Number range CHAPTER

**NRC INSPECTION MANUAL** IRIB

INSPECTION PROCEDURE 93800

AUGMENTED INSPECTION TEAM

PROGRAM APPLICABILITY: 2515, 2201

93800-01 INSPECTION OBJECTIVE

01.01 The inspection objective is to assess an event and its causes with
an Augmented Inspection Team (AIT). An AIT is the event assessment
response assigned by the NRC in accordance with Inspection Manual
Chapter (IMC) 0309, "Reactive Inspection Decision Basis for Reactors."
The inspection is conducted based on this procedure and an inspection
charter.

> Note: Management Directive 8.3, \"NRC Incident Investigation
> Program,\" defines the authorities, responsibilities, and basic
> requirements for personnel investigating significant operational
> events. Management Directive 8.3 also characterizes the differences
> between an AIT, Incident Investigation Team (IIT), and a Special
> Inspection.

93800-02 INSPECTION REQUIREMENTS

02.01 [AIT Leader]{.underline}

a.  Acts as the supervisor of the AIT.

b.  Provides input to development of AIT charter. The charter should
    include an item to review lessons learned from the AIT and, when
    appropriate, prepare a feedback form on recommendations for
    improving reactor oversight process (ROP) baseline inspection
    procedures.

c.  Conducts an entrance meeting with the licensee to discuss the
    purpose and scope of the AIT response, and to:

    1.  Obtain the licensee\'s understanding of the event (including
        operator actions and the performance of safety systems).

    2.  Request licensee assistance in scheduling interviews, obtaining
        information related to the event, and, if needed, assisting in
        inspection activities related to the event.

    3.  Discuss the quarantined equipment list, as appropriate, and the
        procedure for changing it.

d.  Before the end of the first day on site:

    1.  Provides a recommendation to the Regional Administrator as to
        whether the AIT inspection should continue, be upgraded to an
        IIT response or be downgraded to a Special Inspection. If
        appropriate, this recommendation may be made later in the
        inspection.

    2.  Prepares and transmits a Preliminary Notification (PN) report to
        the Regional Administrator for distribution.

e.  Prepares supplemental PN reports and/or regional morning report
    inputs when there is significant new information to report to keep
    management informed of significant facts, findings, and progress of
    the inspection.

f.  Conducts an exit meeting with the licensee to:

    1.  Summarize the AIT inspection effort.

    2.  As appropriate, discuss preliminary findings, observations, or
        issues resulting from the AIT.

g.  Manages the AIT effort in fact-finding and analysis to meet the
    objectives of the AIT charter. Important information will include
    the details of what occurred during the event and the causes and
    contributing factors to the event.

h.  Establishes guidelines for team members to document their inspection
    activities for the final report.

i.  Prepares a report for signature by the Regional Administrator
    documenting the findings of the AIT. May direct the AIT members to
    remain together, either at the inspection site or at the Regional
    Office, to facilitate the preparation of the AIT report.

j.  Meets with regional management to discuss the AIT recommendation(s)
    for staff followup based on the findings of the AIT report, and
    assists in coordinating the transfer of responsibility for followup
    actions. See Section 93800-04 for resource allocation for followup
    inspections.

02.02 [AIT Members]{.underline}

a.  Report directly to the AIT leader. Team members are assigned to the
    AIT until released by the team leader.

b.  Conduct a timely, thorough and systematic inspection of significant
    operational events at facilities licensed by the NRC, under the
    supervision of the AIT leader. In so doing, team members shall:

    1.  Assess the significance of the event under the guidance of the
        AIT leader.

    2.  Collect, analyze and document factual information and evidence
        as directed by the AIT leader.

    3.  Evaluate the adequacy of licensee response to an event under the
        guidance of the AIT leader.

c.  Remain together after the inspection, at the discretion of the AIT
    leader, for the purpose of preparing the AIT report.

93800-03 INSPECTION GUIDANCE

03.01 [Scope of AIT Response]{.underline}. The following guidance should
not be construed as limiting AIT authority to pursue all pertinent
aspects of an event. However, safety (or regulatory) concerns raised
that may or may not be directly related to the event under consideration
should be reported to Headquarters and/or Regional Office management for
appropriate action.

a.  Identify generic safety concerns in a timely manner to the regional
    management who will initiate follow-up actions. Recommendations for
    immediate follow-up actions, such as issuance of Information
    Notices, Generic Letters, or Bulletins, shall also be made through
    the normal organizational structure and procedures.

b.  Emphasize fact finding, i.e., fully understanding the circumstances
    surrounding an event and probable cause(s), including conditions
    preceding the event, event chronology, systems response, equipment
    performance, event precursors, human factors considerations, quality
    assurance considerations, radiological considerations, safeguards
    considerations*, and safety culture component considerations (as
    defined in IMC 0305, paragraphs 06.07c. and d.).* \[C1\] Determine
    whether the licensee had failed to adequately implement generic
    communications, such as Information Notices, Generic Letters, and
    Bulletins.

c.  Base the fact-finding effort on the most timely, reliable evidential
    material, including interviews and other documented material related
    to the event previously obtained by internal audit or investigative
    groups.

d.  It is not the responsibility of an AIT to:

    1.  Examine the regulatory process (to determine whether that
        process contributed directly to the cause or course of the
        event).

