ML20138L485

Provides Background Info Re Status of Events Leading to Shutdown of Unit 1 & Delay in Refueling of Unit 2 & Current Effort Underway to Resolve Identified Deficiencies in Matl Condition & Human Performance

ML20138L485
Person / Time
Site:	LaSalle
Issue date:	01/13/1997
From:	Subalusky W COMMONWEALTH EDISON CO.
To:	Beach A NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION III)
References
NUDOCS 9702240265
Download: ML20138L485 (3)

Text

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Mr. A. Bill Beach, Regional Administrator DNMS PAO l

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission; Region ill (y g 801 Warrenville Road Lisle, Illinois G0532-4351 RLE he i

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Dear Mr. Beach:

This letter is in follow up to my letter dated December 30,1996.

i The purpose of this letter is to provide background information regarding the status of LaSalle County Station, events leading to the shutdown of Unit 1 and delaying the refueling of Unit 2, and the current effort underway to resolve identified deficiencies in j

i material condition and human performance.

On September 22,1996, a sticking servo caused a Unit 1 turbine valve to fail open.

4 Rather than trouble shoot the servo on line, LaSalle Management under my direction as the new Site Vice President, made a decision to shut Unit 1 down for repairs.

Subsequently, on September 24,1996, the NRC inspection of LaSalle's Service Water System raised concerns regarding the operability of a Residual Heat Removal Service Water heat exchanger. Based on LaSalle's preliminary review, Unit 1 was place in cold shutdown on September 26,1996 pending resolution of this issue.

Since that time, through continuing self-assessment and the setting of higher expectations at LaSalle, a number of issues have been identified for resolution. LaSalle Management has made the determination to not restart either unit until the issues with material condition, operator performance and engineering support of the plant are resolved.

The following are examples of actions being taken at LaSalle to address the issues referred to above before restart of Unit 1:

We are performing functional performance reviews of systems important to safe and reliable operations to identify any deficiencies that may need correction prior to startup. These reviews include comparing functional performance to the Design Basis. We have essentially completed 5 of these reviews and are expanding the scope of the reviews as needed, depending on conditions found.

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e e of LaSalle County Station (cont'd)

Page 2 of 3 The final scope may include as many as twenty-eight (28) reviews encompassing selected portions of forty-one (41) systems in each unit. Risk significance is a key factor in selecting these systems. This effort will also include selected functional testing of these systems to confirm performance capabilities. We embarked on these reviews based on recognition in late October of several design implementation and configuration control problems in the ventilation systems for the main control room and the adjacent auxiliary electric equipment room, and in the essential service water systems.

Concurrent with the above reviews, we are performing reviews to identify modifications that may have been performed outside of the design change process. These willinclude selected reviews of maintenance records, walkdowns of selected mechanical systems, review of functional testing results considering potential unauthorized modifications, and design configuration walkdowns of seismic supports in one safety-related mechanical system.

The backlogs of Engineering Reports, Problem Identification forms, Root

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Cause determinations, Corrective Actions, Action Requests and Work Requests are being reviewed to assess the importance of the items for resolution prior to restart.

Our review of the material condition of the plant has identified the need to complete a large scope of maintenance activities, including inspection and replacement of approximately 1100 GE SBM control switches in both units, and replacement of about one-half of the control rod drive scram solenoid pilot valves in Unit 1 which will reach the end of the vendor recommended in service life in late 1997.

Our review of the Operations area indicates a need for additional training of operating personnel, including high intensity simulator training and using mentors for the shift managers. Training materials and methods are being reviewed and improved to support this training including clarification of instructor expectations, assessing the quality of training instructors and review and upgrading of training scenarios.

The need for improvement in our corrective action program has been identified. Action is being taken with particular focus on improving root cause determination, and achieving effective corrective action implementation.

The number of operator work-arounds, temporary alterations, and control room deficiencies that challenge our operators are being reduced.

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LaSalle County Station (cont'd)

Page 3 of 3 Improvements in the work management process are underway with particular emphasis on scope identification and control, and preparation of satisfactory work packages for field execution.

We are focusing improvements on human performance with emphasis on communication across the management ranks and vertically throughout the j

organization.

LaSalle Unit 2 was shut down on September 20,1996, for its scheduled 7th refueling outage. Actions taken to improve Unit 1 will be evaluated for applicability to Unit 2 prior to its restart.

As you are aware, we are continuing to strengthen our self assessment capabilities, including our recent use of an Independent Self-Assessment (ISA) team. These reviews were conducted at Zion on November 1,1996 through November 22,1996, and at LaSalle on December 3,1996 through December 13,1996. Although the team did not identify any issues at either station that we had not already intended to address in our improvement plans, they confirmed the weaknesses previously identified at Zion and LaSalle and provided insight that will be valuable in addressing those problems. The team's written report is scheduled to be completed in January,1997, and public meetings to discuss the results and sites' corrective actions will be held in February, 1997. We intend to use the ISA results as one of a number of inputs to our plans to improve performance at Zion and LaSalle, and we intend to share those plans with you.

We also are using the ISA team's remarks as a catalyst for positive change through all levels of our organization.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me at (815) 357-6761, extension 3600.

l Sincerely, i

N W. T. Subalusky ( 3

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Site Vice President LaSalle County Nuclear Station