ML20211A426

Forwards Insp Rept 50-289/99-04 on 990606-0717.Two Severity Level 4 Violations Occurred & Being Treated as Noncited Violations

ML20211A426
Person / Time
Site:	Three Mile Island
Issue date:	08/19/1999
From:	Crlenjak R NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION I)
To:	Langenbach J GENERAL PUBLIC UTILITIES CORP.
Shared Package
ML20211A433	List: IR 05000289/1999004 ML20211A426
References
50-289-99-04, NUDOCS 9908240048
Download: ML20211A426 (3)

See also: IR 05000289/1999004

Text

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August 19,1999

EA 99-198 -

Mr. J. Langenbach

Vice President and Director

GPU Nuclear, Inc.

. Three Mile Island Nuclear Station

P. O. Box 480

Middletown, Pennsylvania 17057-0480

SUBJECT: NRC INTEGRATED INSPECTION REPORT NO. 50-289/99-04 AND EXERCISE

OF ENFORCEMENT DISCRETION

Dear Mr. Langenbach:

On July 17,1999, the NRC completed an integrated inspection at your Three Mile Island Unit 1 -

reactor facility. The enclosed report presents the results of that inspection which the resident

inspectors discussed with you and your staff during the July 21,1999, exit meeting.

Your staff operated the unit safely throughout the inspection period. Conduct of routine control .

room operations continued to be a strength. Operators reacted appropriately, and plant

equipment responded, as designed, to the loss of the B auxiliary transformer. The quality of

your fire protection program was found to be good

We have completed our review of the 28 emergency feedwater (EFW) pump bearing failure

identified by your staff in May 1999. The bearing failure was documented in NRC inspection

report 50-289/99-03, dated June 29,1999. GPUN and the NRC determined that the 2B EFW

pump was unavailable to perform its safety function, due to the failed bearing, for longer than the

TS allowed out of service time of 72 hours8.333333e-4 days <br />0.02 hours <br />1.190476e-4 weeks <br />2.7396e-5 months <br />. The 2B EFW pump was inoperable from the time of

the last automatic actuation start test on March 27,1999, or earlier, until the time of discovery of

the failed bearing on May 10,1999. The NRC staff found that you could not have reasonably

predicted the failure of the pump bearing based on the results of past surveillance testing and )

that the cause of the failure was not indicative of your current performance in the conduct of l

maintenance activities.' Further, your corrective actions for this event were commensurate with i

the safety significance of the emergency feedwater system. - Accordingly, in consultation with

the Regional Administrator, NRC Region 1, and the Director, NRC Office of Enforcement, I have -!

- been authorized to not issue a Notice of Violation and not propose a civil penalty for this Severity  !

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Level ill violation in accordance with the provisions provided in Section Vll.B.6 of the

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Enforcement Policy.

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' Based on the results of this inspection, the NRC has determined that two Severity Level IV i

violations of NRC requirements occurred which you identified. These violations are being ,

- treated as Non-Cited Violations (NCVs), consistent with Appendix C of the Enforcement Policy.

The NCV's involved: 1) inability of the control building emergency ventilation system to maintain  !

N0002  :

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PDR ADOCK 05000289

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Mr. J. Langenbach 2

the control room at a positive pressure in the event of a damper failure, and 2) the existence of

an open flood path between the turbine building and the control building. These NCVs are

described further in the subject inspection report. If you contest the violations or severity level of

these NCVs , you should provide a response within 30 days of the date of this inspection report,

with the basis for your denial, to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ATTN: Document Control

Desk, Washington DC 20555-0001; with copies to the Regional Administrator, Region 1; the

Director, Office of Enforcement, United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington,

DC 20555-0001; and the NRC Resident inspector at the Three Mile Island Unit i reactor facility.

In accordance with 10 CFR 2.790 of the NRC's " Rules of Practice," a copy of this letter and its

enclosures will be placed in the NRC Public Document Room (PDR).

No reply to this letter is necessary. We appreciate your cooperation.

Sincerely,

Original Signed By:

Richard V. Crienjak, Deputy Director

Division of Reactor Projects

Docket No.: 50-289

Enclosure: NRC inspection Report No. 50-289/99-04 I

cc w/ encl:

M. J. Ross, Director, Operations and Maintenance

D. Smith, PDMS Manager

M. Laggart, Manager, Licensing and Vendor Audits

E. Fuhrer, Manager, Nuclear Safety and Licensing

E. L. Blake, Shaw, Pittman, Potts and Trowbridge (Legal Counsel for GPUN)

TMI-Alert (TMIA)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

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Mr. J. Langenbach 3

Distribution w/ encl:

Region i Docket Room (with concurrences)

Nuclear Safety Information Center (NSIC)'-

- PUBLIC

NRC Resident inspector

H. Miller, RA/J. Wiggins, DRA -

P. Eselgroth, DRP

- N. Perry, DRP '

K. Young, .DRS

D. Holody, ORA

T. Walker, ORA

C. O'Danie!!, DRP

' Distribution w/enci NIA E-MAIL)-

M. Tschiltz, OEDO

R. Borchardt, OE (OE MAIL)

E. Adensam, PD1, NRR

S. Bajwa, NRR

T. Colburn, NRR

H. Pastis, NRR

R. Correia, NRR

D. Holody, ORA

T. Walker, ORA

DOCDESK- ~

Inspection Program Branch, NRR (IPAS)

DOCUMENT NAME: G:\ BRANCH 7\Three Mile Island \TMI-9904Rev.wpd

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OFFICE RM l6 Rl/ORM HQ/OE.,f://l Rl/DRP -

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DATE- 68/18/99- 08///99 08//d99 08899 08/ /99

OFFICIAL RECORD COPY

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