IR 05000029/1989014

Forwards Insp Repts 50-029/89-14 & 50-271/89-10 on 890717-21.No Violations Noted

ML20246Q048
Person / Time
Site:	Vermont Yankee, Yankee Rowe, 05000000
Issue date:	08/31/1989
From:	Durr J NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION I)
To:	Drawbridge B YANKEE ATOMIC ELECTRIC CO.
References
NUDOCS 8909110316
Download: ML20246Q048 (2)

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Docket No.50-029 Yankee Atomic Electric Company ATTN: ~Mr. Bruce L. Drawbridge Vice President and Manager of Operations 580 Main Street

. Bolton, Massar:husetts 01740-1398 Gentlemen:

Subject: Inspection Report No. 50-029/89-14 and 50-271/89-10 This letter refers to the routine inspection conducted by Mr. T. Rebelowski and Mr. R. Winters of'this office on July 17-21, 1989 at the corporate office in Bolton, Massachusetts and at the plant sites in Rowe, Massachusetts and Vernon, Vermont. The results of the inspection were discussed with Dr. A. Kadak, at Bolton, with Mr. St. Laurent at the Yankee Rowe plant and with Mr. Pelletier of the Vermont Yankee plan This inspection was directed at activities related to engineering support provided to the plants by the corporate engineering staff. Areas examined are described in the NRC Region I Inspection Report which is enclosed with this letter. Within these areas, selected examinations of procedures and representative records, interviews with personnel, and observations by the inspectors were mad Within the scope of this inspection, no violations were observe No reply.to this letter is required. Your cooperation with us in this matter is appreciate

Sincerely, Ori t:iral Signed By1 Jact;ue P. Durr

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Jacque P. Durr, Chief l Engineering Branch Division of Reactor Safety

Enclosure:

NRC Region I Inspection Report No. 50-029/89-14 and 50-271/89-10 l

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0FFICIAL RECORD COPY IR 50-029/89-14 - 0001. /10/89 8909110316 890831 PDR Q

ADOCK 05000029 PDC 3 '<)/ I\

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. . Yankee Atom'ic Electric 2 cCompany p

REGION I==

Report No /89-14 50-271/89-10 Docket No License No DPR-3 -

DPR-28

~ Licensees: Yankee Atomic Electric Company 580 Main Street Bolton, Massachusetts 01740 Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corporation RD 5, Box 169, Ferry Road Brattleboro, Vermont 05301 Facility Names: Yankee Nuclear Power Station Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station Inspection At: Bolton, Massachusetts Rowe, Massachusetts Brattleboro, Vermont Vernon, Vermont Inspection Dates: July , 17-21, 1989 Inspectors: W / M T. RebelowsKi, Senior Reactor Engineer, OPS, '

date 08, DRS, Region I hu R. W. Winters, Reactor Engineer, MPS, EB, T 1 %

date DRS, Region I Approved by: 2kmh de/M 6// SIB 9 p J. R. Itrosnidet, Chief, MPS, date Engineering Branch, DRS, RI Inspection Summary: Routine announced inspection on July 17-21,1989 (Report Nos. 50-029/89-14 and 50-271/89-10)

Areas Inspected: Corporate engineering and offsite support for the plants and implementation of modification Results: No violations or deviations were identifie N  ;

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DETAILS 1.0' Persons' Contacte Yankee Atomic Electric Company, Bolton, Massachusetts R. Berry, Assistant to Vice President Operations B. Drawbridge, Vice President and Manager of Operations D.-Hansen, Director, Plant Engineering Department

. (1) 'J. Haseltine, Project Director, Yankee Project (1) J. Hoffman, Engineering Manager, Vermont Project

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-(1) W. Jones, Engineering Manager, Yankee Project (1) A.- Kadak, President, Yankee Nuclear Power Corporation

. Mcdonald, Manager, Quality Service Grou (1) S. Miller, Project Manager, Vermont Project J. Robinson, Director, Environmental Engineering A. Shepard,' Director, Quality Assurance

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(1) J. Thayer, Project Manager, Yankee Project Yankee Atomic Electric Company, Rowe, Massachusetts

