IR 05000155/1986006

Insp Rept 50-155/86-06 on 860318-20.No Violations or Deviations Noted.Major Areas Inspected:Gaseous & Liquid Radioactive Program,Including Effluent Release Records & Repts of Effluents & Effluent Control Instrumentation

ML20155D938
Person / Time
Site:	Big Rock Point File:Consumers Energy icon.png
Issue date:	04/09/1986
From:	Hueter L, Schumacher M NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION III)
To:
Shared Package
ML20155D936	List: IR 05000155/1986006 ML20155D934
References
50-155-86-06, 50-155-86-6, NUDOCS 8604170467
Download: ML20155D938 (8)

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U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

REGION III

Report No. 50-155/86006(DRSS)

Docket No. 50-155 License No. DPR-6 Licensee: Consumers Power Company 212 West Michigan Avenue Jackson, MI 49201 Facility Name: Big Rock Point Nuclear Plant Inspection At: Big Rock Point Site, Charlevoix, MI Inspection Conducted: March 18-20, 1986 Inspector:

&*$AW L. J. Hueter YkId Date'

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. Approved By: M. C. Schumacher, Chief b Radiological Effluents and Date Chemistry Section Inspection Summary Inspection on March 18-20, 1986 (Report No. 50-155/86006(DRSS))

-Areas Inspected: Routine, unannounced inspection of gaseous and liquid radioactive program including: effluent release records and reports of effluents; effluent control instrumentation; procedures for controlling releases; primary coolant chemistry and activity; gaseous effluent filtration; and audit Results: No violations or deviations were identified.

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! Effluent Control Instrumentation The inspector reviewed calibration records and selected calibration checks and setpoints for'the following monitors for 1985 and 1986, to date, with no problems being noted:

Stack Normal Range Noble Gas Monitor RE 8283 ,

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Air Ejector Off Gas Monitor RE 8251

. Air Ejector Off Gas Monitor RE RLO7 Liquid Radwaste Monitor RE 8275 Discharge Canal Monitor RE 8274 The instruments listed above have been calibrated on a timely basi Four vendor supplied button type Sr-90 sources covering a range of count rates up to about IE6 cpm (IE7 cpm is maximum range of the instrument)

are used to calibrate the stack normal range noble gas monitor, based on i transfer calibrations in which gas sources were used. The calibration

'shows reasonably linear respons 'The licensee continues to calibrate the liquid radwaste monitor using an external solid source at two different distances corresponding to two ,

different radiation fields. The calibration is based on previous transfer calibrations in which liquid sources having three different concentrations of Cs-137 were use Procedures and records for setpoint determination for selected effluent ,

and process monitors were reviewed and appear to comply with applicable technical specification and ODCM criteri No violations or deviations were identifie . Primary Coolant Chemistry and Radiochemistry The inspector reviewed the licensee's reactor coolant chemistry and radiochemistry results for the period of May 20, 1985, through March 10, 1986, to determine compliance with technical specification requirements for chemistry and radiochemistry limits and surveillance frequencie The inspector reviewed data for conductivity, pH, chloride, boron, and ,

dose equivalent I-131. The review indicated that all of these parameters remained within applicable technical specification limits throughout the review period. It is noted that the dose equivalent I-131 activity has remained well within technical specification limits despite continuing fuel cladding problems. No problems were identified regarding compliance with frequencies of required surveillance No violations or deviations were identifie . Air Cleaning Systems The licensee has no air cleaning systems subject to technical specifica- *

tion surveillance requirements. A moisture separator and HEPA filter are located in the off gas line at the base of the vent stack. No in place ,

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DETAILS j l

1. Persons Contacted  !

• J. Beer, Chemistry and Health Physics Superintendent

• Burdette, Senior Health Physicist

• Hice, Technical Engineer

• Hoaglund, Acting Chemistry and Radiation Protection Supervisor D. Hoffman, Plant Superintendent

• L. Monshor, QA Superintendent

• Petitjean, Planning and Administrative Superintendent The inspector also contactod other licensee employees, including members of the technical staf * Denotes those present at the exit meetin . Gaseous Effluents The inspector reviewed selected records of radioactive gaseous effluent

! sampling and analysis for 1985 and the semiannual effluent reports for 1985. The pathways sam'ned and the analyses performed appear to comply with Technical Specification requirements. As previously planned, the licensee first implemented the RETS technical specifications and ODCM on January 1, 198 Since the last gaseous and liquid radwaste program inspection in May 1985, the reactor has been in operation except for a refueling outage from September 6 through November 6, 1985, and three small outages in

, November, December and February (lasting from about one to nine days each) to repair steam or liquid leaks.

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About 60,000 curies of noble gas was released in 1985 most of which is attributable to continuing fuel cladding problems experienced over the past three cycles. This corresponds to about six times the normal release rate of about 400 pCi/sec when no fuel cladding problems exis During a refueling outage in early summer 1984, all fuel with cladding failures ideatified by fuel sipping operations was replace However, in late November, 1984, the noble gas release rate again increased from a normal level (about 400 pCi/sec) to a maximum level of about 4,000 pCi/sec; then the release rate stabilized (except during power changes) at about

, 1200 pCi/sec until the refueling which began September 6,1985. Again,

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during this refueling outage, the two-thirds of the core which was to be l returned to use was subjected to fuel sipping and the five bundles with identified leakers were not returned to the core. However, fuel cladding

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problems we e again evident beginning with reactor startup in November 1985 for the current cycl The noble gas release rate peaked at about 1700 pCi/sec in mid-January 1986 and has since stabilized at about 1400 pCi/sec. The source of the elevated noble gas activity could be new fuel, old fuel with recently developed cladding problems or old fuel with previous cladding problems which were not detected due to sensitivity

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limitations of the fuel sipping operation.

