TURKEY POINT NUCLEAR PLANT – INTEGRATED INSPECTION REPORT - Potential White Finding
by Bob Meyer
On January 27, 2012, the NRC notified Florida Power and Light Company Senior VP, Mr. Mano Nazar of the two findings, one of which may be determined to be a white finding.
Violation #1: A self-revealing non-cited violation of 10 CFR 50 Criterion XVI was identified when the licensee failed to repair a degraded butterfly valve in the Unit 3 intake cooling water system. On August 11, 2011, failure of this valve led to a loss of intake cooling water (ICW) flow to the component cooling water heat exchangers. The licensee documented the failure in their corrective action program as AR 01680272 and initiated a cause investigation.
The inspectors determined that the cause of this finding was related to the Problem Identification and Resolution cross cutting area when the licensee failed to take appropriate corrective action to address safety issues (valve fluttering) in a timely manner, commensurate with the safety significance. Potential White Violation: The licensee identified an Apparent Violation (AV) of 10 CFR Part 50.54(q), for failure to follow and maintain in effect emergency plans which require that adequate emergency facilities and equipment to support the emergency response are provided and maintained. Specifically, during the periods from December 4, 2010 to July 13, 2011, and from October 10 to October 28, 2011, the licensee failed to maintain a fully functional Technical Support Center when portions of its ventilation system were removed from service without compensatory measures. As a result, had the facility been required, personnel assigned to respond in the TSC would not have been protected from radiological hazards that would occur in some accidents. The finding was more than minor because it affected the Emergency Preparedness Cornerstone objective of ensuring that the licensee is capable of implementing adequate measures to protect the health and safety of the public in the event of a radiological emergency. The cause of the finding is related to the Problem Identification and Resolution cross-cutting area, in that the licensee did not thoroughly evaluate problems with the TSC ventilation system as necessary, including properly classifying, prioritizing, and evaluating for operability and reportability, conditions adverse to quality. (TBD): The inspectors identified an Apparent Violation of 10 CFR 50.72(b)(3)(xiii) when a major loss of emergency assessment capability was not reported to the NRC within 8 hours. The TSC ventilation system was identified as being in a degraded condition from December 4, 2010 until July 13, 2011, affecting the habitability of the TSC for emergency responders, and the occurrence was not reported. The issue was identified to the licensee by the inspectors after review of NRC Event Notification 47387. The finding was more than minor because it impacted the NRC’s regulatory process, which relies on certain events being properly reported to the NRC. Because this finding impacted the regulatory process, it was evaluated using traditional enforcement and is being considered for escalated enforcement action in accordance with NRC’s Enforcement Policy.
