05000397/FIN-2010006-03
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Finding | |
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| Title | Inappropriate Extension of Qualified Service Life of Agastat Relays |
| Description | The team identified a noncited violation of 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix B, Criterion III, Design Control, which requires, in part, design control measures shall provide for verifying or checking the adequacy of design, such as by the performance of design reviews, by the use of alternate or simplified calculational methods, or by the performance of a suitable testing program. Where a test program is used to verify the adequacy of a specific design feature in lieu of other verifying or checking processes, it shall include suitable qualifications testing of a prototype unit under the most adverse design conditions. Contrary to the above, the licensee failed to provide for verifying or checking the adequacy of design, such as by the performance of design reviews, by the use of alternate or simplified calculational methods, or by the performance of a suitable testing program. Specifically, as of June 10, 2010, the licensees design control measures failed to verify or check the adequacy of design for the extension of qualified life for safety-related Tyco/Agastat E7000-series timing relays from 10 years to 40 years, by the performance of design reviews, by the use of alternate or simplified calculational methods, or by the performance of a suitable testing program. The licensee did not perform suitable qualifications testing of a prototype unit under the most adverse design conditions. Specifically, the licensee did not follow their station procedures for extending the service life and changing preventive maintenance frequencies; did not account for some known modes of degradation; did not account for normal and abnormal operating conditions; and did not maintain a trending program to monitor for indication of impending end-of-life relay failures. This finding was entered into the licensees corrective action program as condition reports 218559, 219436, and 218799. The team determined that extending the qualified life of safety-related Agastat E7000-series relays without having an adequate technical basis was a performance deficiency. This finding was more than minor because it was associated with the design control attribute of the Mitigating Systems Cornerstone and affected the cornerstone objective of ensuring the availability, reliability, and capability of systems that respond to initiating events to prevent undesirable consequences. The team performed a Phase 1 screening, in accordance with Inspection Manual Chapter 0609.04, \"Phase 1 - Initial Screening and Characterization of Findings,\" and determined that the finding was of very low safety significance (Green) because it was a design or qualification deficiency confirmed not to result in loss of operability or functionality. Specifically, no relay failures had occurred beyond the recommended 10-year service life and this did not result in the failure of multiple redundant trains of safety-related equipment. This finding has a cross-cutting aspect in the area of problem identification and resolution because the licensee did not effectively incorporate pertinent industry operating experience into the preventive maintenance program for Agastat E7000-series relays. Specifically, Energy Northwest failed to incorporate industry operating experience and site guidance when they extended their relay replacement preventive maintenance tasks from 10 years to 40 years |
| Site: | Columbia  |
|---|---|
| Report | IR 05000397/2010006 Section 1R21 |
| Date counted | Sep 30, 2010 (2010Q3) |
| Type: | NCV: Green |
| cornerstone | Mitigating Systems |
| Identified by: | NRC identified |
| Inspection Procedure: | IP 71111.21 |
| Inspectors (proximate) | T Farnholtz W Sherbin M Young B Larson S Makor J Nicely |
| CCA | P.5, Operating Experience |
| INPO aspect | CL.1 |
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Finding - Columbia - IR 05000397/2010006 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Finding List (Columbia) @ 2010Q3
Self-Identified List (Columbia)
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