THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 20, 1996 TAG: 9609200565
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SCOTT HARPER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 59 lines
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has cited but will not fine Virginia Power for a technical safety violation at the Surry nuclear power station, about 40 miles west of Norfolk on the James River.
In a notice sent Aug. 16 to Virginia Power, the NRC issued a ``Level 3'' violation for two switches on monitoring equipment that were set incorrectly for as long as 10 years. A Level 1 violation is the most serious infraction and a Level 4 the least.
Ken Clark, an NRC spokesman in Atlanta, said such a violation usually carries a $50,000 fine. But in this case, Virginia Power ``acted swiftly and on its own accord'' to fix the switches after being found in the wrong position by a visiting plant operator on May 10, Clark said.
The switches control equipment that would tell plant personnel if too much hydrogen gas, which can explode, was amassing in the containment building in the event of a major nuclear accident.
The monitoring equipment became a national requirement following the infamous Three Mile Island accident in Pennsylvania. It was installed at Surry in 1984.
The NRC summoned Virginia Power officials to Atlanta in early August to explain why the switches were set incorrectly for so long. Surry staff told NRC investigators that the switches have been in the wrong slot since at least 1990, and perhaps as far back as 1986.
Confusion over how the switches should be set was the apparent culprit, said James Norvelle, a spokesman for Virginia Power's two nuclear plants, in Surry and at North Anna in north central Virginia.
Once the visiting operator noticed the problem, protocol was checked and verified with the NRC, and the switches were adjusted May 22, according to an inspection report. ``Level 3 is serious, and we take these violations very seriously,'' Norvelle said. ``It is important to note, though, that we corrected the problem right away, and that they (NRC) recognized that.''
The violation goes into Surry's assessment file, which the NRC keeps and uses to help determine licensing decisions, Norvelle said. ``You certainly don't want many of these in your file, I can say that,'' he said.
Virginia Power was last fined for problems at Surry in 1992, when a $50,000 penalty was handed down by the NRC for improperly configured safety injection pumps. The utility paid another $50,000 for the same problem in 1991. MEMO: What happened
Two switches on monitoring equipment had been set incorrectly for as
long as 10 years. The violation was ``Level 3:'' A Level 1 violation is
the most serious infraction and a Level 4 the least.
How it happened
Confusion over how the switches should be set was the apparent
culprit, Virginia Power said. Once a visiting operator noticed the
problem, protocol was checked and verified with the NRC, and the
switches were adjusted. by CNB