IR 05000443/1998004

Ack Receipt of Informing NRC of Steps Taken to Correct Violations Noted in Insp Rept 50-443/98-04 Issued on 980730

ML20196J163
Person / Time
Site:	Seabrook
Issue date:	12/04/1998
From:	Cowgill C NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION I)
To:	Feigenbaum T, Harpster T NORTH ATLANTIC ENERGY SERVICE CORP. (NAESCO)
References
50-443-98-04, 50-443-98-4, NUDOCS 9812090273
Download: ML20196J163 (3)

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December 4,1998 Mr. Ted '

Executive Vice President and Chief Nuclear Officer Seabrook Station North Atlantic Energy Service Corporation c/o Mr. Terry L. Harpster P.O. Box 300 Seabrook, NH 03874 SUBJECT: INSPECTION REPORT NO. 50-443/98-04

Dear Mr. Feigenbaum:

This letter refers to your August 28,1998 correspondence, in response to our July 30,1998 letter.

Thank you for informing us of the corrective and preventive actions documented in your letter. These actions will be examined during a future inspection of your licensed program.

Your cooperation with us is appreciated.

Sincerely,

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Original Signed By:

Curtis J. Cowgill, Chief Projects Branch 5 Division of Reactor Projects Docket No. 50-443 cc w\o ev of Licensee's Resoonse Letter:

B. D. Kenyon, President - Nuclear Group J. S. Streeter, Recovery Officer - Nuclear Oversight W. A. DiProfio, Station Director - Seabrook Station R. E. Hickok, Nuclear Training Manager - Seabrook Station D. E. Carriere, Director, Production Services L. M. Cuoco, Senior Nuclear Counsel 090034 , of jd

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9812090273 981204 PDR 0 ADOCK 05000443 PM

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Mr. Ted Seabrook Station

cc w/cv of Licensee's Response Letter:

W. Fogg, Director, New Hampshire Office of Emergency Management D. McElhinney, RAC Chairman, FEMA Rl, Boston, Mass R. Backus, Esquire, Backus, Meyer and Solomon, New Hampshire D. Brown-Couture, Director, Nuclear Safety, Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency F. W. Getman, Jr., Vice President and General Counsel - Great Bay Power Corporation R. Hallisey, Director, Dept. of Public Health, Commonwealth of Massachusetts j Seacoast Anti-Pollution League D. Tefft, Administrator, Bureau of Radiological Health, State of New Hampshire S. Comley, Executive Director, We the People of the United States  ;

W. Meinert, Nuclear Engineer '

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i Mr. Ted Seabrook Station Distribution w/cv of Licensee Response Letter Region i Docket Room (with concurrences)

Nuclear Safety information Center (NSIC)

PUBLIC NRC Resident inspector l C. Cowgill, DRP l R. Summers, DRP C. O'Daniell, DRP B. McCabe, OEDO C. Thomas, PD l-3, NRR l

J. Harrison, PD l-3, NRR -l

'R. Correia, NRR I D. Screnci, PAO, ORA DOCDESK Inspection Program Branch, NRR (IPAS) j DOCUMENT NAME: G:\ BRANCH 5\RPLY-LTR\S89804.RPY To receive a copy of this document, indicate in the bos: *C" - Copy without ettschrnent/ enclosure "E" = Copy with attachment / enclosure *N" = No copy OFFICE Rl/DRP QQ l Rl/DRP pf f l / l l l NAME RSummers 1 CCowgill %

DATE (0/y/98 10/y/98 i OFFICIAL RECORD COPY l

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'"%.s North Atlantic Energy Service Corporation ;

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(603>4:4932i  ;

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The Northea6t Utilities Sptem f

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l ' August 28,1998

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Ref: ACR 98-1417  !

AR#98009418 i ACR 98-2038 ,

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[ AR#98014612 i

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United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission l Attention: Document Control Desk i Washington, DC 20555-0001  ;

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Seabrook Station  !

Reply to Notice of Violation -  !

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' North Atlantic Energy Service Corporation (North Atlantic) provides in the enclosure its  !

response to the Notice of Violation described in Inspection Report 98-04.

I Shodld you have any questions concerning this response, please contact Terry L. Harpster, ,

Director of Licensing Services, at (603) 773-7765.