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J. Falconieri, Maintenance Engineer (2) -T..Henderson, Assistant Plant Superintendent (2) J. Kay, Technical Services Manager

'(2) D. King, Maintenance' Support Supervisor

~(2)_ R.-Mellor, Technical Director (2) R. Mitchel1, Maintenance Manager (2) -N. St. Laurent, Plant Superintendent Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corporation

K. Casey, Manager, Employment and Compensation R. Grippardi, Supervisor, Vermont Yankee Quality Assurance' (YAEC).

R.'Lopriore, Maintenance Supervisor M, Mete 11, Engineering Support Supervisor (1,3)J. Pelletier, Plant Manager, Vermont Yankee D. Reid, Manager, Operations Support .

T. Schimelpfenig, Director, Procurement and Information Systems D. Stafford, Technical Training Supervisor United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission-(2) M. Markley, Resident Inspector, Yankee Rowe,

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(1) Denotes those attending the exit meeting July 19, 1989 in Bolton, Massachusetts (2) Denotes those attending the exit meeting July 21, 1989 in Rowe, Massachusetts (3) Denotes those attending the exit meeting July 21, 1989 in Brattleboro, Vermont L- _ _ - _ - _ _

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L The' inspectors also contacted other administrative and technical personnel during the inspectio .0 Objectives The objectives of this inspection were to assess the adequacy of the licensee's program for engineering support of plant operations including design and configuration control, interfaces with other internal and external organizations, management support, staffing levels and experience, training, procurement, Quality Assurance, and responses to NRC requirements and request .0 Licensee Commitments The licensee's commitments and documents reviewed are listed in Attachment "A" to this repor .0 Yankee Atomic Electric Company (YAEC)

.The Yankee Rowe plant is operated by YAEC and is located on the Deerfield River in Rowe, Massachusett The plant was placed in commercial optration in 1961 and has been in full operation since that time except for maintenance and refueling shutoowns. The unit is rated at 185 megawatts (gross).

The Vermont Yankee plant is operated by the Vermont Nuclear Power Corporation and is located on the Connecticut River in Vernon, Vermont. The plant was placed in commercial operation in 1972. In 1988 the plant operated with a capacity factor of 93%. The unit is rated at 626 megawatts (gross).

In 1968, the Securities and Exchange Commission authorized YAEC to organize a Nuclear Services Division (NSD) under the Company's corporate structur The Nuclear Services Division bas a staff of approximately 400 engineers who provide engineering services in all aspects of nuclear power plant construction and operation including Nuclear Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Operations, Quality Assurance, Plant Engineering and Fuel Management. Services are performed on a cost basis for the Yankee Rowe plant, Vermont Yankee, Maine Yankee, and Seabrook. YAEC is a small utility with total employment of approximately 700 people including the 200 assigned to the operation of Yankee Row .0 YAEC Organization YAEC is organized into two Divisions, one is Plant Operations Division consisting of the Yankee Rowe plant, the other is Yankee Nuclear Services Division (YNSD) that includes the balance of the organization. YNSD consists of eight major functions that provide services to the operating plants. These services include the following:

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O ~*- _ Projects - Reporting to a Vice' President-Yankee Rowe i;

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-Maine Yankee Seabrook  ;

• - Quality Assurance I Quality Services Audits

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Vendors j

• Plant-Engineering

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• - Nuclear Engineering i

• En'v ironmental Engineering

• ComputerLServices- l

• ' _ Material Management and Control Purchasing i Fuel Management Cost Control -l Legal  ;

• Finance and Administration Accounting

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6.0 Projects Organization j i

The inspectors interviewed YAEC management and staff personnel and reviewed personal qualification records to determine that individuals were qualified ,

to perform the assigned functions. In the YNSD organization a Project i )

> defined as the engineering section assigned responsibility for engineering l services to a plant. Each Project is organized with a Project Manager and  !

