ML091540661

Limerick Generating Station, Units 1 and 2 - Audit of Exelon Generation Company, Llc'S Management of Regulatory Commitments (TAC Nos. ME1086 and ME1087)

ML091540661
Person / Time
Site:	Limerick
Issue date:	06/15/2009
From:	Bamford P J Plant Licensing Branch 1
To:	Pardee C G Exelon Generation Co, Exelon Nuclear
Bamford, Peter J., NRR/DORL 415-2833
References
RIS 2000-17, TAC ME1086, TAC ME1087
Download: ML091540661 (9)

See also: RIS 2000-17

Text

UNITED NUCLEAR REGULATORY

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001

June 15, 2009 Mr. Charles G. Pardee

President

and Chief Nuclear Officer Exelon Nuclear Exelon Generation Company, LLC

4300 Winfield Road Warrenville, IL 60555 LIMERICK GENERATING STATION, UNITS 1 AND 2 -

AUDIT OF EXELON

GENERATION

COMPANY, LLC'S MANAGEMENT

OF REGULATORY

COMMITMENTS (TAC NOS. ME1086 AND ME1087) Dear Mr. Pardee: In Regulatory Issue

Summary 2000-17, "Managing

Regulatory

Commitments Made by Power

Reactor Licensees to the NRC Staff," dated

September

21 J 2000, the

Nuclear Regulatory

Commission (NRC) informed licensees that the Nuclear Energy Institute (I'JEI) document NEI 99-04, "Guidelines

for Managing NRC Commitment

Changes," contains acceptable

guidance for controlling

regulatory

commitments

and encouraged

licensees to use the NEI

guidance or similar administrative

controls to ensure that regulatory

commitments

are implemented and that changes to the regulatory

commitments

are evaluated and, when appropriate, reported to the NRC. The NRC Office of

Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) has

instructed

its staff to perform an audit

of licensees'

commitment

management

programs once every 3 years to

determine

whether the licensees'

programs are consistent with the industry

guidance in NEI 99-04, and that regulatory

commitments are being

effectively

implemented. An audit of the

commitment

management program for Limerick

Generating Station (LGS), Units 1 and 2 was

performed during the period of May 11 through May 15, 2009. Based on the audit, the NRC

staff concludes that: (1) LGS had

implemented

NRC commitments on a timely basis; and (2) LGS had

implemented

an effective program for

managing !\IRC commitment changes. Details of the audit are set forth in the

enclosed audit report.

Sincerely, ,/'7. Peter Bamford, Project

Manager Plant Licensing Branch

1-2 Division of Operating

Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear

Reactor Regulation Docket Nos. 50-352 and

50-353 Enclosure: Audit Report cc w/encl: Distribution via

Listserv

UNITED NUCLEAR REGULATORY

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001

AUDIT REPORT BY THE OFFICE OF

NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION

REGULATORY

COMMITMENTS MADE BY EXELON

GENERATION COMPANY, LLC TO

THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

FOR LIMERICK GENERATING

STATION, UNITS 1 AND 2

DOCKET NOS. 50-352 AND 50-353

1.0 INTRODUCTION

AND BACKGROUND

In Regulatory

Issue Summary 2000-17, "Managing

Regulatory

Commitments Made by Power

Reactor Licensees to the NRC Staff," dated

September 21, 2000 (Agencywide

Documents

Access and Management

System (ADAMS) Accession

No. ML003741774), the Nuclear Regulatory

Commission (NRC) informed licensees that the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI)

document I\IEI99-04, "Guidelines for Managing NRC

Commitment

Changes" (ADAMS Accession

No. ML003680088)

contains acceptable

guidance for controlling

regulatory

commitments

and encouraged

licensees to use the NEI

guidance or similar administrative controls to

ensure that regulatory

commitments

are implemented and that changes to the regulatory

commitments

are evaluated and, when

appropriate, reported to the NRC. The NRC Office of

Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) has instructed

its staff to perform an audit

of licensees'

commitment

management

programs once every 3 years to

determine

whether the licensees' programs are

consistent with the industry guidance in NEI 99-04, and that regulatory

commitments are being

effectively

implemented.

