ML20196K646

Discusses Ofc of Investigations Rept 1-98-33 Re Unqualified Senior Reactor Operator Assuming Position of Assistant Station Shift Supervisor at Unit 1 on 980616.One Violation Being Cited as Described in Encl NOV

ML20196K646
Person / Time
Site:	Nine Mile Point
Issue date:	06/29/1999
From:	Miller H NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION I)
To:	Mueller J NIAGARA MOHAWK POWER CORP.
Shared Package
ML20196K648	List: ML20196K646 ML20196K653
References
EA-99-010, EA-99-10, NUDOCS 9907090250
Download: ML20196K646 (5)

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, ,k o UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION g p f REGION I 475 ALLENDALE ROAD c KING OF PRUSSIA, PENNSYLVANIA 19406-1415

% * * * * * ,o June 29, 1999

(

1 EA 99-010 4 Mr. John H. Mueller 1 Chief Nuclear Officer Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation  ;

Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station i Operations Building,2nd Floor l Post Office Box 63 .

j Lycoming, New York 13093 )

SUBJECT:

NOTICE OF VIOLATION (NRC Office of Investigation Report No.1-98-33)

Dear Mr. Mueller:

This letter refers to the NRC investigation conducted by the NRC Office of Investigations (01) after you had identified and reported tc the NRC that an unqualified Senior Reactor Operator (SRO) assumed the position of Assistant Station Shift Supervisor (ASSS) at Unit 1 on June 16,1998. The SRO who assumed the watch was not considered qualified in that he had not completed remedial training after failing an evaluated requalification scenario the previous day, in a letter dated April 13, 1999, we informed you that the Ol investigation found that the SRO had deliberately violated license conditions and caused Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation (NMPC) to be in violation of Technical Specification (TS) requirements. In that letter, we offered you the opportunity to either request a predecisional enforcement conference (conference) to discuss the apparent violation or to respond to the apparent violation in writing. You declined the offer for a conference and responded to the apparent violation in a letter dated May 10,1999.

Based on the information developed during the investigation conducted by Ol and the information provided in your response, one violation of NRC requirements is being cited as described in the enclosed Notice. The violation involved a failure to adhere to the requirements of your Technical

- Specifications in that the licensed SRO stood watch as the ASSS without first being remediated

~

following his examination failure. The violation existed for approximately four hours while Unit 1 was at 100% power. The specific requirements that were violated required that a minimum of two senior reactor operators (SROs) be on duty for each operating shift, and that at least one licensed SRO be in the control room during power operations. Because the specific SRO in question had not [

been remediated, the shift had only one qualified SRO on shift for that four hour period.

Furthermore, he was the only SRO in the control room for approximately 45 minutes during that period. As a result, the minimum shift staffing requirements of TS 6.2.2.a and TS 6.2.2.e were not met. , .

9907090250 990629 PDR ADOCK 05000220 0 PDR a

1 Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation 2 in your May 10,1999, response, you admitted that the violation occurred; however, you contended that the violation was not willful or deliberate. After further review of the available information, the  !

NRC determined that there is insufficient evidence to conclude that the violation was deliberate on j the part of any of your employees. Nonetheless, the NRC is concemed that officials in your organization were aware of the requirement, and had knowledge of the examination failure, yet failed to prevent the violation of the Technical Specification staffing requirements. Specifically, both the SRO and the General Supervisor of Operations (GSO) were aware that a licensed operator could not stand watch following a requalification failure without being remediated. Although the SRO knew that he had failed the requalification evaluation, he contended that he did not think about the requirement prior to standing watch. In addition, the GSO was told on June 15,1998, when he was entering the training center to be an evaluator in the aftemoon, that a crew had failed the requalification evaluation that mcming. However, he neither recognized, nor took action to determine, whether the SRO was a member of the crew that had failed when he asked the SRO to stand watch. Further, the training supervisor was also aware of the requirement and aware that the SRO had failed the evaluation, yet he granted permission for the SRO to miss training on June 16, 1999, so that he could work in the plant without questioning whether the SRO would be standing watch. Therefore, given the importance of having qualified control rc cFm operators, this violation is of significant regulatory concem and is classified at Severity Level lil in accordance with the

" General Statement of Policy and Procedure for NRC Enforcement Actions"(Enforcement Policy),

NUREG-1600.

In accordance with the Enforcement Policy, a base civil penalty in the amount of $55,000 is considered for a Severity Level ill violation. Because your facility has been the subject of escalated enforcement action within the last 2 years,' the NRC considered whether credit was I warranted for /dentification and Corrective Action in accordance with the civil penalty assessment process in Section VI.B.2 of the Enforcement Policy. Credit is warranted for identification because ,

you identified, investigated, and promptly reported the violation. Credit is also warranted for l corrective action because your corrective actions were considered prompt and comprehensive.

These actions, which were described in a Licensee Event Report (LER) submitted to the NRC on July 17,1998, and in your response dated May 10,1999, included, but were not limited to: (1) remediation of the crew that failed the evaluation; (2) communication of lessons leamed from the event via a memorandum and Night Orders: (3) revision of procedures to clarify the requirements regarding requalification evaluation failures; (4) plans for additional training to emphasize the importance of license qualification requirements; and (5) counseling of the individuals involved in the event.

Therefore, to encourage prompt identification and comprehensive correction of violations, I have been authorized, after consultation with the Director, Office of Enforcement, not to propose a civil penalty in this case. However, significant violations in the future could result in a civil penalty.

8 A $55,000 civil penalty was issued on January 22,1998 (EA 97-530) for a Severity Level III violation associated with transportation of radioactive waste.

Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation 3 The NRC has concluded that information regarding the reason for the violation, and the corrective actions taken and planned to correct the violation and prevent recurrence is already adequately addressed on the docket in your LER No 98-14, dated July 17,1998 and in your response, dated May 10,1999. Therefore, you are not required to respond to this letter unless the description therein does not accurately reflect your corrective actions or your position. In that case, or if you choose to provide additionalinformation, you should follow the instructions specified in the enclosed Notice.

In accordance with 10 CFR 2.790 of the NRC's " Rules of Practice," a copy of this letter, the enclosed Notice, and any response, if you chose to provide one, will be placed in the NRC Public Document Room (PDR).

Sincerely, b  !

Hu rt J. Miller

~f Regional Administrator

Enclosure:

Notice of Violation l

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Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation 4 cc w/ encl:

G. Wilson, Esquire M. Wetterhahn, Winston and Strawn J. Rettberg, New York State Electric and Gas Corporation P. Eddy, Electric Division, Department of Public Service, State of New York C. Donaldson, Esquire, Assistant Attorney General, New York Department of Law J. Vinquist, MATS, Inc.

F. Valentino, President, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority J. Spath, Program Director, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority i

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I. E bM l poe l Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation l

l DISTRIBUTION: J SECY CA PUBLIC WTravers, EDO MKnapp, DEDE FMiragra, DEDR JLieberman, OE HMiller, RI SCollins, NRR BSheron, NRR WKane, NRR DDambly, OGC Enforcement Coordinators RI, Ril, Rill, RIV BBeecher, OPA HBell, OlG PLohaus, OSP GCaputo,01 OE:EA OE:Chron NUDOCS Nuclear Safety information Center (NSIC)

DScrenci, PAO-RI NSheehan, PAO-R1 NRC Resident inspector- Nine Mile l l

090006