Engineering Manager. The Projects are further divided into disciplines, i e.g. systems, mechanica1' instrumentation and control, and electrical that

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complement the-requirements of the plants. The performance of the work is {

controlled by individual Project Manuals that' encompass both administrative and engineering' function l

. Requests for support from the plants are received by the Project Manager j and may include design changes, safety evaluations., contractor services, '

and other engineering support required. When a request is received by the ,

Project Manager it is initially reviewed to determine the safety significance, j cost', schedule, and impact on the plant. After initial review, meetings  !

are held with the requester to establish the-priority, scope, and schedule for each request. Engineering support'is followed by the assigned Project

.personne1'from inception through final acceptance by the plant operating

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u l The-inspectors determined that'the engineers in the Project organizations were. qualified in.accordance with ANSI 18.1 in the appropriate discipline For example, in the Vermont Yankee Project organization the 27 engineers-held 39 engineering degrees and had an average of approximately 11 years of nuc1' ear experienc Personnel turnover was very low (approximately ,1%)

in the YAEC organization indicating a stable workforce and continuity of-engineering' service Plant Life Extension Program (PLEX)

The inspectors discussed the PLEX program with management personnel and determined that the initial studies indicate that obtaining data for the reactor pressure vessel is the first ;,riority. The operating license for the Yankee Rowe plant is scheduled to expire July 9, 2000. YAEC was awarded a. combined Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and Department of Energy (DOE) contract to participate as the lead PWR to demonstrate the feasibility of. operating. nuclear. plants beyond their 40 year operating licenses. As result, the-licensee has established a group of approximately 20 engineers supplemented by an equal number of contracted engineers to establish the feasibility of extending the plant life for another 20 year Conclusions The organization of engineering services into Projects, each responsible for' service to'a specific plant provides continuity for the plant Each Projects group was organized by engineering discipline and was well staffed-with experienced and knowledgeable engineers. The low turnover of engineer-ing talent assures continuity of the services provided to the plants and reduces'the training required to maintain proficiency in the YAEC method The establishing of the PLEX program is a major undertaking for a utility the size of YAEC. -While the contract with EPRI and DOE is valuable, YAEC will'be required to fund approximately half the total cos .0 Quality Assurance The Quality Assurance (QA) organization reports through a Director to the YAEC President. The inspectors reviewed selected audit reports and inter-viewed individuals to determine the quality and adequacy of audits and the YAEC's program as defined in the Operational Quality Assurance Manua .The Operational Quality Assurance Manual, YOQAP-1-A was approved by NRC letter dated August 3, 1988. There are three groups in the QA section with responsibilities as follows:

Quality Services Group The Quality Services Group provides QA/QC services to the plants. These services include plant surveillance, NDE training and certification, inspections, inspection agency interface, corrective action verification, nonconformance report reviews, and staff training coordination. The QA/QC

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personnel located at the plants report to the Quality Services Group thus maintaining the required independence and providing flexibility of having experience personnel that can be transferred from one plant to another as the workload change Vendor QA Group The Vendor QA group is responsible for maintaining the approved vendor

' list, performing vendor surveillance, auditing vendors, performing design change and procurement reviews,.and reviewing vendor nonconformance report Audit Group The audit group is responsible for the development of the QA program, inplant audits, YNSD audits, technical procedure reviews, preparation of QA procedures, and NRC commitment tracking. The inspectors reviewed an

. internal audit of the Vermont Yankee Project and additional audits of the Vermont Yankee plant were reviewed. These audits included radiation protection, local leak rate testing, housekeeping, fire protection, and Technical Specifications. The audits were found to be thorough, and included significant attributes. The audit findings reflected meaningful concern A review of the May 22, 1989, Plant Audit Discrepancy Status Report indicated that two of thirteen findings listed were overdue for corrective actio In the case of the two overdue items both were observations that did not indicate program deficiencie .0 Plant Engineering Organization The Plant Engineering section reports to the Vice President and Manager of Operations and has three sections. The responsibilities of these sections are as follows:

Engineering Services The Engineering Services group is responsible for maintaining the corporate procedures, Engineering Manuals, Engineering Instructions, and Topical Reports for the four operating plants. This includes assuring the b.iannual review of these procedures for inclusion of industry and regulatory require-ments, and the inclusion of user comment i Mechanical Services The Mechanical Services group provides the corporate NDE services including certification of NDE examiners and inspectors. In addition this group provides corporate fire protection engineers, inservice inspection program review and contracted inspection service Engineering support is provided for welding in the form of procedure qualification records. The infrared thermography engineer also reports to this grou _ - _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ - _ _ -

