A finding that was preliminarily determined to be of substantial safety significance (Yellow), and an associated apparent violation of
Technical Specification 6.8, Procedures, was identified for a fuel oil leak on the A
emergency diesel generator (
EDG) that was identified on June 28, 2006, but was not repaired until 51 days later on August 17. In December 2006, the licensee tested the fitting and
copper tubing that was the source of the leak to assess the leaks effect on the operability of the diesel. The licensee concluded that the leak rendered the diesel
inoperable for those 51 days. As part of corrective action, the licensee replaced the leaking fuel oil line and reinforced with plant personnel the procedural requirements to properly evaluate equipment problems. The licensee also entered the issue into its corrective action program. The finding was more than minor because if left uncorrected it would become a more significant safety concern during use of the A
EDG to mitigate a loss of offsite power event. Specifically, the A
EDG would have failed after approximately four hours due to the loss of fuel oil through the failed fuel line tubing, and the systems that respond to accidents and are powered by the A
EDG would not be available. A
Significance Determination Process Phase 3 risk analysis preliminarily determined that this finding was of substantial safety significance (Yellow). This finding has a cross-cutting aspect in the area of human performance because procedures were available, but not followed, that could have resulted in the leak being promptly repaired.
