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NRC NEWS
U. S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, REGION I
475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pa. 19406 | | CONTACT: |
Diane Screnci (610)337-5330/ e-mail: dps@nrc.gov
Neil A. Sheehan (610)337-5331/e-mail: nas@nrc.gov |
or vld@nrc.gov
I-96-50
Contact: Diane Screnci FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Victor Dricks July 26, 1996
NRC STAFF PROPOSES TO FINE BALTIMORE GAS & ELECTRIC CO.
$50,000 FOR ALLEGED VIOLATIONS AT CALVERT CLIFFS
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has proposed a
$50,000 fine against Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. (BG&E) for
violations of NRC fire protection requirements at its Calvert
Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in Lusby, Maryland.
NRC bases this action on two violations found during an
inspection conducted May 8-10.
One violation was BG&E's failure, before an inspection
in 1992, to implement a plan for limiting damage to equipment
in one emergency switchgear room if a fire should occur in
another similar room. (Both rooms, which contain equipment
needed for safe shutdown of the plant, share a ventilation
system with common ducting and fire dampers.)
The second violation involved BG&E's failure to verify
adequately the corrective actions it took after the matter
was brought to its attention in the 1992 inspection. The
utility did not verify its corrective actions by detailed
analysis until May of this year.
In a letter to BG&E officials, NRC Region I
Administrator Thomas T. Martin said: "[T]he violations
represent a breakdown in the control of licensed activities
that collectively represent a potentially significant lack of
attention toward licensed responsibilities which resulted in
your failure, for an extended period of time, to demonstrate
that the safe shutdown equipment criteria had been met."
The $50,000 proposed fine is the base civil penalty for
this level of violation. The company has 30 days to either
pay the proposed fine or to request in writing that part, or
all of it be withdrawn. It also has 30 days to admit or
deny the alleged violations.
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