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NRC NEWS
U. S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION |
| Office of Public Affairs |
Telephone: 301/415-8200 |
| Washington, DC 20555-001 |
E-mail: opa@nrc.gov |
No. 96-49 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Friday, March 8, 1996)
NOTE TO EDITORS:
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has issued two
letters to Northeast Utilities (NU) requesting certain
information, under oath or affirmation, regarding operation
of the Millstone 2 & 3 and Haddam Neck nuclear power plants
in Connecticut.
Millstone 2 is required to submit to the NRC, seven days
before restarting from its current refueling outage, actions
it has taken to asssure future operation will be conducted in
compliance with its operating license, NRC regulations and
final safety analysis report for the plant.
Millstone 3 and Haddam Neck, both of which are currently
in operation, are required to provide the NRC similar
information and assurance within 30 days of the date of
receipt of the letters.
The NRC is taking this action after reviewing an
internal NU document that found inaccuracies in Millstone 1's
final safety analysis report. Millstone 1 is currently shut
down.
#
Attachments:
As stated
. March 7, 1996
Mr. Robert E. Busch
President - Energy Resources Group
Northeast Utilities Service Company
P.O. Box 128
Waterford, CT 06385
Dear Mr. Busch:
On December 13, 1995, the NRC issued to Northeast Utilities
(NU) a letter requesting NU pursuant to Section 182a of the
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and 10 CFR 50.54(f) to
"describe actions taken to ensure that future operation of
Millstone Unit 1 will be conducted in accordance with the
terms and conditions of the Millstone Unit 1 operating
license, the Commission's regulations, including 10 CFR
50.59, and the Millstone Unit 1 Updated Final Safety Analysis
Report (UFSAR)." Since that time NRC has continued to
conduct inspections and investigations at the Millstone
Station to determine the state of compliance of NU nuclear
facilities with NRC requirements. As part of these efforts,
NRC has obtained a copy of an internal NU document, "ACR 7007
- Event Response Team Report" (7007 Report), dated February
22, 1996.
The Executive Summary of the 7007 Report states that an Event
Response Team was chartered to determine the causes for the
inaccuracies in the Millstone Unit 1 UFSAR. The fundamental
causes for these inaccuracies were found by this Team to
include:
- The original 1986/1987 UFSAR contained errors and
omissions;
- Administrative control programs such as Design Control,
Corrective Action, and Commitment Tracking did not fully
address regulatory requirements;
- NU did not fully implement the administrative programs.
NU did not see the UFSAR as a document that was required
to be accurate;
- Internal correspondence and events involving the design
basis from 1985 through 1996 show a pattern of
information communicated to NU management. This
information consistently identified weaknesses and risks
associated with the UFSAR and design bases. NU
management made commitments, on the docket, to correct
these deficiencies. The commitments to correct these
deficiencies were ineffective, partially implemented, or
not done;
- NU oversight did not identify this event pattern to
management, its significance, or the effectiveness of
corrective actions to prevent recurrence.
The 7007 Report further states that, due to the nature of the
causes that the Team has identified, the potential exists for
the presence of similar configuration management conditions
at Millstone Unit 2. It notes that without a sample similar
to the initiatives currently in progress for Millstone Unit 1
as a result of the 10 CFR 50.54(f) letter of December 13,
1995, the full implications for Millstone Unit 2 cannot be
ascertained. The 7007 Report recognizes that those efforts
may be underway. This Report also addresses Millstone Unit 3
and Haddam Neck which we are addressing by separate letter.
Current licensee reviews and NRC inspections of Millstone
Unit 2 have identified a number of operability and design
concerns. Millstone Unit 2 shutdown on February 20, 1996,
when a potential design deficiency was identified that could
block or reduce safety injection flow during the
recirculation phase of an accident. During this shutdown,
other design discrepancies were identified in which NU had
not maintained the current design or licensing basis for
Millstone Unit 2. For example, NU's inspection of the
containment sump screen mesh revealed that debris larger than
the design value could pass through with potential adverse
consequences to the emergency core cooling systems. NU
identified that the flood protection enclosure could not be
installed on one of the service water pumps that has been
relied on for ultimate heat sink operability. Further, the
NRC identified that the post-accident containment hydrogen
monitor design was flawed in that insufficient sample flow
would be available at low containment pressures when the
monitor must be operable.
Consequently, there is a question as to whether Millstone
Unit 2 conforms to the UFSAR, license conditions, and
Commission regulations. Therefore, the NRC requires
additional information to be submitted pursuant to Section
182a of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and 10 CFR
50.54(f) in writing, under oath or affirmation, to determine
whether or not the license for Millstone Unit 2 should be
suspended, modified, or revoked. The information is to be
submitted no later than 7 days prior to Millstone Unit 2
restart (prior to criticality) from its current outage and is
to describe actions taken to ensure that future operation of
Millstone Unit 2 will be conducted in accordance with the
terms and conditions of the Millstone Unit 2 operating
license, the Commission's regulations, including 10 CFR
50.59, and the Millstone Unit 2 UFSAR.
The submittal should describe actions taken to assure that
deficiencies identified at Millstone Unit 2 based on your
ongoing review have been evaluated for operability, existence
of unreviewed safety questions, and reportabilty. In
particular, seriously degraded conditions must be reported
pursuant to 10 CFR 50.72(b)(2)(i) and 50.73(a)(2)(ii).