    2.  Determine whether NRC rules or requirements were violated, or
        recommend enforcement actions. Inspectors may evaluate and
        document inspection findings in accordance with IMC 0612, "Power
        Reactor Inspection Reports," provided that this does not
        interfere with fulfillment of the team's charter.

    3.  Evaluate risk significance of findings, using Significance
        Determination Process.

    4.  Address licensee actions related to plant restart.

    5.  Address the applicability of generic safety concerns to other
        facilities.

03.02 [Documentation]{.underline}. AITs should be documented in
accordance with IMC 0612, except as follows. The forwarding letter
should briefly describe the event or degraded condition. The body of the
report should have the following outline:

a.  Description and chronology of event or degraded condition.

b.  Probable contributing causes of the event or degraded condition,
    where applicable:

    1.  Equipment failures

    2.  Human factor and procedural issues

    3.  Quality assurance issues

    4.  Radiological issues

    5.  Security or safeguards issues

    6.  *Safety culture component issues* \[C1\]

Item a. should be documented in a narrative form and not in the IMC 0612
format regarding inspection scope and findings. Items b.1 through 6
potentially include findings, and should be in the IMC 0612 format
regarding inspection scope and findings. Due to the sensitive nature of
AITs, areas where no findings are identified should be documented in
greater detail than required by IMC 0612.

*The results of this inspection should be used to later identify any ROP
findings and document their significance using SDP. The results of this
inspection may be used to inform a subsequent supplemental inspection
(95001, 95002, or 95003) based on the final significance determination
of any findings associated with the event. The AIT leader should provide
any information on potential contributing factors, including safety
culture component issues to the team leader of any related supplemental
inspection.* \[C1\]

03.03 [Communications]{.underline}

a.  [The AIT leader]{.underline}. When the chronology and circumstances
    of the event are more clearly understood, the AIT leader is
    encouraged to maintain communications with cognizant personnel from
    the Regional Office, NRR or NMSS, and NSIR (Division of Preparedness
    and Response) to:

    1.  provide a first-hand update of the event

    2.  respond to any questions

    3.  discuss the appropriateness of the AIT response

93800-04 INSPECTION RESOURCES

The AIT Leader is either a non-SES manager or a qualified team leader.
Team expertise is based upon the nature of the event, as well as the
uncertainty of influential assumptions affecting risk significance of
the event. AITs are augmented by personnel from Headquarters, other
regions, or contractors with technical qualifications to complement the
regional expertise. Follow up actions for the AIT should be charged to
baseline inspections, as appropriate. If no baseline inspections are
appropriate, follow up inspections should be charged to another
inspection report under IP 93800.

93800-05 REFERENCES

Management Directive 8.3, "NRC Incident Investigation Procedures"

NUREG 1303, "Incident Investigation Manual"

Inspection Manual Chapter 0305, "Operating Reactor Assessment Program"

Inspection Manual Chapter 0309, "Reactive Inspection Decision Basis for
Reactors"

Inspection Manual Chapter 0609, "Significance Determination Process"

Inspection Manual Chapter 0612, "Power Reactor Inspection Reports"

Inspection Procedure 93812, "Special Inspection"

