IR 05000315/2003001

Annual Assessment Letter - D.C. Cook Nuclear Power Station (IR 05000315-03-001 & 05000316-03-001)

ML030640193
Person / Time
Site:	Cook
Issue date:	03/04/2003
From:	Dyer J Region 3 Administrator
To:	Bakken A American Electric Power Co
References
IR-03-001
Download: ML030640193 (6)

Text

rch 4, 2003

SUBJECT:

ANNUAL ASSESSMENT LETTER - D.C. COOK NUCLEAR POWER STATION (REPORT 50-315/03-01; 50-316/03-01)

Dear Mr. Bakken:

On February 11, 2003, the NRC staff completed its end-of-cycle plant performance assessment of D.C. Cook Nuclear Power Station. The end-of-cycle review for D.C. Cook Nuclear Power Station involved the participation of all technical divisions in evaluating performance indicators (PIs) for the most recent quarter and inspection results for the period from January 1, 2002, through December 31, 2002. The purpose of this letter is to inform you of our assessment of your safety performance during this period and our plans for future inspections at your facility so that you will have an opportunity to prepare for these inspections and to inform us of any planned inspections that may conflict with your plant activities.

Overall, D.C. Cook Nuclear Power Station operated in manner that preserved public health and safety and met all cornerstone objectives with moderate degradation in safety performance. Plant performance for the most recent quarter was within the Degraded Cornerstone Column of the NRCs Action matrix based on two WHITE inspection findings identified on Unit 2 in the Mitigating Systems Cornerstone. The first finding was identified in the first quarter of the assessment period and involved Unit 2 turbine driven auxiliary feedwater pump start failures. The second finding, which was associated with degraded essential service water system performance on both Unit 1 and Unit 2, was identified in the second quarter of the assessment period. Plant performance for Unit 1 for the most recent quarter was within the Regulatory Response Column of the Action Matrix based on the WHITE inspection finding associated with the essential service water system.

All other inspection findings and PIs for the most recent quarter for both units were GREEN. The NRC has conducted a supplemental inspection for the WHITE finding associated with the Unit 2 turbine driven auxiliary feedwater pump start failures. A supplemental inspection in accordance with inspection procedure 95002 Inspection for One Degraded Cornerstone or Any Three White Inputs in a Strategic Performance Area is ongoing. Upon completion, the results of this inspection will be transmitted to you by separate correspondence.

In our mid-cycle letter dated August 23, 2002, we advised you of a substantive cross-cutting issue in the area of Problem Identification and Resolution. A Problem Identification and Resolution inspection was completed in the second quarter of the assessment period. That inspection identified several issues with the adequacy of apparent cause evaluations and with III -2-the implementation of corrective actions. Baseline inspection results involving recent examples of poor corrective action program implementation indicate that this continues to be an area of concern. In addition, repetitive equipment problems have resulted in plant transients and challenges to plant operators. For example, repeat failures of the Unit 2 CD emergency diesel generator, and repeat failures of reactor control instrumentation power supplies were indicative of poor corrective action implementation. Based on the continued identification of findings associated with poor corrective actions, the NRC is concerned that your performance in this area is on a declining trend. You are requested to specifically address the actions that you are taking to improve performance in this cross cutting area at the end of cycle public meeting currently scheduled for April 10, 2003. Your performance in this area will be monitored via the baseline inspection program which includes a Problem Identification and Resolution inspection scheduled for August 2003. In addition, because Unit 2 has a degraded cornerstone and because your performance in this cross-cutting area continues to decline, the NRC intends to also conduct a Problem Identification and Resolution inspection in 2004.

The enclosed inspection plan details the inspections scheduled through March 31, 2004. The inspection plan is provided to minimize the resource impact on your staff and to allow for scheduling conflicts and personnel availability to be resolved in advance of inspector arrival onsite. Routine resident inspections are not listed due to their ongoing and continuous nature.

The inspections in the last 6 months of the inspection plan are tentative and may be revised at the mid-cycle review meeting.

As you are aware, since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the NRC has issued several Orders and threat advisories to enhance security capabilities and improve guard force readiness.

We have conducted inspections to review your implementation of these requirements and have monitored your actions in response to changing threat conditions. For calendar year 2003, we plan to continue these inspections, conduct portions of the security baseline inspection program, as well as perform additional inspections to evaluate your compliance with new requirements that may be ordered. Based on our final determinations in this regard, we will notify you of any inspection plan changes.

In accordance with 10 CFR 2.790 of the NRCs Rules of Practice, a copy of this letter and its enclosure 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). III -3-If circumstances arise which cause us to change this inspection plan, we will contact you to discuss the change as soon as possible. Please contact Anton Vegel at 630-829-9620 with any questions you may have regarding this letter or the inspection plan.

Sincerely,

/RA/

J. E. Dyer Regional Administrator Docket Nos. 50-315, 50-316 License Nos. DPR-58, DPR-74 Enclosure: D.C. Cook Inspection/Activity Plan cc w/encls: J. Pollock, Site Vice President M. Finissi, Plant Manager R. Whale, Michigan Public Service Commission Michigan Department of Environmental Quality Emergency Management Division MI Department of State Police D. Lochbaum, Union of Concerned Scientists B. Witkowski, County Board Chairman J. M. Henry, Berrien County Coordinator Sheriff L. Paul Bailey M. Bradley, Berrien County Emergency Management Coordinator The Honorable Charles Yarbough C. Roberts, Benton Harbor City Manager The Honorable Mary Goff F. Walsh, St. Joseph City Manager The Honorable William Skiba A. Anthony, City Manager The Honorable David Hagey C. Weaver, City Manager M. Harris, President, Village of Stevensville J. Choudoir, President, Village of Berrien Springs L. Larsen, President, Village of Shorham INPO