NEI-99-04

defines a "regulatory

commitment" as an explicit statement to take a

specific action agreed to, or

volunteered by, a licensee and submitted in writing on the

docket to the NRC. NRR guidelines direct the NRR Project

Manager to audit the

licensee's

commitment

management program by

assessing

the adequacy of the licensee's

implementation of a sample

of commitments made to the NRC in past licensing actions (amendments, reliefs, exemptions, etc.) and

activities (bulletins, generic letters, etc.).

2.0 AUDIT PROCEDURE

AND RESULTS An audit of the

commitment

management program for Limerick

Generating Station (LGS), Units 1 and 2 was performed during the period of May 11 through May 15, 2009. The audit was performed at LGS using

documentation provided by Exelon

Generating Company, LLC (Exelon) personnel, as requested by the NRC staff.

Enclosure

-2The NRC staff reviewed

commitments made during the period

approximately 3 years prior to the audit. The audit consisted of two major parts: (1) verification of the

licensee's

implementation

of NRC commitments that have been completed and (2) verification of the

licensee's program for managing changes to NRC commitments. Verification of

Licensee's

Implementation

of NRC Commitments The primary focus of this part of the audit is to confirm that the

licensee has implemented commitments made to the NRC as part of past licensing

actions/activities.

For commitments

not yet implemented, the NRC

staff determines

whether they have been captured in an

effective program for future

implementation. Audit Scope The audit addressed a sample of

commitments made during the review period. The audit focused on regulatory

commitments (as defined above) made in writing to the NRC as a result of past licensing actions (amendments, exemptions, etc.) or licensing

activities (bulletins, generic letters, etc.). Before the audit, the NRC staff searched ADAMS for

licensee commitments associated with LGS for

verification. The review included licensing actions and licensing activities with NRC

issuance dates in 2006, 2007, 2008 and portions of 2009. The

commitments included in the review are shown in Table 1. The audit excluded the following types of commitments that are internal to

licensee processes: Commitments made on the

licensee's own initiative among internal

organizational

components. Commitments that pertain to

milestones of licensing

actions/activities (e.g., respond to an NRC request for additional information by a certain date).

Fulfillment of these commitments was indicated by the fact that the subject licensing

action/activity

was completed. Commitments made as an internal reminder to take actions to comply with existing

regulatory

requirements such as regulations, Technical

Specifications (TSs), and

Updated Final Safety Analysis Reports (UFSARs).

Fulfillment

of these commitments

was indicated by the

licensee having taken timely action in

accordance with the subject

requirements. Audit Results Table 1 provides the

specific details and results of the audit for

verification of the licensee's implementation of

commitments.

All commitments associated with licensing actions or licensing activities were verified to be

completed

or adequately tracked by the

licensee for future completion at an

appropriate

date. Verification of the

Licensee's Program for Managing NRC

Commitment

Changes The primary focus of this part of the audit is to verify that the licensee has established administrative controls for modifying or deleting

commitments made to the NRC. The NRC staff

-compared the

licensee's

process for controlling

regulatory

commitments to the guidelines

in NEI 99-04, which the NRC has found to be an

acceptable guide for

licensees

to follow for managing and changing commitments.

The process used at LGS is

contained

in licensee procedure LS-AA-11 0, Revision 6, "Commitment

Management." The audit reviewed a

sample of commitment

changes as shown in Table 2, that

included changes that were or will be reported to the NRC, and

changes that were not or will not be reported to the NRC. The

audit also verifies that the

licensee's

commitment

management

system includes a mechanism to ensure

traceability

of commitments following initial

implementation.

