IR 05000272/2009001

Annual Assessment Letter - Salem Nuclear Generating Station, Units 1 and 2 (05000272-09-001 and 05000311-09-001)

ML090620756
Person / Time
Site:	Salem
Issue date:	03/04/2009
From:	David Lew Division Reactor Projects I
To:	Joyce T Public Service Enterprise Group
Burritt A
References
IR-09-001
Download: ML090620756 (7)

Text

UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION REGION I 475 ALLENDALE ROAD KING OF PRUSSIA, PA 19406-1415 March 4, 2009 Mr. Thomas Joyce President and Chief Nuclear Officer

PSEG Nuclear LLC - N09

P. O. Box 236

Hancocks Bridge, NJ 08038

SUBJECT: ANNUAL ASSESSMENT LETTER - SALEM NUCLEAR GENERATING STATION, UNITS 1 AND 2 (05000272/2009001 AND 05000311/2009001)

Dear Mr. Joyce:

On February 11, 2009, the NRC staff completed its performance review of Salem Nuclear

Generating Station (Salem), Unit Nos. 1 and 2. Our technical staff reviewed performance

indicators (PIs) for the most recent quarter and inspection results for the period from January 1

through December 31, 2008. 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.

This performance review and enclosed inspection plan do not include security information. A

separate letter designated and marked as "Official Use Only--Security Information" will include

the security cornerstone review and resultant inspection plan.

Overall, Salem Unit Nos. 1 and 2 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 for the first three quarters of the assessment cycle, was within the Licensee Response

column of the NRC

=s Action Matrix, based on all inspection findings being classified as having very low safety significance (Green) and all PIs indicating performance at a level requiring no

additional NRC oversight (Green). Therefore, we plan to conduct reactor oversight process (ROP) baseline inspections at your facility.

The NRC has identified a substantive cross-cutting issue in the area of human performance with

a cross-cutting theme in the aspect of documentation and procedure adequacy (H.2(c))

1. During this assessment period, there were seven inspection findings associated with multiple

reactor safety cornerstones that were attributed to the adequacy of documents and procedures.

These inspection findings involved documents and procedures that did not incorporate

appropriate design basis information, lessons l earned from available operating experience, or steps needed to ensure successful completion.

During the 2007 assessment period (ML080610006)

2 , the NRC had identified a cross-cutting theme associated with documents and procedure adequacy. At that time, the staff determined

that a substantive cross-cutting issue did not exist, because you recognized that the

1 This is a descriptor that correlates to this cross-cutting aspect in Inspection M anual Chapter 0305, "Operating Reactor Assess ment Program." 2 Designation in parentheses refers to an AD AMS ascension number. Documents referenced in this letter are publicly available using the ascension number in ADAMS. cross-cutting theme affected multiple areas, and you took or scheduled appropriate corrective

actions. However, during the 2008 assessment period, we are concerned that the actions you

have taken have not yet proven effective in subst antially mitigating this cross-cutting theme, as indicated by an increase in the number of findings with the same causal factor. Furthermore, four of the seven findings involved recent procedure reviews or revisions during which

procedural adequacy issues were not identified and corrected.

We will monitor your progress in this area through the baseline inspection program, including

completion of a problem identification and resolution inspection sample to review your progress

in this area, in accordance with Inspection Procedure 71152, A Identification and Resolution of Problems.@ The NRC will clear this substantive cross-cutting issue when PSEG has demonstrated sustainable performance improvement as evidenced by effective implementation

of an appropriate corrective action plan that results in no safety significant inspection findings

and a notable reduction in the overall number of inspection findings with the same causal factor.

The enclosed inspection plan details the inspections, less those related to physical protection

scheduled through June 30, 2010. The inspection plan is provided to allow for the resolution of

any scheduling conflicts and personnel availability issues well in advance of inspector arrival

onsite. Routine resident inspections are not listed due to their ongoing and continuous nature.

The inspections in the last nine months of the inspection plan are tentative and may be revised

at the mid-cycle review.

In accordance with 10 CFR 2.390 of the NRC

=s A 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 Avail able 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).

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 Mr. Arthur Burritt of my staff at

610-337-5069 with any questions you may have regarding this letter or the inspection plan.

Sincerely,

/RA

David C. Lew, Director

Division of Reactor Projects

Docket Nos. 50-272, 50-311

License Nos. DPR-70, DPR-75

Enclosure: Salem Nuclear Generating Station Inspection/Activity Plan

cc w/encl:

W. Levis, President and Chief Operating Officer, PSEG Power

R. Braun, Site Vice President

P. Davison, Director of Nuclear Oversight

E. Johnson, Director of Finance

G. Gellrich, Salem Plant Manager