2 years; and 98.8% s 2 years; and 95.4% s 3 years old 100% s 3 years old 99.9% s 3 years old Other licensing 1006 800 770 tasks completed per year i

i in FY 1999, NRC increased resources for completing licensing actions so that the inventory size and number of completions goals could be met by the end of the fiscal year. However, the goal for the age of the inventory has historically not been met. NRC has undertaken several initiatives to reduce the age of licensing action inventory. For instance, a special effort was initiated in mid-1998 to conduct a management review of the older items in the inventory. For each item, status was assessed, success paths for resolution were identified, and completion schedules were established. Monthly progress reports have been published and follow up management meetings have emphasized the need % meet established schedules. The NRC has made substantial progress towards meeting the licencing action age goal.

The following charts demonstrate NRC's progress in meeting the four licensing action and other licensing task output measure goals.

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V. Status of Calvert Cliffs License Renewal Application All activities associated with the review of the Calvert Cliffs license renewal application are on schedule. Baltimore Gas and Electric provided responses in July to all open and confirmatory items identified in the safety evaluation report (SER) along with comments on the content of the SER. The NRC staff is reviewing the responses and updating the SER. Work on the resolution of public comments and preparation of the final environmental impact statement continues.

The SER and final environmental impact statement are scheduled to be issued by November 16,1999.

VI. . Status of Review of Private Fuel Storage, Limited Liability Corporation's Application for a License to Operate an independent Spent Fuel Storage installation on the Reservation of the Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians l

During this reporting period, litigation in the adjudicatory proceeding on the Private Fuel Storage, Limited Liability Corporation application continued. The State of Utah submitted

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requests to admit two late contentions to the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, which are pending before the Licensing Board at this time. In addition, Private Fuel Storage submitted motions for summary disposition of numerous safety-related contentions, which are under consideration by the Licensing Board at this time. The first round of safety-related hearings is scheduled to commence in November 1999; hearings on other issues will be held later.

Also during this reporting period, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff met in Salt Lake City, Utah, with staff from the Department of Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Land Management to discuss the preparation of the second request for additionalinformation regarding the Private Fuel Stc. age environmentalimpact statement. The Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Bureau of Land Management are cooperating agencies with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in the preparation of the environmental impact statement for the Private Fuel Storage project. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has the lead for preparing the request for additional information. The purpose of this meeting was to assure that information needed by each agency was identified in the request for additional information.

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I Vil. Summary of Reactor Enforcement by Region Reactor Enforcement Actions

• Region l Region 11 Region ll1 Region IV TOTAL July 99 0 0 0 0 0 l

Severity FY 99 YTD 0 0 0 0 0 Level l l FY 98 Total 0 0 0 0 0 July 99 0 0 0 0 0 Severity FY 99 YTD 5 0 2 0 7 Level 11 FY 98 Total 3 1 1 1 6 July 99 0 1 1 0 2 Severity FY 99 YTD 8 2 5 8 23 Level lli FY 98 Total 46 11 15 10 91 July 99 0 0 0 0 0 Severity FY 99 YTD 50 42 54 60 206 Level IV FY 98 Total 383 271 392 261 1307 ,

July 99 29 25 28 21 103 Non-Cited FY 99 YTD 270 200 286 261 1017 Severity Level IV FY 98 Total 372 240 307 214 1133 l

• Numbers of violations are based on enforcement action tracking (EATS) system data that may be subject to minor changes following verification. The number of Severity Level I,11, til listed refers to the number of Severity Level I, ll, Ill violations or problems. The monthly totals generally lag by 30 days due to inspection report and enforcement development.

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i, Description of Significant Actions (Severity Level I, ll, Ill) taken in July 1999 Commonwealth Edison Company, Zion Station Supplement lil, (EA 99-100)

A Notice of Violation for a Severity Level ill violation was issued on July 20,1999. This action was based on a violation of NRC requirements related to information reported to the NRC by l the Commonwealth Edison Company (Comed) on February 24,1998, that a contract l security officer inadvertently brought a personal handgun into the personnel search  !

area at the Comed Zion Station and that at the request of the officer owning the handgun, another officer, who had operated the x-ray search equipment, failed to make the required notifications that a firearm had been identified through the x-ray search process. In summary, a security officer entered the personnel search area of the Zion Station on February 24,1998. He submitted a hand-carried bag for x-ray inspection and his personal handgun was identified 4 among his belongings. He apparently forgot that the handgun was in his bag. The security officer immediately retrieved his belongings, including the handgun, from the belt of the x-ray equipment and asked the x-ray equipment operator to not report him because he feared his employment would be terminated for bringing a firearn to the Zion Station. He and the x-ray equipment operator then erased the image of the hr.ndgun from the x-ray equipment monitor.

The procedures implementing the NRC-approved Eion security plan required the x-ray equipment operator to immediately notify the alar'n station and a supervisor upon discovery of a firearm. The x-ray equipment operator did not make those immediate notifications. A short time  ;

later, the security officer returned to the personr;el search area and offered cash to the x-ray l equipment operator for not making a report ab=t the handgun. The x-ray equipment operator did not accept the money. A few minutes later, a security force supervisor entered the personnel search area and the x-ray equipment operator did not tell the supervisor about the firearm. However, the x-ray equipment operator did tell a supervisor about the event approximately 1% hours later. The actions of the security officers represent a deliberate violation of the procedures implementing the NRC-approved security plan for the Zion Station.

Because the facility had been the subject of escalated enforcement action within the last 2 years, the NRC considered whether credit was warranted for Identification and Corrective Action. Credit was warranted for identification because the licensee identified and promptly reported the violation. Credit was also warranted for corrective action. As a result, no civil penalty was proposed in this case.

Duke Energy Corporation, Catawba Nuclear Station Supplement 1, (99-094)

A Notice of Violation for a Severity Level Ill violation was issued on July 22,1999. This action was based on a violation of NRC requirements related to the failure to comply with Technical Specification (TS) 3.7.13, when the misalignment of two electrical breakers rendered the Standby Shutdown System (SSS) inoperable from December 16 through 29,1998. On December 16,1998, in preparation for scheduled SSS maintena%e, the two breakers were tagged and placed in the "off" (open) position. Upon completion cd scheduled maintenance on December 18, plant personnel failed to retum the two breakers to the normally "on" (closed) position. The misaligned breakers were discovered by Duke Energy Corporation's (DEC) personnel on December 29,1998, while conducting a plant procedure validation. Upon discovery of the open breakers, DEC personnel promptly positioned the breakers to their 10 l

'O F _ correct position to restore the SSS to operable status. TS 3.7.13 required that with the SSS inoperable, restore the inoperable equipment to operable status within seven days or be in at

'least hot standby within the next six hours and in at least hot shutdown within the following six

. hours; however, the SSS was inoperable'for a total of 13 days and requiied actions were not taken to place the uffits in at least hot standby within the six hours and in at least hot shutdown within the following six hours.The root cause of the breaker misalignment was an oversight by DEC personnel in not referring to' plant procedure to determine proper breaker position after the completion of maintenance, and in not specifying the correct position on system restoration procedures. Because the_ facility had been the subject of an escalated enforcement action 1within the laet tw, years, the NRC considered whether credit was warranted for identification and corrective action. Credit for identification was warranted because the violation was

identified by DEC personnel while conducting a plant procedure validation. Credit also was warranted for corrective action because of the immediate corrective action to restore the SSS to .)

operable c'stus and because of long-term corrective actions to preclude recurr'ence. As a j result, no civil penalty was proposed in this case.

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