This ensures that licensee

personnel are able to

recognize that future

proposed changes to the affected design features or operating

practices

require evaluation

in accordance with the commitment change control process.

2.2.1 Audit Results The NRC staff reviewed the

licensee's

procedure LS-AA-11 0, Revision 6, against NEI 99-04.

Section 6.1 of the

procedure lists NEI 99-04 as a reference. The NRC

staff found that

LS-AA-110

generally follows the

guidance of NEI 99-04 and

provides detailed instructions

for making regulatory

commitments, tracking regulatory

commitments, annotating

documents

to provide traceability

of commitments, and for making

changes to commitments. The NRC staff concludes that the procedure used by the

licensee to manage

commitments

provides the necessary

attributes for an effective

commitment

management

program. Table 2 provides the specific details and results of the audit of

commitment

changes for LGS. Areas warranting

further discussion

are described

below. Attachment 2 to procedure LS-AA-11 0

contains a flowchart that is intended to match up with Figure A-1 of NEI 99-04. It was noted during the

audit that the two

flowcharts

differ slightly downstream of the "Yes" answer in decision step 3, "Original

Commitment

Necessary

for Compliance." None of the

commitments reviewed in this audit would have come to a

different

conclusion based on the

discrepancy, so it was not

judged to detract from the commitment

program's

effectiveness. No readily

apparent reason for the

discrepancy

was immediately available, so the licensee entered the issue into the

corrective action program for

evaluation (Issue Report AR

00918829). It was also noted that

commitment

change evaluation

forms sometimes contain multiple

commitments in the original

commitment

description. The NRC staff noted that this could allow

a decision block to be skipped for such a "sub-commitment." For example, commitment

tracking number T04090 evaluates the deletion of four

sub-commitments all relating to an NRC Safety

Evaluation

Report (SER) dated June 28, 1994. Since

question number 2 on the change form only contained three

answers it appeared that one of the

sub-commitments may not have been fully evaluated.

Subsequent to the site review of the

commitment program, the licensee

determined that one of the

answers applied to two

different

sub-commitments, though this was not clearly identified on the form. Since this

commitment change was reported to the NRC as part of the annual report, this

example is not consequential

or safety significant, however, the licensee agreed to

evaluate the generic implications of the potential to not fully

evaluate a commitment (Issue Report AR

00919845).

-Two commitment

change forms (T02935, T02462) did not have strong

supporting reasons for the question "Is the

changed commitment necessary to

minimize recurrence of the adverse condition." The

licensee stated that the reason for

answering

this question "No" was that the

station's

procedure

change process would ensure no recurrence. By deleting the commitment, however, no

annotation to the previous events (in this case

Licensee Event Reports (LERs>> would be retained in the

procedure, inhibiting such a review within the

procedure

change process. Thus, as written, it

appears that a "Yes" answer would have been

appropriate.

It is probable that there may be

other valid reasons not listed on the form to

answer "No" to this question in both cases. For example, commitment

change T02662 evaluates

the frequency of a High Pressure

Coolant Injection (HPCI) Turbine Stop Valve Balance

Chamber adjustment

which is done by

procedure

M-C-756-014. During the site review, licensee personnel stated that the

preventative

maintenance program would

systematically

evaluate any surveillance

frequency changes. This rationale was not listed on the form. In the second

example, commitment

change number T02462, multiple actions from a past LER were

evaluated as not necessary

to prevent recurrence

because "No changes will be made to the

process without complete review." This justification

is superficial and could be

strengthened

by specifying what step in the

procedure

change process will provide this depth of review

considering the loss of the annotation to the deleted

commitment. Alternatively, the

rationale could be changed to specify

another applicable reason that

recurrence is prevented. The

licensee wrote Issue Report

AR 00919868 to evaluate this concern, both generically and in these specific cases. 3.0 CONCLUSION As discussed above, the

licensee's

procedure used to manage commitments

provides the necessary

attributes for an effective

commitment

management program. Several

suggestions for program

improvement were made that the licensee entered into the

corrective

action program for

evaluation. The NRC staff agrees that this is the

proper response to the issues

identified.