END

ATTACHMENT 1

[Revision History for IP 93800]{.underline}

+--------+-------+----------------------------+------+-------+---------+
| Comm   | Issue | Description of Change      | Trai | Tra   | Comment |
| itment | Date  |                            | ning | ining | Res     |
| Tr     |       |                            | Ne   | Compl | olution |
| acking |       |                            | eded | etion | Ac      |
| Number |       |                            |      | Date  | cession |
|        |       |                            |      |       | Number  |
+--------+-------+----------------------------+------+-------+---------+
| N/A    | 06/   | Revision history reviewed  | N/A  | N/A   | N/A     |
|        | 22/06 | for the last four years.   |      |       |         |
+--------+-------+----------------------------+------+-------+---------+
| N/A    | 12/   | IP 93800 has been revised  | None | N/A   | N/A     |
|        | 11/98 | to include lessons learned |      |       |         |
|        |       | from an inspection at      |      |       |         |
|        | CN    | WNP-2 regarding the        |      |       |         |
|        | 9     | assignment of team members |      |       |         |
|        | 8-019 | to the AIT, in addition to |      |       |         |
|        |       | minor editorial changes.   |      |       |         |
+--------+-------+----------------------------+------+-------+---------+
| N/A    | 08/   | IP 93800 is revised to     | None | N/A   | N/A     |
|        | 02/99 | include the requirement to |      |       |         |
|        |       | provide an executive       |      |       |         |
|        | CN    | summary in plain English   |      |       |         |
|        | 9     | in the inspection report   |      |       |         |
|        | 9-012 | generated by this          |      |       |         |
|        |       | procedure. This revision   |      |       |         |
|        |       | was made in response to    |      |       |         |
|        |       | SECY-99-070,               |      |       |         |
|        |       | \"Implementation Plan for  |      |       |         |
|        |       | the Public Communications  |      |       |         |
|        |       | Initiative (DSI-14).\"     |      |       |         |
+--------+-------+----------------------------+------+-------+---------+
| N/A    | 04/   | IP 93800 is modified to be | None | N/A   | N/A     |
|        | 03/00 | performed as a             |      |       |         |
|        |       | supplemental procedure     |      |       |         |
|        | CN    | (Appendix B).              |      |       |         |
|        | 0     |                            |      |       |         |
|        | 0-003 |                            |      |       |         |
+--------+-------+----------------------------+------+-------+---------+
| N/A    | 10/   | IP 93800 has been revised  | None | N/A   | N/A     |
|        | 23/02 | to provide guidance on     |      |       |         |
|        |       | documenting information    |      |       |         |
|        | CN    | relating to events that is |      |       |         |
|        | 0     | in addition to that        |      |       |         |
|        | 2-039 | currently required by IMC  |      |       |         |
|        |       | 0612, \"Power Reactor      |      |       |         |
|        |       | Inspection Reports,\" such |      |       |         |
|        |       | as description/chronology, |      |       |         |
|        |       | risk-significance, and     |      |       |         |
|        |       | probable contributing      |      |       |         |
|        |       | causes.                    |      |       |         |
+--------+-------+----------------------------+------+-------+---------+
| Comm   | Issue | Description of Change      | Trai | Tra   | Comment |
| itment | Date  |                            | ning | ining | Res     |
| Tr     |       |                            | Ne   | Compl | olution |
| acking |       |                            | eded | etion | Ac      |
| Number |       |                            |      | Date  | cession |
|        |       |                            |      |       | Number  |
+--------+-------+----------------------------+------+-------+---------+
| C1     | 06/   | Incorporate safety culture | I    | 07/   | ML06    |
|        | 22/06 | into inspection            | nspe | 01/06 | 1570132 |
|        |       | procedures. \"Staff        | ctor |       |         |
|        | CN-0  | Requirements -             | trai |       |         |
|        | 6-015 | SECY-04-0111 - Recommended | ning |       |         |
|        |       | Staff Actions Regarding    | on   |       |         |
|        |       | Agency Guidance in the     | use  |       |         |
|        |       | Areas of Safety Conscious  | of   |       |         |
|        |       | Work Environment and       | sa   |       |         |
|        |       | Safety Culture\" August    | fety |       |         |
|        |       | 30, 2004                   | cul  |       |         |
|        |       |                            | ture |       |         |
|        |       |                            | in   |       |         |
|        |       |                            | the  |       |         |
|        |       |                            | ROP. |       |         |
+--------+-------+----------------------------+------+-------+---------+
| N/A    | 07/   | IP 93800 is revised to     | None | N/A   | N/A     |
|        | 18/07 | consider licensee          |      |       |         |
|        |       | implementation of          |      |       |         |
|        | CN    | Information Notices,       |      |       |         |
|        | 0     | Generic Letters, and       |      |       |         |
|        | 7-022 | Bulletins.                 |      |       |         |
+--------+-------+----------------------------+------+-------+---------+
| N/A    | 02/   | Guidance on resources for  | None | N/A   | ML08    |
|        | 12/08 | follow up to AITs          |      |       | 0250272 |
|        |       |                            |      |       |         |
|        | CN    |                            |      |       |         |
|        | 0     |                            |      |       |         |
|        | 8-007 |                            |      |       |         |
+--------+-------+----------------------------+------+-------+---------+
| N/A    | 07/   | Guidance for recommending  | None | N/A   | N/A     |
|        | 25/08 | improvements to reactor    |      |       |         |
|        |       | oversight process baseline |      |       |         |
|        | CN    | inspection procedures      |      |       |         |
|        | 0     | based on lessons learned   |      |       |         |
|        | 8-020 | from the AIT.              |      |       |         |
+--------+-------+----------------------------+------+-------+---------+