[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 148 (Wednesday, August 3, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-18849]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: August 3, 1994]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. STN 50-528, STN 50-529, and STN 50-530]
Arizona Public Service Company, et al.; Palo Verde Nuclear
Generating Station, Units 1, 2, and 3; Receipt of Petition for
Director's Decision Under 10 CFR 2.206 and 2.202
Notice is hereby given that by letter of May 27, 1994, Thomas J.
Saporito, on behalf of himself and Florida Energy Consultants, Inc.
(petitioners), has raised numerous concerns regarding the Palo Verde
Nuclear Generating Station (Palo Verde) operated by the Arizona Public
Service Company (licensee). He supplemented his original petition,
raising additional issues on July 8, 1994. Petitioners request that the
NRC (1) institute a show cause proceeding pursuant to 10 CFR 2.202 for
the modification, suspension, or revocation of the Palo Verde operating
licenses; (2) issue a notice of violation against the licensee for
continuing to employ The Atlantic Group (TAG) as a labor contractor at
Palo Verde; (3) investigate alleged material false statements made by
William F. Conway, Executive Vice President at Palo Verde, during his
testimony at a DOL hearing (ERA Case No. 92-ERA-30) and that, in the
interim, the NRC require that he be relieved of any authority over
operations at Palo Verde; (4) investigate the licensee's statements in
an August 10, 1993, letter from Mr. Conway to NRC Administrator, Mr.
Bobby H. Faulkenberry, regarding Mr. Saporito, in which the licensee
said that Mr. Saporito gave materially false, inaccurate, and
incomplete information on his application for unescorted access to Palo
Verde, so that as a result of that event, he lacks trustworthiness and
reliability for access to Palo Verde; (5) investigate pursuant to 10
CFR 50.7 the circumstances surrounding the February 1994 termination of
licensee employee Joseph Straub, a former radiation protection
technician at Palo Verde, to determine if his employment was illegally
terminated by the licensee for having engaged in ``protected activity''
during the course of his employment; (6) require that the licensee
respond to a ``chilling effect'' letter regarding the circumstances
surrounding Mr. Straub's termination from Palo Verde and whether any
measures were taken to ensure that his termination did not cause a
chilling effect at Palo Verde; and (7) initiate appropriate actions to
require the licensee to immediately conduct eddy current testing on all
steam generators at Palo Verde, because the steam generator tubes were
recently subjected to cracks.
As bases for these requests, petitioners allege that (1) a show
cause proceeding is necessary because the public health and safety
concerns alleged are significant and to permit public participation to
provide NRC with new and relevant information; (2) past practices of
TAG demonstrate that employees of TAG were retaliated against for
having raised safety concerns while employed at Palo Verde; (3)
citations to testimony from transcripts and numerous newspaper articles
(appended as exhibits to the petition), demonstrate that Mr. Conway's
testimony is not credible; (4) statements in the August 10, 1993,
letter are inaccurate and materially false and characterize Mr.
Saporito as an individual lacking trustworthiness and reliability for
access to Palo Verde, so that such negative characterizations have
blacklisted him from continued employment in the nuclear industry,
which is all in retaliation for him raising safety concerns about
operations at Palo Verde; thus, petitioners ask that these statements
be rescinded; (5) an investigation into the termination of Mr. Straub
is warranted in view of the fact that the licensee has engaged in
similar illegal conduct in the past where the NRC has required the
licensee to pay fines; (6) Mr. Straub is entitled to reinstatement with
pay and benefits pending the NRC's investigation into his termination
to offset any chilling effect his termination had on the Palo Verde
workforce; and (7) the stress corrosion and cracking in the steam
generators is a recurring problem of which the licensee is aware and
has failed to properly correct, in addition to cooling tower problems,
so that the NRC should be concerned about proper maintenance of safety
systems and equipment there.
On July 8, 1994, petitioners filed a supplement raising six
additional issues. Petitioners request that the NRC (1) institute a
show cause proceeding pursuant to 10 CFR 2.202 for the modification,
suspension or revocation of the Palo Verde operating licenses for Units
1, 2 and 3; (2) modify the Palo Verde operating licenses to require
operation at 86% power or less; (3) require the licensee to submit a No
Significant Hazards safety analysis to justify operation of those units
above 86% power; (4) take immediate action (e.g. confirmatory order) to
cause the licensee to reduce operation to 86% power or less; (5)
require the licensee to analyze a design basis SGTR event to show that
the offsite radiological consequences do not exceed a small fraction of
the limits of 10 CFR Part 100; and (6) require the licensee to
demonstrate that its emergency operating procedures for SGTR events are
adequate and the plant operators are sufficiently trained in emergency
operating procedures.
As bases for these requests, petitioners allege that (1) the
licensee experienced a steam generator tube rupture in the free span
area on Unit 2 on March 14, 1993; (2) during a January, 1994 inspection
on Unit 2, 85 axial indications were identified, the longest indication
being 7.5 inches; (3) more extensive testing will confirm the existence
of circumferential crack indications in the expansion transition area;
(4) in May 1994, steam generator sludge from Units 1 and 2 indicates a
lead content of 4,000-6,000 ppm, which is unusually high, accelerates
the crevice corrosion process, and is believed to be caused by a
feedwater source deficiency; (5) the licensee failed to properly
implement operational procedures regarding the March 14, 1993 steam
generator tube rupture event, citing eight instances; (6) the
licensee's failure to comply with approved procedures in the above
event is indicative of a problem plant that warrants further NRC
action; (7) the NRC is aware of additional licensee weaknesses
regarding the steam generator tube event, citing four instances; (8)
the licensee cannot assure that the radiation dose limits are satisfied
for applicable postulated accidents; (9) the licensee is not
maintaining an adequate level of public protection in that the offsite
dose limits will be exceeded during a steam generator tube rupture;
(10) the licensee cannot demonstrate that a Palo Verde unit can safely
shut down and depressurize to stop steam generator tube leakage prior
to a loss of reactor water storage tank inventory; (11) steam generator
tubes are an integral part of the reactor coolant boundary, and that
tube failures could lead to containment bypass, and therefore must be
carefully considered by the NRC and the licensee, (12) the licensee
cannot demonstrate compliance with 10 CFR part 50, Appendix A, which
establishes the fundamental requirements for steam generator tube
integrity; (13) the licensee has failed to comply with NRC requirements
under NUREG-0800 to show that in the case of a steam generator tube
rupture event, the offsite conditions and single failure do not exceed
a small fraction of the limits of 10 CFR part 100; and (14) the
licensee has posed an unacceptable risk to public health and safety by
raising power on all three Palo Verde units above 86%, considering the
severe degradation of the steam generator tubes.
This request is being treated pursuant to 10 CFR Secs. 2.206 and
2.202 of the Commission's regulations. The request has been referred to
the Director of the Office of Enforcement and the Director of the
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. In a letter of July 26, 1994, the
petitioners' requests that the Commission take immediate action to
require eddy current testing on all Palo Verde steam generators, and
reduce operation of the Palo Verde units to 86% power or less, have
been denied. As provided by Sec. 2.206, appropriate action will be
taken on this request within a reasonable time. A copy of the petition
is available for inspection at the Commission's Public Document Room,
2120 L Street, NW., Washington, DC 20555 and local public document room
a the Phoenix Public Library, 12 East McDowell Road, Phoenix, Arizona
85004.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 26th day of July 1994.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Joseph R. Gray,
Deputy Director, Office of Enforcement.
[FR Doc. 94-18849 Filed 8-2-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-M