4.0 LICENSEE PERSONNEL

CONTACTED FOR THIS AUDIT S. Gamble Principal Contributor: P.

Bamford Date: June

15, 2009

Table Written Commitments

-

LGS Submittal

Date NRC TAC No. NRC Issuance Summary of Commitment

and Licensee Tracking Number (if applicable)

Licensee Implementation

Status 07/27/2007

MD5937, MD5938 Amendment Nos. 191/152

dated OS/29/2008 Update UFSAR to

explicitly

specify Technical

Requirements

Manual information is treated at the same level as information presented in the UFSAR for the purpose of 10 CFR 50.59

evaluations. Complete -verified

incorporation

into UFSAR Rev. 14, September

2008. 10/19/2007

MD7048, MD7049 Amendment Nos. 195/156

dated 10/28/2008 Update UFSAR to specify doubling of Local Power Range Monitor

uncertainty when using increased

surveillance interval. Licensee

tracking No. T04666.

In progress -UFSAR update not due until 2010, tracking

documentation

for inclusion into next update was verified.

Procedure

changes effective

with amendment implementation, procedure NF-AB-120.

04/21/2008

MD8630, MD8631 Amendment Nos. 198/159

dated 03/23/2009

Implement new working hours

requirements specified in 10 CFR 26, subpart I, concurrently

with implementation of TS amendment to delete

references to Generic Letter (GL) 82-12. Licensee

tracking No. AR A1657834.

In progress-implementation scheduled for

10/01/2009.

04/11/2008

MD7841,

MD7842 Generic Letter 2008-01, dated

01/11/2008

Complete walkdowns of Unit 2

inaccessible piping systems during spring 2009 refueling outage (RFO).

Complete evaluations

of subject systems within 60 days following startup from 2009 RFO. Licensee

tracking No. AR A1659520

Submit supplemental response to NRC with results

of completed

evaluations within 90 days of startup from spring 2009 RFO. Licensee tracking No. AR A1659520

Complete -verified by work orders during site

audit. In-process -due 06/15/2009 In-process -due

07/12/2009'

10/14/2008

MD7841, MD7842 Generic Letter 2008-01, dated

01/11/2008 Install new vents on

HPCI/Core

Spray/Residual Heat Removal systems during 2009 RFO Complete -verified sample of completed w/o's documenting new vent additions during audit

Table Changed

Tracking Number Source Justification

for change/deletion

NRC Notification

T00713 Response to Notice of Violation (NOV)

90-13/90-12 Original GET module

superseded by fleet wide lesson plans and

computer based training.

Current Exelon procedures

ensure continued compliance.

Yes T01992 NRC Inspection Report (IR)

92-80 Motor Operated Valve program

commitments are covered by

Exelon procedures

that superseded original

procedure with the contained frequencies.

Current Exelon procedures ensure continued compliance.

Yes T04090 * I NRC SER dated June 28, 1994, Amendment Nos. 71/34 1. Drift analysis determined that drift program is covered by current corrective action program 2. Technical

specifications

have been revised to specify the 18

month surveillance

frequency 3. All refueling floor

ventilation radiation monitor

recorders

have been replaced. 4. Analysis shows no need for 3 millisecond additional margin.

Yes T02578 GL 93-01 Recommended testing from GL is not a regulatory requirement. Required testing per 10 CFR 50 Appendix E, section VI, paragraph 1 is still required by

procedure EP-AA-124, which is

subject to 10 CFR 50.54(q) evaluation.

No T03877 LER 1-95-08 Suction strainer testing is no longer required. NRC was notified and approved

cessation of suction strainer testing via safety evaluation dated

August 10, 1998.

No T03645 LER 1-95-08 Only a portion of this

commitment, which had multiple entries was deleted. The deleted portion was identical to T03877.