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Very truly yours,

NORTH ATLANTIC ENERGY SERVICE CORP.

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'Ted CTFeigenba O f/hn - '

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Executive Vice ' resident and ChiefNuclear Officer

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.cc: H. J. Miller, NRC Region 1 Administrator

J. T. Harrison, NRC Project Manager, Project Directorate 1-3 R. K, Lorson, NRC Senior Resident Inspector

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l NYN-98105 REPLY TO NOTICE OF VIOIfATION Carriere, D. COMELEC Cook,N. e-mail Cuoco, L. M. e-mail Garfield, G. e-mail ;

Gillespie, J. Millstone 475/5 Kacich, R. M. e-mail Makowicz, M. J. e-mail Millstone Nuclear Licensing e-mail 1 NSARC Distribution e-mail Quinlan, W. J. e-mail File 0001 01-48 i File 0020 01-48 l RMD 02-06 l

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ENCLOSURE TO NYN-98105 4 i

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REPLY TO NOTICE OF VIOLATION NRC Inspection Report 98-04 describes a violation where Nonh Atlantic did not take action to promptly determine the status of the A and D steam generator steam pressure protection channels. North Atlantic's response to this violation is presented below.

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1. Description of the Violation:

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The following is a restatement of the violation:

10 CFR 50, Appendix B, Criterion XVI, Corrective Actions, states, in part, that measures shall be implemented to ensure that conditions adverse to quality are promptly identified.

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l Contrary to the above, on May 4,1998, NAESCO did not take action to promptly identify l whether steam pressure protection channels for the A and D steam generators were operable, !

after three of the six steam pressure protection channels for the B and C steam generators were found to be inoperable. Subsequent testing determined that two of the six A and D steam generator pressure protection channels v'ere inoperable.

This is a Severity Level IV Violation (Supplement 1).

2. Reply to the Notice of Violation:

Reason for the Violation North Atlantic agrees with the violation. On April 27, 1998, North Atlantic commenced calib' ration activities for six (three each on the B and C steam generators) steam generator l pressure protection channels. On May 1,1998, the lead / lag value for three channels were found l outside of the acceptability limits specified in the calibration procedures. The three channels were calibrated and returned to service. On May 4,1998, North Atlantic determined that the lead / lag values addressed in the calibration procedures were Technical Specification allowable l values and, as such, the as-found data was outside the Technical Specification limits.

An Adverse Condition Report (ACR) was initiated and the event was determined to require a

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l License Event Report (LER) pursuant to 10CFR50.73(a)(2)(i) due to the operation of the plant l

from May 1,1998 to May 4,1998 in a condition prohibited by the Technical Specifications.

North Atlantic submitted LER 98-005-00 on May 29,1998.

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On May 1,1998, Station management requested Maintenance personnel to investigate the applicability of this condition on the A and D steam generators. This was not acted upon

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l promptly. Additionally, the individuals involved in the preparation and review of the ACR did not recognize that the out of tolerance condition identified on the B and C steam generators should have called into question the adequacy of similar channel calibrations performed on the A and D steam generators. By May 4,1998, North Atlantic had not pursued the validation of the i status of similar channels on the A and D steam generators in a timely manner. In addition, Page 1 of 2 1 . , -

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when the ACR was discussed during the daily Station meeting on May 5,1998, insufficient l

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information was presented regarding the potential for the condition to be common to the other steam generators and as a result the operability of the A and D steam generators was not pursued' >

promptly.  !

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This event was included in the scope of a comprehensivbreview of lead / lag issues. North !

Atlantic performed a thorough review of the calibration methodologies used to determine NLL !

card time constants. This review was proactive and involved forming an event team, consulting l with vendors and bench top testing.

The cause of this event is that the Corrective Action System was not effectively implemented ,

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after the initiation of the ACR. There was not adequate communication between the departments regarding the specifics of the channel calibration failures and the potential for common failures - l was not adequately questioned / pursued. As a result, action was not promptly initiated to validate ,

the status of the A and D steam generators in a timely manner. l

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Corrective Actions

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1. The individuals involved in initiating and reviewing this Adverse Condition Report have l been coached and counseled.  !

Date When Comoliance Will Be Achieved i

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North Atlantic is currently in compliance with 10 CFR 50 Appendix B, Criterion XVI

" Corrective Action."

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