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Drafting The Drafting group is responsible for servicing the various Projects for new and revised drawings. This group is also responsible for maintaining the drawings at the operating plant .0 Nuclear Engineering Organization The Nuclear Engineering organization reports to a Vice President and YAEC maintains a staff of engineers concerned with the engineering associated with core physics, transient analysis, LOCA analysis, and safety assessmen These engineers are concerned with the four plants and perform their duties as requested by the plan .0 Environmental Engineering The environmental engineers supply services in the areas of radiological engineering, radiation protection, environmental sciences, emergency planning, and environmental laboratories for analytical and dosimetry service .0 Computer Services The computer engineers provide user services, network operations, computer operations, and computer application .0 Material Management and Control The Material Management and Control section reports to tne President of YAEC. This section is responsible for fuel procurement and limited procurement non safety related expendable supplies for the plant .0 Finance and Administration The inspectors reviewed selected background checks to determine that educational qualifications and personal data as reported by the employee was correct. YAEC retained a contractor to provide investigation services for these verifications. Other aspects of the Finance and Administration section were beyond the scope of this inspectio .C YAEC Support of Industry Organizations Participation in industry related groups and societies is encouraged to assure the company is abreast of the latest information. The company compensates employees for attendance at various meetings. The company is  ;

well represented on various groups. In 1989 there were 99 YAEC personnel  ;

involved in 174 industry organizations. This resulted in a commitment of approximately five man years of effort. Typical organizations include EPRI, IEEE, Owners Groups, NUMARC, SG0G, ASME, and other professional l societies. In addition, the Vermont Yankee plant had 34 individuals in 43 1 organizations representing another man year of effor )

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, Conclusions-YAEC is very active in the various industry,. professional societies and Lowners groups. The commitment of five man years to this effort is very high considering.a total employment of 400 engineer .0 Communications During the performance of Project tasks.the Project engineers work closely with the-plant engineers. This is accomplished by frequent plant visits

, by the Project Manager, Project Engineering Manager and the discipline engineers. During plant operations the discipline engineers spent approxi-

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mately 10% of their time at the plant. During outages these engineers are responsible for the installation of modifications and spend the major portion of-their time at the plant. Management control-is maintained through regularly scheduled project meetings that review the progress of each request in the areas of design change status, open items, schedules and priorities, . licensing updates, and various other effort A post outage Lessons Learned Workshop is held to asses the performance of all parties. This workshop includes engineering, expediting,. construction, and interfaces between project management, design,.use of contracted personnel and improvements in interfaces. In this meeting each cognizant engineer is required to present comments, and recommendations for improvements

.to be. incorporated into the next outage planning. The report of the workshop

'for cycle 20 at Yankee Rowe contained approximately 100 suggestions for improvemen The inspectors determined that communications are well established at 'l levels between YAEC and the plant .0 Vermont Yankee Corporate Functions The inspector interviewed corporate management and staff personnel to determine technical qualifications and responsibilities in the departments of Procurement and Information Systems, Operations Support, and Technical Training. In addition the inspector ir.terviewed the plant manager and members of his staff and YAEC Quality Assurance personne Procurement and Information Systems The inspector interviewed the management personnel concerning the department realignment that is intended to decrease the time required for procurement, consolidate plant purchases, provide engineering supervision for dedication

.of commercial grade items, and coordinate purchasing with YNSD. New pro-cedures have been developed, reviewed and approved for implementation in August 1989. Standard material requirements have been developed for outage requirements to reduce the need for emergency purchase _ _ - _ _ - _ _ - _ _ - - _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ -

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Contracts N

'A report-describing all' existing contracts and anticipating future needs L . has been de~ v eloped to' provide timely information for planning and to provid more_ effective. inventory contro Corporate' Administrative Computer Systems Presently several computer systems are functioning in the plant and at the corporate office. This section in conjunction with YNSD is investigating

