NRC NEWS

 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

 801 Warrenville Road

 Lisle IL 60532

 Web Site: http://www.nrc.gov E-mail: opa3@nrc.gov

No. III-04-009 February 26, 2004

CONTACT: Jan Strasma (630) 829-9663 

Viktoria Mitlyng (630) 829-9662 

NRC ISSUES LETTER ON PLANNED DAVIS-BESSE ORDER

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued the attached letter to FirstEnergy Nuclear

Operating Company concerning an Order that the agency intends to issue requiring independent

assessments and mid-cycle inspections at the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station to provide reasonable

assurance that the long-term corrective actions remain effective.

FirstEnergy may inform the NRC whether it will consent to the conditions of the Order and

agree to have those conditions incorporated into a Confirmatory Order that will be immediately

effective upon issuance.

The letter does not imply that permission from the NRC to restart will be forthcoming. 

However, NRC restart approval is contingent upon the conditions in the Order being in effect. The

NRC plans to issue the Order regardless of the utility’s consent.

 # # #

Attachment: Letter to FirstEnergy dated February 26, 2004.
February 26, 2004

EA-03-214

Mr. Lew W. Myers

Chief Operating Officer

FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company

Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station

5501 North State Route 2

Oak Harbor, OH 43449-9760

SUBJECT: DAVIS-BESSE NUCLEAR POWER STATION, UNIT 1 - CONDITIONS TO BE

CONFIRMED BY ORDER MODIFYING LICENSE (EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY) 

(TAC NO. MC1335)

Dear Mr. Myers:

As a result of FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company (FENOC) identification of extensive

degradation of the reactor pressure vessel head, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued

Confirmatory Action Letter (CAL) No. 3-02-001 on March 13, 2002. The CAL documented

commitments that FENOC was expected to fulfill prior to restart of the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power

Station, Unit 1. These commitments included meeting with the NRC to obtain restart approval.

On November 23, 2003, FENOC submitted the “Integrated Report to Support Restart of the DavisBesse Nuclear Power Station and Request for Restart Approval,” and concluded that the plant,

programs, and personnel were ready to support safe operation, subject to completion of a few welldefined work activities prior to restart. That letter outlined FENOC’s commitments regarding postrestart continuing improvement initiatives and self and external assessments to assure lasting

performance improvement and requested that the NRC schedule a meeting as stated in the CAL and

then approve restart. A meeting was originally scheduled for December 18, 2003, to discuss restart. 

However, due to self-revealing equipment and operational problems and issues identified by NRC

Restart Readiness Assessment and the Management and Human Performance inspection teams, the

meeting was delayed.

During the course of the extended shutdown of Davis-Besse beginning in February 2002, FENOC

conducted a number of thorough evaluations and self-assessments. Several examples include the

evaluation of system design, the assessment of the completeness and accuracy of docketed

information, the evaluation of operational performance deficiencies during the normal operating

pressure test, and the evaluation of the failure to comply with technical specification requirements

during testing of the steam and feedwater rupture control system. However, self-assessments of

operational performance prior to both the normal operating pressure test in September 2003, and the

NRC’s Restart Readiness Assessment Team Inspection in December 2003 failed to identify a

UNITED STATES

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

REGION III

801 WARRENVILLE ROAD

LISLE, ILLINOIS 60532-4351
number of deficiencies. Additionally, NRC inspections earlier during the shutdown discovered

issues not originally identified through Davis-Besse self-assessments, most notably in the corrective

action program, in the quality of engineering evaluations, calculations and analyses, and in safety

culture. The NRC recognizes that FENOC has implemented significant corrective actions resulting

in improved performance to address the CAL and the NRC Davis-Besse Oversight Panel Restart

Checklist. Notwithstanding the improved performance, consistently effective FENOC selfassessments are an important factor in assuring lasting corrective actions for the deficiencies that

resulted in the reactor pressure vessel head degradation.

To ensure effective assessment and sustained safe performance in the areas of operations,

engineering, and corrective actions at Davis-Besse, the NRC has determined that additional

measures are needed to provide the requisite assurance should restart of Davis-Besse be authorized. 

Therefore, the NRC will issue an Order modifying License No. NPF-3, requiring independent

assessments and mid-cycle inspections to provide reasonable assurance that the long-term corrective

actions remain effective.

FENOC may inform the NRC whether it will consent to the enclosed conditions by providing

written response to the Regional Administrator at NRC Region III, 801 Warrenville Road, Lisle, IL

60532-4351, within five working days of the date of this letter. If you consent, I request that you

sign the enclosed Consent and Hearing Waiver form and return it to the above address. By signing

the enclosed form, the management of FENOC will agree to have those conditions incorporated into

a Confirmatory Order that will be immediately effective upon issuance and FENOC will waive any

and all rights to a hearing concerning the Order.

This letter does not imply that permission from the NRC to restart will be forthcoming. However,

NRC restart authorization is contingent upon the conditions in the Order being in effect. The NRC

plans to issue the Order regardless of your consent.

If you have any questions, please call me at 630-829-9657.

Sincerely,

/signed/

James L. Caldwell

Regional Administrator

Docket No. 50-346

Enclosures: 1. Consent and Hearing Waiver Form [Not part of attachment to news release]

2. Conditions to be confirmed by Order
Enclosure to letter to Mr. Lew Myers dated February 26, 2004:

CONDITIONS TO BE CONFIRMED BY ORDER

Accordingly, pursuant to Sections 103, 161b, 161i, 161o, 182 and 186 of the Atomic Energy

Act of 1954, as amended, and the Commission’s regulations in 10 CFR 2.202 and 10 CFR Part 50,

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY, THAT LICENSE NO. NPF-3 IS

MODIFIED AS FOLLOWS: 

1. FENOC shall contract with independent outside organizations to conduct

comprehensive assessments of the Davis-Besse operations performance,

organizational safety culture, including safety conscious work environment,

corrective action program implementation, and engineering program effectiveness. 

Ninety days prior to the assessments, FENOC shall inform the Regional

Administrator, NRC Region III, in writing, of the identity of its outside assessment

organizations, including the qualifications of the assessors, and the planned scope

and depth of the assessments. These outside independent assessments at DavisBesse shall be completed before the end of the 4th calendar quarter of 2004 and

annually thereafter for 5 years. Within 45 days of completion of the assessments, the

Licensee shall submit by letter to the Regional Administrator, NRC Region III, all

assessment results and any action plans intended to address issues raised by the

assessment results.

2. FENOC shall conduct a visual examination of the reactor pressure vessel

upper head bare metal surface, including the head-to-penetration interfaces; the

reactor pressure vessel lower head bare metal surface, including the head-topenetration interfaces; and the control rod drive mechanism flanges, using VT-2

qualified personnel and procedures during the Cycle 14 midcycle outage. The results

and evaluation of the inspections will be reported by letter to the Regional

Administrator, NRC Region III, prior to restart from the mid-cycle outage, and any

evidence of reactor coolant leakage found during the inspections will be reported by

telephone within 24 hours of discovery to the Regional Administrator, NRC Region

III, or designee.

If the Licensee determines that submittals made in accordance with these conditions contain

proprietary information as defined by 10 CFR 2.390, the Licensee shall also provide a

nonproprietary version in accordance with 10 CFR 2.390(b)(1)(ii). The Regional Administrator,

NRC Region III, may, in writing, relax or rescind any of the above conditions upon demonstration

by the Licensee of good cause.

###