ML18142A528

NRC Response to Union of Concerned Scientists Comments Regarding Davis-Beese Nuclear Station License Event Report 2016-008-000, and Its Subsequent Revision

ML18142A528
Person / Time
Site:	Davis Besse
Issue date:	05/21/2018
From:	Khadijah West NRC/RGN-III
To:	Lochbaum D Union of Concerned Scientists
References
LER 2016-008-000, LER 2016-008-001
Download: ML18142A528 (7)

Text

May 21, 2018 Mr. David Lochbaum Director, Nuclear Safety Project Union of Concerned Scientists P.O. Box 15316 Chattanooga, TN 37415

SUBJECT:

NRC RESPONSE TO UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS COMMENTS REGARDING DAVIS-BESSE NUCLEAR STATION LICENSEE EVENT REPORT 2016-008-000, AND ITS SUBSEQUENT REVISION 2016-008-001

Dear Mr. Lochbaum:

This letter is in response to your April 20, 2018, email message to me, which shared your concern regarding the untimely closure of Davis-Besse Nuclear Station Licensee Event Report (LER) 2016-008-000, and its subsequent Revision 2016-008-001, Application of Technical Specification for the Safety Features Actuation System Instrumentation.

In your email, you observed that holding the LER open for an extended period of time was not in keeping with NRCs timeliness goals. As you are likely aware, letters to senior NRC officials are generally placed into ADAMS as publically available documents unless there is a reason to exclude the letter from ADAMS.

First, let me assure you that at the time of the event described in the LER, our inspection staff performed a thorough inspection of the circumstances as described in the LER. Specifically, our resident inspectors documented their review of the technical aspects of the subject event in NRC Integrated Inspection Report 05000346/2016003, dated November 4, 2016 (ADAMS ML16309A098). Our focus was ensuring that the licensee appropriately addressed the underlying technical and safety issue.

Secondly, I fundamentally agree that timely review and closure of LERs is appropriate and demonstrates our commitment to being timely and effective in fulfilling our regulatory oversight responsibilities. Our region monitors the status of open LERs and was conducting a final review of the LER at the time you expressed interest in its status. The timeliness of review of LERs is dependent on several factors including potential safety significance and other extenuating circumstances. In this particular case, after we determined that there was no immediate safety concern, we deferred our final review until the completion of an investigation to determine whether any of the licensee activities concerning the event and the use of compensatory measures to declare one of the safety feature actuation system channels operable constituted deliberate misconduct. On May 2, Region III issued the enclosed letter (ML18122A384) to the licensee, indicating that the investigation had been concluded and the NRC determined that no deliberate misconduct had been substantiated. The time it took to complete the investigation and Agency assessment was typical for a case of this nature.

D. Lochbaum With the conclusion of the investigation, the Davis-Besse Resident Inspectors will complete their review of the event report. The LER will be closed during the current calendar quarter of inspection activities and will be documented in NRC Integrated Inspection Report 05000346/2018002, which will be issued no later than August 14, 2018. Following our issuance of that report, should you have any additional questions concerning our closure of the LER, please contact Mr. Jamnes Cameron, the Region III Division of Reactor Projects Branch Chief responsible for oversight of our inspection program at Davis-Besse, at 630-829-9833, or jamnes.cameron@nrc.gov.

As a matter of practice, the NRC does not discuss or acknowledge ongoing investigations. I trust this letter fully responds to your concerns.

Thank you for bringing your questions and thoughts to our attention.

Sincerely,

/RA/

K. Steven West, Regional Administrator Region III

Enclosure:

NRC Letter to Mr. M. Bezilla

D. Lochbaum Letter to David Lochbaum from K. Steven West dated May 21, 2018

SUBJECT:

NRC RESPONSE TO UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS COMMENTS REGARDING DAVIS-BESSE NUCLEAR STATION LICENSEE EVENT REPORT LER 2016-008-000, AND ITS SUBSEQUENT REVISION 2016-008-001 DISTRIBUTION:

Jeremy Bowen RidsNrrDorlLpl3 RidsNrrPMDavisBesse Resource RidsNrrDirsIrib Resource Steven West Darrell Roberts Richard Skokowski Allan Barker DRPIII DRSIII ROPassessment.Resource@nrc.gov ADAMS Accession Number: ML18142A528 Publicly Available Non-Publicly Available Sensitive Non-Sensitive OFFICE RIII RIII RIII NAME RSkokowski:bw PLouden SWest DATE 5/18/2018 5/18/2018 5/21/2018 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY

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