.the consolidation'n of these systems. This area was beyond the scope of-

.this inspectio ' Operation Support The Operations Support organization of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Corporation p . supports plant ~ operations in maintenance, technical services, and modifica-tions. The Operations Support organization also provides corporate oversight of the Vermont Yankee plan The . inspector interviewed management personnel and reviewed records of.'th'e Operations Support organization and determined that this organization provides the, services described above. The Operations Support organization provides. thel interface between YAEC and the Vermont Yankee plant. The

monthly oversight report includes plant performance indicators and summaries

.significant activities such as: operations, environmental, engineering and ~

NRC licensing activities. The status of YAEC activities is reported through status meeting held approximately biweekly or more frequently. as an outage approaches. Technical services include safety evaluation . Vermont: Yankee Technical Training Program-The inspector' reviewed the training procedure and interviewed personnel to determine the extent and quality of training provided by the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corporation to the technical staff and managers. The Te'chnical Staff and Managers Training Program consists.of a central technical core training program, position specific codes and standards lessons, and eight subsections of department specific training programs. The training within the programs consists of classroom, simulator, on-the-job (0JT) training, and self' study. The simulator and OJT type instruction are accomplished during department specific trainin .0 Vermont Yankee plant The inspector held discussions with management and maintenance personnel

.to determineLthe adequacy of offsite support from YNSD. In all cases the plant personnel were satisfied with the technical content, timeliness of the support of both the VY and YAEC organizations. Based on interviews with.YAEC, VY Corporate and plant management personnel engineering super-vision of major modifications and interfaces with the plant engineering staff were excellent. The functional assignment of YNSD engineers to the plant contributes significantly to the quality of engineering suppor _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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18.0 Yankee Rowe Modification Installation The inspector reviewed the modification design package developed by YNSD and the records developed by the plant during installation of the new 'C'

emergency battery. This battery was installed in two stages. The first stage was the installation and temporary connection of the batteries in a new location adjacent to the diesel generators. The final stage was the permanent connection of the batteries into the emergency system. The inspector noted that the project was well controlled and the documentation reflected the actual installation during both phases. The inspector observed that there was an emergency, battery operated light fixture, wall mounted adjacent to the new installation. The licensee established that this fixture and the installation was seismically qualifie Conclusions:

The design package furnished by YNSD was complete and considered the needs of the plant. Consideration was given to the area in that the emergency light was seismically qualified, and an electric space heater not seismically qualified was moved to a location away from the battery. In addition a fence was placed adjacent to the batteries to prevent them from inadvertent damage when maintenance was preformed on the battery charge .0 Manegement Meetings Licensee management was informed of the scope and purpose of the inspection

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at the beginning of the inspection. The findings of the inspection were discussed with licensee representatives during the course of the inspection and presented to licensee management at the exit interviews (see paragraph 1.0 for attendees).

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ATTACHMENT A DOCUMENTS AND REQUIREMENTS REVIEWED

Document N Revision Title Yankee Atomic Elt-tric Company Audit 89-03 Feb 20, 1989 Radiation Protection Audit 89-6B Feb 21, 1989 Local Leak Rate Testing Audit 89-D9 Feb 9, 1989 Radwaste Audit 89-10 Mar 13, 1989 Housekeeping and Fire Protection l

l Audit 89-15 May, 8, 1989 Technical Specifications Audit VY88-06 Maintenance VYPP-4 3 Service Requests

VYPP-6 3 Engineering Design Change Requests

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VYPP-7 3 Plant Design Change Requests VYPP-11 3 Personnel Training l

YPP-4 7 Control of Service Requests l YPP-6 b Engineering Design Change Requests YPP-7 7 Plant Design Change Requests YPP-11 4 Documentation of Personnel Training Memorandum YRP 1')1/89 Results of Cycle 19 Lessons Learned Summary Report Jan 9, 1989 Participation on Industry-Related Committees, Groups, and Societies

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Jun 26, 1989 Vermont Yankee Status Report 1989 Calendar of Training Programs, Nontechnical Inhouse Programs Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corporation

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VY-0SD-106 1 Operations Support Department Training l VY-OSD-112 0 Service Request Procedure TSMPD 5 Technical Staff and Managtrs Training Program VYP:317 Aug 7, 1989 Purchase Order Processing Procedure AP-6025 1 Quality Control / Independent Inspection

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