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.790 of the NRC's "Rules of
Practice," a copy of this letter and your responses will be
placed in the NRC Public Document Room (PDR) the Gelman
Building, 2120 L Street, NW., Washington, DC, and in the
local public document room located at the Learning Resources
Center, Three Rivers Community-Technical College, 574 New
London Turnpike, Norwich, CT 06360. The NRC also intends to
place in the PDR a copy of the 7007 Report on March 15, 1996,
unless you provide a sufficient basis to withhold this Report
by March 12, 1996. Any request for withholding must be
accompanied by a bracketed copy of the Report that identifies
the information that you seek
to have protected and a redacted copy that deletes such
information. You must provide for each portion of the
document you seek to be withheld the bases for your claim of
withholding.
Sincerely,
/s/
William T. Russell, Director
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Docket No. 50-336
cc: See next page
March 7, 1996
Mr. Robert E. Busch
President - Energy Resources Group
Northeast Utilities Service Company
P.O. Box 128
Waterford, CT 06385
Dear Mr. Busch:
On December 13, 1995, the NRC issued to Northeast Utilities
(NU) a letter requesting NU pursuant to Section 182a of the
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and 10 CFR 50.54(f) to
"describe actions taken to ensure that future operation of
Millstone Unit 1 will be conducted in accordance with the
terms and conditions of the Millstone Unit 1 operating
license, the Commission's regulations, including 10 CFR
50.59, and the Millstone Unit 1 Updated Final Safety Analysis
Report (UFSAR)." Since that time NRC has continued to
conduct inspections and investigations at the Millstone
Station to determine the state of compliance of NU nuclear
facilities with NRC requirements. As part of these efforts,
NRC has obtained a copy of an internal NU document, "ACR 7007
- Event Response Team Report" (7007 Report), dated February
22, 1996.
The Executive Summary of the 7007 Report states that an Event
Response Team was chartered to determine the causes for the
inaccuracies in the Millstone Unit 1 UFSAR. The fundamental
causes for these inaccuracies were found by this Team to
include:
- The original 1986/1987 UFSAR contained errors and
omissions;
- Administrative control programs such as Design Control,
Corrective Action, and Commitment Tracking did not fully
address regulatory requirements;
- NU did not fully implement the administrative programs.
NU did not see the UFSAR as a document that was required
to be accurate;
- Internal correspondence and events involving the design
basis from 1985 through 1996 show a pattern of
information communicated to NU management. This
information consistently identified weaknesses and risks
associated with the UFSAR and design bases. NU
management made commitments, on the docket, to correct
these deficiencies. The commitments to correct these
deficiencies were ineffective, partially implemented, or
not done;
- NU oversight did not identify this event pattern to
management, its significance, or the effectiveness of
corrective actions to prevent recurrence.
The 7007 Report further states that due to the nature of the
causes that the Team has identified, the potential exists for
the presence of similar configuration management conditions
at the Haddam Neck Plant and Millstone Unit 3. It notes that
without a sample similar to the initiatives (as a result of
the 10 CFR 50.54(f) letter of December 13, 1995) currently in
progress for Unit 1, the full implications for the Haddam
Neck Plant and Millstone Unit 3 cannot be ascertained. The
7007 Report recognizes that those efforts may be underway.
This Report also addresses Millstone Unit 2 which we are
addressing by separate letter.
NRC does not have an inspection history at Millstone Unit 3
and Haddam Neck that reveals design deficiencies similar in
number and nature to that of Millstone Units 1 and 2.
Nevertheless in view of the 7007 Report, the NRC requires
additional information to be submitted in writing, under oath
or affirmation, pursuant to Section 182a of the Atomic Energy
Act of 1954, as amended, and 10 CFR 50.54(f) to determine
whether or not the licenses of the Millstone Unit 3 and
Haddam Neck Plant should be suspended, modified, or revoked.
The information required is as follows:
Millstone Unit 3
Within 30 days from the date of this letter, provide
your actions taken to date and future plans to address
the conclusions of the 7007 Report as it pertains to
Millstone Unit 3. This should include your plans and
schedule to ensure that future operation of Millstone
Unit 3 will be conducted in accordance with the terms
and conditions of the Millstone Unit 3 operating
license, the Commission's regulations, including 10 CFR
50.59, and the Millstone Unit 3 UFSAR.
Haddam Neck Plant
Within 30 days from the date of this letter, provide
your actions taken to date and future plans to address
the conclusions of the 7007 Report as it pertains to
Haddam Neck. This should include your plans and
schedule to ensure that future operation of Haddam Neck
will be conducted in accordance with the terms and
conditions of the Haddam Neck operating license, the
Commission's regulations, including 10 CFR 50.59, and
the Haddam Neck UFSAR.
Each submittal should describe actions taken to assure that
deficiencies identified at the respective facilities based on
your ongoing reviews have been evaluated for operability,
existence of unreviewed safety questions, and reportabilty
pursuant to 10 CFR 50.72(b)(2)(i) and 50.73(a)(2)(ii).
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.790 of the NRC's "Rules of
Practice," a copy of this letter and your responses will be
placed in the NRC Public Document Room (PDR) the Gelman
Building, 2120 L Street, NW., Washington, DC, and in the
local public document room located at the Learning Resources
Center, Three Rivers Community-Technical College, 574 New
London Turnpike, Norwich, CT 06360. The NRC also intends to
place in the PDR a copy of the 7007 Report by March 15, 1996,
unless you provide a sufficient basis to withhold this Report
by March 12, 1996. Any request for withholding must be
accompanied by a bracketed copy of the Report that identifies
the information that you seek to have protected and a
redacted copy that deletes such information. You must
provide for each portion of the document you seek to be
withheld the bases for your claim of withholding.
Sincerely,
/s/
William T. Russell, Director
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Docket Nos. 50-213 and 50-423
cc: See next page
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