Protecting People and the EnvironmentUNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
UNITED STATES
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555
March 5, 1990
Information Notice No. 90-13: IMPORTANCE OF REVIEW AND ANALYSIS OF
SAFEGUARDS EVENT LOGS
Addressees:
All holders of operating licenses or construction permits for nuclear power
reactors.
Purpose:
This information notice is intended to remind addressees of the benefits of
meaningful reviews and analyses of the safeguards event logs and reports
required by 10 CFR 73.71, and of initiating prompt, effective corrective
measures to prevent recurrence of identified problems. It is expected that
recipients will review the information for applicability to their facilities
and consider actions, as appropriate, to avoid similar problems. However,
suggestions contained in this information notice do not constitute NRC
requirements; therefore, no specific action or written response is required.
Description of Circumstances:
During recent inspections of safeguards event logs and associated reports,
the NRC staff found numerous repeated violations of requirements and
commitments in safeguards programs. These violations showed that effective
corrective action had not been taken by the licensees. The licensees
generally categorized, totaled, and reported event information but did not
analyze it to identify developing problem areas and did not take effective
corrective action to prevent recurrence of problems. One utility identified
numerous violations of its physical security plans at several facilities but
did not implement effective action to preclude recurrence of similar
violations. The violations included over 20 examples of improper
notification upon termination of employees, over 30 examples of security
equipment that was operated in a degraded condition or was accessed without
proper compensatory measures, and over 40 examples of personnel being issued
incorrect unescorted access badges. These violations resulted in a Notice
of Violation and Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalty.
Discussion:
The identification of developing trends and the analysis of root causes of
these trends are important aspects of the process for determining whether
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there are any vulnerabilities that may adversely affect the protection of
the public health and safety. The safeguards event log is intended to be,
and has been for some licensees, an effective management tool to identify
problem areas and to determine and monitor the effectiveness of corrective
measures to preclude recurrence of identified problems.
This information notice requires no specific action or written response. If
you have any questions about the information in this notice, please contact
the technical contact listed below or the appropriate NRR project manager.
Charles E. Rossi, Director
Division of Operational Events Assessment
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
Technical Contact: Nancy E. Ervin, NRR
(301) 492-0946
Attachment: List of Recently Issued NRC Information Notices
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