NRC Staff Sets Enforcement Conference with FP&L to Discuss Regulatory Concerns at St. Lucie

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	NRC NEWS U. S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, REGION II 61 Forsyth Street, Suite 23T85, Atlanta, GA 30303
	CONTACT:	Ken Clark (Phone: 404/562-4416, E-mail: kmc2@nrc.gov)
		Roger Hannah (Phone 404/562-4417, E-mail: rdh1@nrc.gov)

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No: II-98-06

February 9, 1998

NRC STAFF SETS ENFORCEMENT CONFERENCE WITH FP&L TO DISCUSS REGULATORY CONCERNS AT ST. LUCIE

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has scheduled a predecisional enforcement conference with Florida Power & Light Company in Atlanta on February 13 to discuss regulatory concerns associated with St. Lucie nuclear plant's Unit 1 refueling water storage tank level calibration errors which could have resulted in damage to Emergency Core Cooling System pumps during certain postulated accident conditions.

Company personnel identified the problem during a recent outage and reported it to the NRC. Calculations which indicated a water level setpoint change to initiate automatic transfer of suction from the tank to the containment sump during certain postulated loss of coolant accidents were not properly incorporated into a procedure. This could have resulted in a condition which could delay a switch in suction and cause possible damage to ECCS pumps.

The conference will be held at 10:00 a.m. in the NRC Region II office in Atlanta, located on the 29th floor of the Atlanta Federal Center, 61 Forsyth Street, S. W. The meeting is open to observation by members of the public, and NRC officials will be available at its conclusion to answer questions from interested observers.

The decision to hold a predecisional enforcement conference does not mean that a determination has been made that a violation has occurred or that enforcement action will be taken. The purpose is to discuss the apparent violations, their causes and safety significance; to provide the licensee with an opportunity to point out errors that may have been made in NRC inspection reports and to enable the company to outline its proposed corrective actions.

No decision on the apparent violations or any contemplated enforcement action, such as a civil penalty, will be made at the conference. Those decisions will be made by NRC officials at a later time.