IR 05000391/2013606

Mid-Cycle Assessment Letter - Watts Bar Nuclear Plant Unit 2 (NRC Inspection Report 05000391/2013606)

ML13246A462
Person / Time
Site:	Watts Bar
Issue date:	09/03/2013
From:	Munday J T NRC/RGN-II/DCP
To:	Skaggs M D Tennessee Valley Authority
Michelle Adams
References
IR-13-006
Download: ML13246A462 (10)

Text

September 3, 2013

Mr. Michael Senior Vice President Nuclear Construction Tennessee Valley Authority 6A Lookout Place 1101 Market Street Chattanooga, TN 37402-2801

SUBJECT: MID-CYCLE ASSESSMENT LETTER - WATTS BAR NUCLEAR PLANT UNIT 2 (NRC INSPECTION REPORT 05000391/2013606)

Dear Mr. Skaggs:

On August 12, 2013, the U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff completed its performance review of the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant (WBN) Unit 2 construction project. Our technical staff reviewed inspection results for the period from July 1, 2012, through June 30, 2013. The purpose of this letter is to inform you of our assessment of your safety performance during this period and our plans for future inspections at your facility. During the most recent quarter the NRC identified three violations associated with your commercial grade dedication program that were characterized as a Severity Level III problem in accordance with the NRC's Enforcement Policy and assessed a $70,000 Civil Penalty. These violations are described in Inspection Report 05000391/2013614, dated June 18, 2013 (ADAMS Accession Number ML 13169A030). Consistent with the guidance in Inspection Manual Chapter 2517, Watts Bar 2 Construction Inspection Program, which defines a Severity Level III violation as a significant performance issue, the NRC plans to increase inspections for WBN Unit 2. Specifically, the NRC plans to perform an additional inspection using the guidance in Inspection Procedure 92702, Follow-up on Traditional Enforcement Actions including Violations, Deviations, Confirmatory Action Letters, Confirmatory Orders and Alternate Dispute Resolution Confirmatory Orders. This inspection will review your corrective actions to these violations to verify that your commercial grade dedication program is in compliance with regulations and that the corrective actions were adequate to prevent recurrence. Because planning for this inspection is continuing, we have not yet scheduled the inspection. Once the date for this inspection date is identified, we will inform your staff.

During the first three quarters of the assessment period, and in the 4th quarter with the exception noted above, WBN Unit 2 construction activities were generally conducted in a manner that complied with the Commission's rules and regulations, the conditions of your construction permit, and the Unit 2 regulatory framework commitments. Overall, the corrective action program implementation activities, including initiation, classification, disposition, and trending were deemed satisfactory. This overall conclusion was based on the results of the annual Problem Identification and Resolution (PI&R) team inspection, focus sample PI&R inspections, and the ongoing assessment of your corrective action program as part of routine inspections. No Substantive Cross-Cutting Issues were identified during this period. The NRC staff expended a large effort toward the WBN Unit 2 project during the 12-month Mid-Cycle Assessment period. Specifically, the Region II office has spent over 12,000 hours0 days <br />0 hours <br />0 weeks <br />0 months <br /> performing inspections, assessments, public meetings, allegation follow-up, and inspection program support for WBN Unit 2. The NRC staff anticipates this level of effort will increase over the next 12-month assessment cycle as WBN Unit 2 construction activities continue and pre-operational testing is performed on additional safety-related systems.

As a result of reviewing your construction schedule and through interaction with your staff, the enclosed inspection plan contains those projected inspection activities that we have currently identified. Many of the inspections listed in the enclosed inspection plan were scheduled based on information your staff provided to the NRC. This information involved dates for completion of construction activities that would be subject to the corresponding NRC inspections. Therefore, it is crucial that you keep us apprised of any changes to the scheduled completion dates, in order to maintain our inspection plan current. As additional details of your project schedule become available, we will plan other inspections specified in IMC 2517. Your staff will be given ample notification of changes to upcoming inspection activities or newly identified inspections as they become finalized in order to allow for the resolution of any scheduling conflicts and personnel availability. Routine inspections performed by the resident staff are not listed on the inspection plan due to their ongoing and continuous nature. As you begin preoperational testing, the NRC will implement IMC 2313, Light Water Reactor Inspection Program - Preoperational Testing and Operational Preparedness Phase. We have not listed preoperational testing inspections in the enclosed inspection plan due to likelihood that the inspection dates will changes as adjustments to your preoperational testing schedule occur. In accordance with 10 CFR 2.390 of the NRC's "Rules of Practice," a copy of this letter and its enclosure will be available electronically for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room or from the Publicly Available Records (PARS) component of NRC's document system (ADAMS). ADAMS is accessible from the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html (the Public Electronic Reading Room). Please contact Robert Haag at (404) 997-4446 with any questions you may have regarding this letter or our planned inspections.

Sincerely,/RA/ Joel T. Munday, Director Division of Construction Projects Docket No. 50-391 Construction Permit No: CPPR-92

Enclosure:

Watts Bar Unit 2 Inspection Plan

cc w/encl: (See next page)