ML20136J450

Forwards Insp Repts 50-282/97-03 & 50-306/97-03 & Forwards Notice of Violation

ML20136J450
Person / Time
Site:	Prairie Island
Issue date:	03/14/1997
From:	Grant G NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION III)
To:	Wadley M NORTHERN STATES POWER CO.
Shared Package
ML20136J454	List: ML20136J450 ML20136J465 ML20136J485
References
NUDOCS 9703200111
Download: ML20136J450 (2)

See also: IR 05000282/1997003

Text

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March 14, 1997 l

Mr. M. D. Wadley

Vice President, Nuclear Generation

Northern States Power Company

414 Nicollet Mall

Minneapolis, MN 55401

SUBJECT: NRC SPECIAL INSPECTION REPORT 50-282/97003(DRS);

50-306/97003(DRS)

Dear Mr. Wadley:

On February 20,1997, the NRC completed an inspection at your Prairie Island Nuclear

Generating Plant, Units 1 and 2. The focus of this inspection was your inservice

inspection efforts. The enclosed report presents the results of that inspection.

Based on the results of this inspection, certain of your activities appeared to be in violation

of NRC requirements, as specified in the enclosed Notice of Violation (Notice). The

violation is of concern because the inspector identified in excess of 80 Inservice Inspection

(ISI) examinations which did not meet the American Society of Mechanical Engineers,

Section XI, Code requirements, without NRC approved Code relief. The inspector

considered this to demonstrate a lack of understanding by your staff of regulatory

requirements related to Code ISI relief requests.

Because of an inadequately prepared relief request, the NRC staff expended a significant

amount of resources in the review of your staff's relief request to defer Code mandated

examinations associated with the reactor vessel. Although subsequent submittals

improved this relief request, ultimately the technicalissues could not be resolved and your

staff decided to withdraw this relief request. The inspector identified additional examples

of relief requests submitted as part of your Third 10-Year Interval Inservice Inspection

Examination Plan which lacked detail or an adequate technical basis as originally

submitted. The inspector considered these examples demonstrated a weakness in your

staff's understanding of the level of detail and technical basis needed to support ISI Code

relief requests.

During the recent 1997 Prairie Island Unit 2 refueling outage, your staff demonstrated

conservative decisions focused on safety for the steam generator inspections and repairs.

Additionally, the inspector observed good preplanning, preparation, and demonstrated

knowledge of the inservice examinations performed, which resulted in as low as

reasonably achievable radiological work practices.

9703200111 970314

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M. Wadley 2 March 14, 1997

You are required to respond to this letter and should follow the instructions specified in the

enclosed Notice wnen preparing your response. In your response, you should document

the specific actions taken and any additional actions you plan to prevent recurrence. After

reviewing your response to this Notice, including your proposed corrective actions and the

results of future inspections, the NRC will determine whether further NRC enforcement

action is necessary to ensure compliance with NRC regulatory requirements.

In accordance with 10 CFR 2.790 of the Commission's regulations, a copy of this letter

and the enclosed inspection report will be placed in the NRC Public Document Room. We

will gladly discuss any questions you have concerning these inspections.

Sincerely,

/s/ M. Icach (for)

Geoffrey E. Grant, Director

Division of Reactor Safety

Docket No. 50 282

Docket No. 50-306

Enclosure: Inspection Report 50-282/306/97003(DRS)

cc w/ encl: Plant Manager, Prairie Island

John W. Ferman, Ph.D.

Nuclear Engineer, MPCA

State Liaison Officer, State

of Minnesota

State Liaison Officer, State

of Wisconsin

Tribal Council, Prairie Island

Dakota Community

Distribution:

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{ufUBLIC IE-01 w/ encl; u ' SRis, Prairie Island, Rllt Enf. Coordinator w/enci

OC/LFDCB w/enci Monticello w/enci TSS w/enci

DRP w/encI LPM, NRR w/enci CAA1 w/ encl

DRS w/enci A. B. Beach, Rlll w/enct

DOCUMENT NAME: G:\DRS\PRA97003.DRS

To receive a copy of thle document, indicate in the box *C' = Copy w/o attach /enct *E" = Copy w/ attach / encl"N" = No copy

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DATE ' 03/ ifV/97

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03/ O /97 03/11 /97 l/ 03/ //- /97

0FFICIAL RECORD COPY