IR 05000313/2017014

EA-16-247 Entergy Operations, Inc., Arkansas Nuclear One Arkansas Nuclear One, Unit 2 - Final Significance Determination of a White Finding and Notice of Violation, NRC Inspection Report 05000368/2017014

ML17055A727
Person / Time
Site:	Arkansas Nuclear
Issue date:	02/27/2017
From:	Kennedy K M NRC Region 4
To:	Richard Anderson Entergy Operations
References
EA-16-247 IR 2017014
Download: ML17055A727 (5)

Text

February 27, 2017

EA-16-247

Rich Anderson, Site Vice President Arkansas Nuclear One Entergy Operations, Inc. 1448 SR 333 Russellville, AR 72802-0967

SUBJECT: ARKANSAS NUCLEAR ONE, UNIT 2 - FINAL SIGNIFICANCE DETERMINATION OF A WHITE FINDING AND NOTICE OF VIOLATION, NRC INSPECTION REPORT 05000368/2017014

Dear Mr. Anderson:

This letter provides you the final significance determination of the preliminary White finding discussed in the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC's) Inspection Report 05000368/2016011 dated January 19, 2017 (Agencywide Document Access and Management System (ADAMS) ML17019A288). The finding involved a failure to ensure that an emergency diesel generator bearing was provided with adequate lubrication. As a result, the bearing overheated and caused the emergency diesel generator to fail on September 16, 2016, during a 24-hour endurance test. The extent of damage from the failure led to the decision to shut down Unit 2 to comply with technical specifications. This finding did not present an immediate safety concern because other normal and emergency sources of power remained available, and your plant walkdowns and our inspections confirmed that this condition did not exist on other safety-related equipment. In a telephone conversation with Mr. Neil O'Keefe, Chief, Reactor Projects Branch E, on January 20, 2017, you indicated that Entergy Operations, Inc., did not contest the characterization of the risk significance of this finding, and that you declined your opportunity to discuss this issue in a regulatory conference or to provide a written response. According to NRC Inspection Manual Chapter 0609, Attachment 1, "Significance and Enforcement Review Panel (SERP) Process," by declining the opportunity to submit a written response or to request a Regulatory Conference, the licensee relinquishes its right to appeal the final significance determination.

After considering the information developed during the inspection, the NRC has concluded that the finding is appropriately characterized as White, a finding with low to moderate safety significance.

The NRC has also determined that failure to provide adequate work instructions ensuring proper lubrication to the inboard generator bearing is a violation of Arkansas Nuclear One, Unit 2, Technical Specification 6.4.1.a, as cited in the attached Notice of Violation (Notice). The circumstances surrounding the violation were described in NRC Inspection Report 05000368/2016011. In accordance with the NRC Enforcement Policy, the Notice is considered escalated enforcement action because it is associated with a White finding.

You are required to respond to this letter and should follow the instructions specified in the enclosed Notice when preparing your response. If you have additional information that you believe the NRC should consider, you may provide it in your response to the Notice. The NRC review of your response to the Notice will also determine whether further enforcement action is necessary to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements.

The NRC has reviewed this finding and its causal factors in context with the performance issues that contributed to Arkansas Nuclear One being placed into Column 4 of the NRC's Action Matrix and concluded that continued oversight in Column 4 remains appropriate. After reviewing your response to the information requested in the attached Notice, the staff will consider whether it is appropriate to amend the existing Confirmatory Action Letter (ML16169A193) to include any of your corrective actions for this finding.

In accordance with Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 2.390 of the NRC's "Rules of Practice and Procedure," a copy of this letter, its enclosure, and your response, will be made available electronically for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room or from the NRC's document system (ADAMS), accessible from the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To the extent possible, your response should not include any personal privacy, proprietary, or safeguards information so that it can be made available to the Public without redaction.

Sincerely,/RA/ Kriss M. Kennedy Regional Administrator Docket No. 50-368 License No. NPF-6

Enclosure:

Notice of Violation

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