United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Office of Public Affairs, Region I

475 Allendale Road King of Prussia, PA 19406

Fax: 610/337-5241

Internet: dps@nrc.gov or nas@nrc.gov

I-98-41 April 15, 1998

Contact: Diane Screnci (610/337-5330) FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Neil A. Sheehan (610/337-5331)

NRC STAFF PROPOSES TO FINE VERMONT YANKEE $55,000

FOR VIOLATIONS OF NRC REQUIREMENTS

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has proposed a

$55,000 fine against Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corporation for

three of 12 violations found during an NRC inspection at the

nuclear plant in Vernon, Vt.

Between September 29 and November 20, the NRC conducted a

special inspection to follow-up on the findings of an

architect/engineer team inspection last Spring. The team

reviewed the plant’s design and configuration for selected safety

systems, as well as its conformance with the utility’s safety

analysis report, a licensing document which outlines measures

taken to maintain the facility at an adequate safety level. NRC

is taking enforcement action based on these inspections and on

information provided during a predecisional enforcement

conference held on March 2.

The three most significant violations, for which a fine is

proposed, are associated with the plant license limit for the

maximum torus water temperature. The torus is a large doughnutshaped tank at the bottom of the plant’s containment structure

which contains several hundred thousand gallons of water. The

plant is designed so that high-pressure steam which might result

from a loss-of-coolant accident is quenched by being channeled

into the torus pool.

Acting on a license amendment request and technical analysis

submitted by Vermont Yankee, the NRC in 1985 authorized an

increase in the normal torus water temperature limit from 90 to

100 degrees Fahrenheit. But in 1994, the company found that its

analysis did not consider all the implications of a higher torus

water temperature and determined that this 100-degree limit was

inconsistent with assumptions made in the final safety analysis

report when the plant was licensed.

The inspection last fall found that, despite this finding in

1994, the company did not correct the condition in a timely

manner. Vermont Yankee later put administrative controls in

place to assure that the torus water temperature did not exceed
2

90 degrees. A review in May of last year showed that the

temperature had exceeded 90 degrees twice in 12 years, but that

these conditions had not been reported to the NRC. Additionally,

as of last November 20, the company had not moved to amend its

license once again to limit torus water temperature to 90-

degrees, consistent with the FSAR.

In a letter to the utility, Region I Administrator Hubert J.

Miller acknowledged that there were no actual safety consequences

from this situation. But, he said, if a loss-of-coolant accident

had occurred with an initial torus water temperature above 90

degrees, the NRC lacked “high confidence” that the emergency core

cooling systems and the containment could have performed their

safety functions.

“Additionally,” Mr. Miller wrote, “the failure to take

prompt action to evaluate and correct an identified discrepancy

between the [Final Safety Analysis Report] and the [license]

technical specifications is a significant concern because the NRC

relies upon licensees to operate the plant within the design

basis and to promptly identify and report nonconforming

conditions. These violations collectively represent breakdowns

in your processes for design control, corrective actions and

reportability.”

Vermont Yankee was cited, but not fined for nine additional

violations, including additional examples of the failure to take

timely and effective corrective actions; several examples of

failure to maintain control of the plant’s design process; and a

failure to report to the NRC when the facility was being run in a

manner contrary to the plant’s design basis.

Mr. Miller noted that once the violations were identified by

the NRC team, the company took prompt and comprehensive

corrective actions.

Vermont Yankee has 30 days to pay the proposed fine or to

request in writing that all or part of it be withdrawn.

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