Oyster Creek: Old Design Issues in the Assessment Process.

OC's Electromatic Relief Valve yellow finding don't meet a old design issue get out of jail free card? 

Ho K. Nieh, DirectorDivision of Reactor Projects

ERV yellow finding: The violation was also preliminary determined to meet the IMC 0305, Section 11.05, criteria for treatment as an old design issue.

Now I got the right version...

NRC INSPECTION MANUAL IPAB INSPECTION MANUAL CHAPTER 0305 OPERATING REACTOR ASSESSMENT PROGRAM 

11.05. Treatment of Items Associated with Enforcement Discretion.  

A finding that includes a violation that meets the criteria discussed below will be processed as specified in this section. The intent of this section is to establish ROP guidance that supports the objective of enforcement discretion, which is to encourage licensee initiatives to identify and resolve problems, especially those subtle issues that are not likely to be identified by routine efforts. 

The purpose of this approach is to place a premium on licensees initiating efforts to identify and correct safety-significant issues, which are not likely to be identified by routine efforts, before degraded safety systems are called upon to work. The assessment program evaluates present performance issues, and this approach excludes old design issues from consideration of overall licensee performance in the Action Matrix. The DRP or DRS

I am not sure what "excludes old design issues from consideration of overall licensee performance in the Action Matrix" means.

division director will authorize the treatment of findings as old design issues after conferring with the Deputy Director, NRR/DIRS. This is not an Action Matrix deviation. 

A finding that includes a violation subject to enforcement discretion must be dispositioned under one of the following categories:

a. Treatment of Old Design Issues in the Assessment Process. A finding associated with engineering calculations or analysis, associated operating procedure, or installation of plant equipment is considered an Old Design Issue if it meets all of the following criteria: 

1. It was licensee-identified as a result of a voluntary initiative, such as a design basis reconstitution. For the purposes of this IMC, self-revealing findings, which are defined in IMC 0612, are not considered to be licensee-identified.

2. It was or will be corrected, including immediate corrective actions and long-term comprehensive corrective actions to prevent recurrence, within a reasonable time following identification (this action should involve expanding the initiative, as necessary, to identify other failures caused by similar root causes). For the purpose of this criterion, identification is defined as the time when the significance of the finding is first discussed between the NRC and the licensee. Accordingly, issues being cited by the NRC for inadequate or untimely corrective action are not eligible for treatment as old design issues.

3. It was not likely to be previously identified by recent ongoing licensee efforts, such as normal surveillance, quality assurance activities, or evaluation of industry information.

4. It does not reflect a current performance deficiency associated with existing licensee programs, policy, or procedure.

If all the old design issue criteria are met, then the finding would not aggregate in the Action Matrix with other PIs and inspection findings.

If the old design issue criteria are not met, then the finding would be treated similar to any other inspection finding and additional NRC actions would be taken in accordance with the Action Matrix.

Overall Inspection Approach

The finding considered for treatment as an old design issue shall be brought to a SERP and a Regulatory Conference, if applicable. The finding shall be discussed in the appropriate inspection report cover letter and displayed on the NRC’s web site with its actual safety significance after the final safety significance is determined. Issue Date: 11/20/14 38 0305

If enough information is known to determine that the finding meets the old design issue criteria, then the licensee shall be notified in the inspection report cover letter that the finding was determined to be an old design issue. The regional office shall perform an IP 95001 supplemental inspection for a white finding or an IP 95002 supplemental inspection for a yellow or red finding to review the licensee’s root cause evaluation and corrective action plan for that particular issue. Because Old Design Issues often predate current licensee policies and practices, performing a review of the licensee’s safety culture as part of an IP 95002 inspection may not be necessary. If the region determines that a safety culture review is not required as part of an IP 95002 inspection for an Old Design Issue, the region should document that the review was not performed and include justification in the inspection report.

Example 11.05-1: The NRC concluded that a white finding in the Mitigating Systems Cornerstone meets the criteria for an old design issue for a plant. The plant also has a white PI in the Mitigating Systems Cornerstone. This plant would be placed in Column 2 of the Action Matrix because of the white PI, and NRC actions would be taken in accordance with that column, including an IP 95001 supplemental inspection for the white PI. The old design issue does not aggregate with other inputs in determining the Action Matrix column or required NRC response. Therefore, the white old design issue would be considered independently, and an IP 95001 supplemental inspection for that issue would be conducted.

If additional information is needed to determine whether the finding meets the old design issue criteria, the inspection report cover letter should state that the finding is being considered for treatment as an old design issue. The regional offices should then perform an IP 95001 supplemental inspection for a white finding or an IP 95002 supplemental inspection for a yellow or red finding to review the licensee’s root cause evaluation of that particular issue and to gather the additional information required to determine whether the finding meets the old design issue criteria.  

Example 11.05-2: The regional office does not have enough information to determine if a red finding meets the criteria for an old design issue. The regional office would perform an IP 95002 inspection to review the root cause evaluation and gather additional information on whether the finding meets the criteria for an old design issue. As a result of the inspection, if the regional office determines that the criteria have not been met, the regional office would perform the additional inspection activities to complete supplemental inspection requirements for an IP 95003 inspection