ML20210B812

Advises That Commission Agrees That Encl 850802 Draft Generic Ltr Be Sent to Licensees of All Operating Reactors & Submits Details for Reviewing Requests for Extensions & Imposing Civil Penalties

ML20210B812
Person / Time
Issue date:	08/27/1985
From:	Chilk S NRC OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY (SECY)
To:	Dircks W NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS (EDO)
Shared Package
ML20210B755	List: ML20210B751 ML20210B812
References
FOIA-86-810 GL-85-15, TAC-42507, TAC-57133, NUDOCS 8702090240
Download: ML20210B812 (7)

Text

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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION S

{ w As H 4N G70N. 0.C. 20558 CPPICE OF THE August 27, 1985 h 3g ssenstany -

MEMORAMUM FOR: William J. Dircks, Executive Director fo Operations FROM: muel J. Chilk, Secretary

SUBJECT:

SECY-95-220 - ENVIRONMENTAL QUALIFICATION j PROGRAM ACTIONS RESULTING FRCH APRIL 2,. 1 1985 COMMISSION MEETING This is to advise you that the Commission (with all Commis-sioners approving) agreed that the attached Generic Letter, provided to you on August 2, 1985, be sent to all licensees of operating reactors.

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The Commission has also agreed to the following details for reviewing requests for extensions and for imposing civil penalties.

1. The staff shall review any requests for extensions of the November 30, 1985, deadline and provide an analysis and recommendation regarding action to the Commission. Each staff submittal to the Commission should include a recone.endation on whether the extension should be granted. The staff recommendation should be sent to the Commission as soon as possible after receipt of the utilities request for extension. The Commission intends to advise licensees well in advance of November 30, 1985, of the commission's decision on the extension request.

2. Utilities that are unable to comply with 10 CFR 50.49 by November 30, 1985, must have valid, staff ,

approved JCOs to support continued operation. The staff is directed to require licensess to submit current JCos for each item of non-qualified equipment for staff review and/or approval prior to the licensee being allowed to operate the plant in non-compliance. Tho corr. mission winhos to be kept informed of those utilities which express a desire to operate in noncompliance and for each of the utillties in this category, the staff must inform the Commisolon that the utility has an approved JC0 which is valid an of November 30, 1985.

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3. The , Commission approvas the staff's proposal to use its enforcement discretion regarding enforcement actions ag& inst the limited number of plants which c_ were not in compliance on or before their deadlines (which were on or before March 31, 1985) and which have submitted untimely requests for extension. In determining whether enforcement is appropriate, the staff will consider whether adequate JCOs were provided and whether an extension would have been granted if timely filed. However,-licensees in this situation are subject to the provisions of Generic Letter 85-15 after November 30, 1985.. -

Attachment:

As Stated cc: Chairman Palladino Commissioner Roberts commissioner Asselstine Commissioner Bernthal Commissioner Sech OCC OPE PDR ACR5 i

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! Draft Generic Letter ALB/SECY/7/31/85 TO ALL LICENSEWW OF OPERATING REACTORS Gentlemen:

SUBJECT:

INFORMATION RELATING TO THE DEADLINES FOR COMPLIANCE l WITE 10 CFR 50.49, ENVIRONMENTAL QUALIFICATION OF I

ELECTRIC EQUIPNENT IMPORTANT TO SAFETY FOR NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS (GENERIC LETTER 85- )

The deadline for compliance with the c:--icei-= ---1: 10 cyR w a. s.pe 50.49, Environmental Qualification of Electric Equipment4 fo,. r Nuclear Power Plants,is specified in the rule as the date of v the second refueling outage after Mhrch 31, 1982 or March 31, 1985, whichever was earlier. Son.e plants have received ex-tensions to these deadlines up to November 4,,

1985 4 10 CPR _

50.49 states that "in exceptional cases, the Commission itself A' i

may consider and grant extensions beyond November 30, 1985, for completion of environmental qualification." The purpose of this letter is to advise licensees that it is the Commission's intention that extensions will be granted only in rare circumstances and that enforcament action will be taken against licensees that continue to operate their plants with unqualified equipment II beyond November 30, 1985)without -

4 extensions approved by the Commission.

1/ For purposes of enforcement, " unqualified equipment" means equipment for which there is not adequate documentation to establish that this equipment will perform its intended functions in the relevant environment.

Insert A Where current extensions terminate prior to November 30, 1985, the delegation in 10 CFR 50.49(g) permits the Director of NRR to act on further requests for extension as long as the new deadline is not beyond November 30, 1985.

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It is the Cossaission's intention that licensees which are not in compliance on November 30 and which have not been given extensions %ill have to @ shut down or, if they have k taff-approved @ JCo $ , elect to operate and face

' .il; civil penalties of $5,000 per ites I/per day for each .

day after November 30 on which a licensee operates in noncompliance with the rule. For noncompliance identified

'after November 30, such fines may be made retroactive to November 30 for each day a licensee clearly knew, or should have known, that equipment qualification was incomplete. Some l

l mitigation of any penalty may be considered based upon satisfaction of the following factors:

} Did the licensee identify and promptly report the non ompliance with 10 CFR 50.497

2. Did the licensee apply best efforts to complete environmental qualification within the deadline? .

1/ An'ites is defined as a specific type of electrical equipment, designated by manufacturer and model, which is representative of all identical equipment in a plant area exposed to the same environmental service ,

conditions.

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3. Has the licensee proposed actions which can be expected to result in full compliance within a reaso'nable time?

For equipment which is discovered (through new test results, l NRC inspection, or other means) after November 30, 1985, to be l ss in noncompliance orgsuspected to be in noncompliance with the requirements of 10 CFR 50. licensees should report the finding if the condition 4meets the reporting criteria of 10 CFR 50.72 (Prompt Notification) or 10 CFR 50.73 (Licensee Event Reporting System). Ev the significance of andcorrectiveactionforalgpotentialnoncompliancesshould be documented as should the circumstances of discovery of the nonQomplianceorsuspectednon{ compliance. These documents should be retained in appropriate licensee files. If equip-ment addressed in the plant Technical specifications is found to be unable to perform its intended function during an acci-dont because of equipment qualification problems, the licensee is required to follow the provisions of the Technical Speci-fications. A case by case determination will be made whether retroactive enforcement is appropriate for non compliance identified after November 30, 1985.

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ticensees desiring an extension beyond November 30, 1985 must

3 submit an extehsio,n request at the earliest possible date to the commission with a copy to the Director, NRR and the Direc-tor, IE. Requests received after September 30, 1985 will be -

9 considered untimely and may be denied on that basis. The t i

i basis for any extension request beyond November 30, 198( must v-clearly identify the exceptional nature of the case, e.g.s j .,

why, through events entirely beyond its control, the licensee 1

will not be in compliance with the rule on November 30f the ,

t date when compliance will be achieved; and a justification for, ,,

continued operation until compliance will be achieved. '

i This letter does not require any response and therefore does not need approval of the office of Management and Budget, comments on burden and duplication may be directed to the office of Management and Budget, Reports Management Room 3208, New Executive Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20503. Should you have any questions, the staff contacts are Gary Holahan for technical questions and Jane Axelrad for enforcement questions. Mr. Holahan can be reached on (301)492-8563 and Ms. Axelrad can be reached on (301)492-4909.

Hugh L. Thompson, Jr.

Director Division of Licensing 2nclosure j As 8tated

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