ML093010609

Indian Point Unit 3: Assessment Follow-Up Letter, Dated October 28, 2009

ML093010609
Person / Time
Site:	Indian Point
Issue date:	10/28/2009
From:	Clifford J W Division Reactor Projects I
To:	Joseph E Pollock Entergy Nuclear Operations
Clifford J W
References
Download: ML093010609 (3)

Text

UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION REGION I 475 ALLENDALE ROAD KING OF PRUSSIA, PA 19406-1415 October 28, 2009

Mr. Joseph Pollock Site Vice President Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. Indian Point Energy Center 450 Broadway, GSB P.O. Box 249 Buchanan, NY 10511-0249

SUBJECT:

ASSESSMENT FOLLOW-UP LETTER - INDIAN POINT NUCLEAR GENERATING UNIT 3

Dear Mr. Pollock:

On October 26, 2009, the NRC staff completed, as part of our quarterly review, an update of our assessment of Indian Point Nuclear Generating (Indian Point) Unit 3. The assessment evaluated performance indicators (PIs) and inspection results. The purpose of this letter is to inform you of your safety performance during this period and our plans for a future inspection at your facility. This letter supplements, but does not supersede, our mid-cycle assessment letter issued on September 1, 2009 (ML092440193

).

Our review of Indian Point Unit 3 performance identified that you have crossed the threshold from Green to White for the "Unplanned Scrams per 7000 Critical Hours" performance indicator. This threshold was crossed due to the most recent unplanned automatic reactor scram that occurred on August 27, 2009.

As a result, we have assessed Indian Point Unit 3 performance to be in the Regulatory Response column of the NRC's Action Matrix. This indicates that all cornerstone objectives are met with minimal reduction in safety margin. Consistent with the graded approach in the NRC's Reactor Oversight Process, this change in performance from the Licensee Response column to the Regulatory Response column results in a corresponding increase in the NRC's inspection and assessment oversight at Indian Point Unit 3. Therefore, we plan to schedule and perform a supplemental inspection using Inspection Procedure 95001, "Inspection for One or Two White Inputs in a Strategic Performance Area," when your staff has notified us of your readiness for this inspection. This inspection procedure is conducted to provide assurance that the root causes and contributing causes of risk significant performance issues are understood, the extent of condition is identified, and the corrective actions are sufficient to prevent recurrence.

In accordance with 10 CFR 2.390 of the NRC's "Rules of Practice," a copy of this letter will be made available electronically for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room or from the Publicly Available Records (PARS) component of NRC's document system (ADAMS). ADAMS is accessible from the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html (the Public Electronic Reading Room).

2 Please contact Mr. Blake Welling of my staff at 610-337-5209 with any questions you may have regarding this letter.

Sincerely, /RA/ James W. Clifford, Acting Director Division of Reactor Projects

cc: Distribution via Listserv

2 Please contact Mr. Blake Welling of my staff at 610-337-5209 with any questions you may have regarding this letter.

Sincerely,

/RA/ James W. Clifford, Acting Director Division of Reactor Projects cc: Distribution via Listserv

Distribution w/encl:

(via E-mail)

S. Collins, RA (R1ORAMAIL RESOURCE) M. Dapas, DRA (R1ORAMAIL RESOURCE) D. Lew, DRP (R1DRPMAIL RESOURCE) J. Clifford, DRP (R1DRPMAIL RESOURCE) L. Trocine, RI OEDO B. Welling, DRP RIDSNRRPMINDIANPOINTRESOURCE B. Bickett, DRP S. McCarver, DRP P. Cataldo, SRI, IP3 D. Hochmuth, DRP D. Bearde, DRP ROPReportsResources@nrc.gov RI Docket Room (with concurrences)

SUNSI Review Complete: bb (Reviewer

=s Initials) DOC. NAME: G:\DRP\BRANCH2\ROP\ROP 10\IP3 Supp Assessment rev2.doc After declaring this document AAn Official Agency Record

@ it will/will not be released to the Public. ML093010609 To receive a copy of this document, indicate in the box:

" C" = Copy without attachment/enclosure " E" = Copy with attachment/enclosure " N" = No copy OFFICE RI/DRP RI/DRP RI/DRP NAME BBickett/bb BWelling/bdw JClifford/jwc

DATE 10/26/09 10/26/09 10/28/09 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY