IR 05000271/2002001

2002 Annual Assessment Letter - Vermont Yankee (Report 50-271/02-001)

ML020630400
Person / Time
Site:	Vermont Yankee File:NorthStar Vermont Yankee icon.png
Issue date:	03/04/2002
From:	Anderson C NRC/RGN-I/DRP/PB5
To:	Balduzzi M Vermont Yankee
References
IR-02-001
Download: ML020630400 (6)

Text

March 4, 2002

SUBJECT:

ANNUAL ASSESSMENT LETTER - VERMONT YANKEE (REPORT 50-271/02-001)

Dear Mr. Balduzzi:

On January 30, 2002, the NRC staff completed its end-of-cycle plant performance assessment of Vermont Yankee. The end-of-cycle review for Vermont Yankee involved the participation of all technical divisions in evaluating performance indicators (PIs) for the most recent quarter and inspection results for the period from April 1 through December 31, 2001. 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 so that you will have an opportunity to prepare for these inspections and to inform us of any planned inspections which may conflict with your plant activities.

As discussed in our previous annual assessment letter dated May 31, 2001, this inspection and assessment cycle consisted of three quarters (i.e., the second, third, and fourth calendar quarters of calendar year 2001) instead of the usual four quarters. This change was implemented in order to align the inspection and assessment cycle with the calendar year beginning on January 1, 2002.

Overall, Vermont Yankee operated in a manner that preserved public health and safety and fully met all cornerstone objectives. Plant performance for the most recent quarter, as well as the first two quarters of the assessment cycle, was within the Licensee Response Column of the NRCs Action Matrix, based on all inspection findings being classified as having very low safety significance (Green) and all Performance Indicators being at levels requiring no additional NRC oversight (Green). However, the significance of an inspection finding associated with an Operational Safeguards Response Evaluation (OSRE) conducted during the week of August 20, 2001, is still under review as part of the Significance Determination Process. Specifically, on November 28, 2001, the NRC provided its preliminary assessment of the OSRE results, which indicated that response strategy weaknesses discovered during the conduct of force-on-force exercises had "substantial safety significance" (Yellow).

Michael In a letter dated November 21, 2001, you confirmed your commitment to continue the compensatory measures that had been taken promptly during the OSRE to address the weaknesses, as well as additional actions taken in response to NRC Safeguards Threat Advisories issued following the September 11 terrorist attacks. When a final significance determination is completed for this finding, a change to our performance assessment, as well as the need for scheduling supplemental inspections or other NRC actions, may be warranted. If so, an Assessment Follow-Up Letter will forward our assessment results and necessary changes to the inspection plans. Therefore, until that determination is made, we plan to conduct only baseline inspections at your facility through March 31, 2003.

Immediately following the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the NRC issued safeguards advisories recommending that nuclear power plant licensees go to the highest level of security, and all promptly did so. With continued uncertainty about the possibility of additional terrorist activities, the Nation's nuclear power plants, including Vermont Yankee, remain at a high level of security. On February 25, 2002, the NRC issued an Order to all nuclear power plant licensees, requiring them to take certain additional interim compensatory measures to address the generalized high-level threat environment. These additional compensatory requirements will provide the NRC with reasonable assurance that public health and safety and the common defense and security continue to be adequately protected in the current generalized high-level threat environment. These requirements will remain in effect pending notification from the Commission that a significant change in the threat environment occurs, or until the Commission determines that other changes are needed following a more comprehensive re-evaluation of current safeguards and security programs. To date, we have monitored Vermont Yankee actions in response to the terrorist attacks through a series of audits. With the issuance of the Order, we will evaluate Vermont Yankees compliance with these interim requirements.

The enclosed inspection plan details the inspections scheduled through March 31, 2003. The inspection plan is provided to minimize the resource impact on your staff and to allow for scheduling conflicts and personnel availability to be resolved in advance of inspector arrival onsite. Routine resident inspections are not listed due to their ongoing and continuous nature.

The schedule for the last six months of the inspection plan is tentative and may be revised at the Mid-Cycle Review meeting.

In accordance with 10 CFR 2.790 of the NRCs Rules of Practice, a copy of this letter and its enclosure will be made 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/NRC/ADAMS/index.html (the Public Electronic Reading Room).

Michael If circumstances arise which cause us to change this inspection plan, we will contact you to discuss the change as soon as possible. Please contact me at (610) 337-5227 with any questions you may have regarding this letter or the inspection plan.

Sincerely,

/RA/

Clifford Anderson, Chief Projects Branch 5 Division of Reactor Projects Docket No. 50-271 Licensee No. DPR-28 Enclosure: Vermont Yankee Inspection/Activity Plan cc w/encl:

M. Hamer, Operating Experience Coordinator - Vermont Yankee G. Sen, Licensing Manager, Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corporation D. Tefft, Administrator, Bureau of Radiological Health, State of New Hampshire Chief, Safety Unit, Office of the Attorney General, Commonwealth of Massachusetts D. Lewis, Esquire G. Bisbee, Esquire J. Block, Esquire T. Rapone, Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety D. Katz, Citizens Awareness Network (CAN)

M. Daley, New England Coalition on Nuclear Pollution, Inc. (NECNP)

R. Shadis, New England Coalition Staff State of New Hampshire, SLO Designee State of Vermont, SLO Designee Commonwealth of Massachusetts, SLO Designee

Distribution w/encl:

H. Miller, RA J. Wiggins, DRA A. Blough, DRP B. Holian, DRP W. Lanning, DRS R. Crlenjak, DRS T. Bergman, RI EDO Coordinator C. Anderson, DRP R. Summers, DRP P. Bonnett, DRP E. Adensam, NRR (ridsnrrdlpmlpdi)

D. Starkey, Backup PM, NRR R. Pulsifer, PM, NRR (Backup)

RidsNrrDipmlipb B. McDermott, SRI - Vermont Yankee R. Junod, DRP D. Screnci, PAO N. Sheehan, PAO DRS Branch Chiefs (5)

B. Norris, DRS J. Furia, DRS P. Frechette, DRS D. Silk, DRS Region I Docket Room (with concurrences)

DOCUMENT NAME: G:\\BRANCH5\\REV 6 EOC Letter VY02-001LRC.WPD After declaring this document An Official Agency Record it will/will not be released to the Public. To receive a copy of this document, indicate in the box: "C" = Copy without attachment/enclosure "E" = Copy with attachment/enclosure "N" = No copy OFFICE RI/DRP RI/DRP RI/DRP NAME RSummers CAnderson/CA ABlough/AB DATE 03/ /02 03/1/02 03/1/02 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY

Vermont Yankee Inspection / Activity Plan 12/30/2001 - 03/31/2003 Inspection Type Inspection Activity Planned Dates Start End No. of Staff on Site Title Unit Number Page 1 of 2 02/28/2002 12:16:41 Report 22

71121

- OCC RAD SAFETY Baseline Inspections 01/07/2002 01/11/2002 Access Control to Radiologically Significant Areas IP 7112101

Baseline Inspections 01/07/2002 01/11/2002 ALARA Planning and Controls IP 7112102

Baseline Inspections 01/07/2002 01/11/2002 Radiation Monitoring Instrumentation IP 7112103

1 71130

- SECURITY Baseline Inspections 03/25/2002 03/29/2002 Access Authorization Program (Behavior Observation Only)

IP 7113001

Baseline Inspections 03/25/2002 03/29/2002 Access Control (Search of Personnel, Packages, and Vehicles: Identification and Authorization)

IP 7113002

1 71114

- EP PRG REVIEW & EP PI VERIFICATION Baseline Inspections 04/08/2002 04/12/2002 Alert and Notification System Testing IP 7111402

Baseline Inspections 04/08/2002 04/12/2002 Emergency Response Organization Augmentation Testing IP 7111403

Baseline Inspections 04/08/2002 04/12/2002 Emergency Action Level and Emergency Plan Changes IP 7111404

Baseline Inspections 04/08/2002 04/12/2002 Correction of Emergency Preparedness Weaknesses and Deficiencies IP 7111405

Baseline Inspections 04/08/2002 04/12/2002 Performance Indicator Verification IP 71151

1 71121

- OCC RAD SAFETY Baseline Inspections 04/22/2002 04/26/2002 Access Control to Radiologically Significant Areas IP 7112101

Baseline Inspections 04/22/2002 04/26/2002 ALARA Planning and Controls IP 7112102

Baseline Inspections 04/22/2002 04/26/2002 Radiation Monitoring Instrumentation IP 7112103

6 7111121

- SSDI Baseline Inspections 05/20/2002 05/24/2002 Safety System Design and Performance Capability IP 7111121

Baseline Inspections 06/03/2002 06/07/2002 Safety System Design and Performance Capability IP 7111121

2 7111111B

- L.O. REQUALIFICATION PROGRAM Baseline Inspections 06/16/2002 06/20/2002 Licensed Operator Requalification IP 7111111B

Baseline Inspections 07/15/2002 07/19/2002 Licensed Operator Requalification IP 7111111B

3 8/12 EXM

- OPERATOR LICENSING INITIAL EXAMS Not Applicable 07/17/2002 07/19/2002 VERMONT YANKEE, INITIAL EXAM (8/12-16/02)

U01490

Not Applicable 08/12/2002 08/16/2002 VERMONT YANKEE, INITIAL EXAM (8/12-16/02)

U01490

1 71121

- OCC RAD SAFETY Baseline Inspections 08/26/2002 08/30/2002 Access Control to Radiologically Significant Areas IP 7112101

Baseline Inspections 08/26/2002 08/30/2002 ALARA Planning and Controls IP 7112102

Baseline Inspections 08/26/2002 08/30/2002 Radiation Monitoring Instrumentation IP 7112103

Baseline Inspections 08/26/2002 08/30/2002 Performance Indicator Verification IP 71151

1 7112201

- PUB RAD SAFETY - RETS Baseline Inspections 09/30/2002 10/04/2002 Radioactive Gaseous and Liquid Effluent Treatment and Monitoring Systems IP 7112201

This report does not include INPO and OUTAGE activities.

This report shows only on-site and announced inspection procedures.

Vermont Yankee Inspection / Activity Plan 12/30/2001 - 03/31/2003 Inspection Type Inspection Activity Planned Dates Start End No. of Staff on Site Title Unit Number Page 2 of 2 02/28/2002 12:16:41 Report 22

71121

- OCC RAD SAFETY Baseline Inspections 10/14/2002 10/18/2002 Access Control to Radiologically Significant Areas IP 7112101

Baseline Inspections 10/14/2002 10/18/2002 ALARA Planning and Controls IP 7112102

Baseline Inspections 10/14/2002 10/18/2002 Radiation Monitoring Instrumentation IP 7112103

1 7111108

- INSERVICE INSPECTION Baseline Inspections 10/14/2002 10/18/2002 Inservice Inspection Activities IP 7111108

1 7111107B

- HEAT SINK Baseline Inspections 11/19/2002 11/23/2002 Heat Sink Performance IP 7111107B

1 71121

- OCC RAD SAFETY Baseline Inspections 01/27/2003 01/31/2003 Access Control to Radiologically Significant Areas IP 7112101

Baseline Inspections 01/27/2003 01/31/2003 ALARA Planning and Controls IP 7112102

Baseline Inspections 01/27/2003 01/31/2003 Radiation Monitoring Instrumentation IP 7112103

1 71130

- SECURITY Baseline Inspections 03/10/2003 03/14/2003 Access Authorization Program (Behavior Observation Only)

IP 7113001

Baseline Inspections 03/10/2003 03/14/2003 Access Control (Search of Personnel, Packages, and Vehicles: Identification and Authorization)

IP 7113002

This report does not include INPO and OUTAGE activities.

This report shows only on-site and announced inspection procedures.