The commitment remains open for safety relief valve tailpipe monitoring program, which remains in place.

No

Table Changed

Tracking Source Justification

for NRC Number change/deletion

Notification

T03950 LER 2-96-003 TS have been changed to delete

No requirement

for emergency

diesel generator failure reports, thus the

procedure

references to this I trackinq are no lonqer needed.

T02289 LER 90-11 Match marking is a

standard maintenance

practice and is No I called for in

procedures 500-128 throuqh

PMQ-500-131.

T02462* LER 1-87-015 HPCI turbine stop valve balance

No chamber adjustment

is performed by procedure

M-C-756-014. Procedure review

process will ensure no recurrence.

T02935* LER 87-061

Commitment

reflects procedure

No changes made as a result of 1988

exit interview

examiner concerns.

Commitment

tracking no longer required because

procedure

review process will ensure no recurrence of condition.

T03891 Letter to NRC dated

August This commitment had two parts.

No 19, 1996. One part was a

duplicate of a separate tracked, open

commitment (T03941).

The second part reflects a UFSAR change made in the past that is no longer

applicable

after completion of the spent fuel pool

rerack. T02950 NRC IR 87-08

& 87-07 The procedure created to resolve

No this observation (not a finding or violation) from IR 87-07 response, OT-117, still exists and the

procedure/plant

change process will ensure proper actions are taken in response to

Reactor Protection System failures. A

second commitment on this form, review NUREG-0899

to ensure Procedure

Generation

Package incorporates

latest recommendations, was a completed

one-time action. * Issue Report written, see report for

description

June 15, 2009 Mr. Charles G. Pardee

President

and Chief Nuclear Officer Exelon Nuclear Exelon Generation

Company, LLC 4300 Winfield Road Warrenville, IL 60555

LIMERICK GENERATING STATION, UNITS 1 AND 2 -

AUDIT OF EXELON

GENERATION COMPANY, LLC'S

MANAGEMENT

OF REGULATORY

COMMITMENTS (TAC NOS.

ME1086AND

ME1087) Dear Mr. Pardee: In Regulatory Issue

Summary 2000-17, "Managing Regulatory

Commitments Made by Power

Reactor Licensees to the NRC Staff," dated

September

21,2000, the Nuclear Regulatory

Commission (NRC) informed licensees that the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) document NEI 99-04, "Guidelines

for Managing NRC Commitment

Changes," contains acceptable

guidance for controlling

regulatory

commitments

and encouraged

licensees to use the NEI

guidance or similar administrative controls to ensure that

regulatory

commitments

are implemented and that changes to the regulatory

commitments

are evaluated and, when appropriate, reported to the NRC. The NRC Office of

Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) has

instructed

its staff to perform an audit

of licensees'

commitment

management programs once every 3 years to

determine

whether the licensees'

programs are consistent with the industry

guidance in NEI 99-04, and that regulatory

commitments are being

effectively

implemented. An audit of the

commitment

management program for

Limerick Generating Station (LGS), Units 1 and 2 was

performed during the period of May 11 through May 15, 2009. Based on the audit, the NRC

staff concludes that: (1) LGS had

implemented

NRC commitments on a timely basis; and (2) LGS had

implemented

an effective program for

managing NRC commitment changes. Details of the audit are set forth in the enclosed audit report.

Sincerely, Ira! Peter Bamford, Project Manager Plant Licensing Branch

1-2 Division of

Operating

Reactor Licensing Office of

Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket Nos. 50-352 and

50-353 Enclosure: Audit Report cc w/encl: Distribution via

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ACCESSION

NUMBER' ML091540661

OFFICE LPL1-2/PM

LPL 1-2/LA LPL1-2/BC

NAME Pbamford Abaxter Hchernoff

DATE 6/4/09 6/10/09 6/15/09 OFFICIAL RECORD