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The licensee states that coolant chemistry and ten,perature parameters have been maintained within specified criteria. The former was verified to the extent of records reviewed by the inspecto In an effort to eliminate the cladding failure problen a fuel design change involving gap spacing and gaseous pressures in the fuel pins (to incorporate state-of-the-art technology) was instituted with the new fuel (1/3 of the core)

inserted for the current cycle. The licensee hopes these efforts will eliminate the fuel cladding problems following completion of one more (or possibly two) full cycle As discussed in previous Inspection Reports No. 50-155/85011 and No. 50-155/85014 (NRC Resident Inspector), Xe-133 began appearing (IE-4 pci/ml maximum) in samples from the shell side of the emergency condenser in late May 1985. Following isolation of one of two tube bundles in June 1985 (a permissible mode of operation) the Xe-133 disappeare Extensive testing during the fall 1985 refueling outage failed to find a leak or tube deterioration and both bundles were returned to normal operation with the November 1985 plant startu Since startup, Xe-133 activity has been barely detectable (about 8E-7 pCi/ml). The licensee described his evaluation ard intentions in a letter of October 31, 1985, to NRR after determining that the bundles were operable in accordance with Technical Specification 4.1.2(b) and that the action did not constitute an unreviewed safety question pursuant to 10 CFR 50.5 The emergency condenser vent monitors are not sensitive enough to detect the minor leak that is occurring. The licensee is attempting to quantify this release using other methods. This matter will be reviewed during a future inspection. (0 pen Item 155/86006-01)

As noted in Inspection Report No. 50-155/85009, in March 1985, during a test, the off gas flow meter response was found marginally outside of the prescribed error band in a nonconservative directicn (low flow reading).

The licensee issued a deviation report concerning the matter and initiated an engineering review regarding the accuracy of the flow meter. In the interim, alternative methods were used to quantify releases via the off ga The engineering review and recalibration determined that the off gas meter full scale response corresponds to 31 cfm rather than 29 cfm previously used. The licensee plans to resume using the response indicated by this meter in quantifying releases via the off gas (based on the new calibration). Although quantification of activities released via the off gas in the past may have been nonconservative by a factor of nearly seven percent, the licensee i believes this arror is within the normal range of sampling and counting l uncertainties and therefore plan to make no corrections to effluent data '

provided in previous semiannual effluent report !

No problems were identified in the review of records. The records show that releases were maintained well within applicable limit No violations or deviations were identifie . _ - - -- --- .

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3. Liquid Effluents i

The inspector reviewed selected records of radioactive liquid effluent sampling and analysis for 1985 and the semiannual effluent reports for 198 The pathways sampled and analysis performed appear to comply with technical specification requirement Total' liquid radioactive effluent (excluding tritium) during 1985 was about 150 pCi which i. about the same activity released in 1984. It appears that liquid effluent activity may have stabilized after several years of trending downwar Total tritium released in liquid effluents in 1985 was about 1.3 Ci. The licensee has maintained both non-tritium and tritium liquid effluents below the average for boiling water reactor No problems were identified in the review of records. The records show that releases were maintained within applicable limit During periods of reactor operations, liquid effluent releases are infrequent and are mainly batch releases from chemical tanks. Chemical tank wastes are comprised of laundry water and liquid wastes generated ,

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from decontamination operations. Chemical tank effluents are processed

! through filters only. During reactor outages, chemical tank wastes comprises only about half of the batch releases. The other liquid batch releases (for water quality or water inventory control purposes)

are generally processed through demineralizer in addition to being filtere During the liquid radwaste inspection conducted in May 1985 (Inspection Report No. 50-155/85009) an error was identified in the semiannual effluent report covering the second half of 198 A foot note to Table 3b in the effluent report erroneously indicated that the activity estimated to have been released onsite from a linebreak was included in the Table 3b. The licensee acknowledged the effluent report error (during the exit meeting on May 23, 1985) and committed to officially amend the semiannual effluent report to correct the data. On March 20, 1986, the licensee submitted a revision to the semiannual effluent report correcting the error. The revision also added to the report the following statements regarding this abnormal release: "The activity released remained 'onsite' and approximately 99% was excavated to be shipped as low level waste to a licensed burial groun The remaining approximate 1% will be reported following aporoval from Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) on Big Rock Point's request to retain contaminated soil onsite in accordance with 10 CFR 20.302, submitted August 16, 1985." This response appears to fulfill the licensee's commitment to correct the erroneous effluent report dat Due to high water level of the lake, the licensee relocated the storm drain release to the lake from a direct path to an indirect path, via the discharge canal. The licensee selected the input location upstream of the discharge canal monitor so as to include it as a monitored release pat No violations or deviations were identifie i

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' 4. Effluent Control Instrumentation The inspector reviewed calibration records and selected calibration checks and setpoints for the following monitors for 1985 and 1986, to date, wito no problems being noted:

Stack Normal Range Noble Gas Monitor RE 8;.83 Air Ejector Off Gas Monitor RE 8251 Air Ejector Off Gas Monitor RE RLO7 Liquid Radwaste Monitor RE 8275 Discharge Canal Monitor RE 8278 The instruments listed above have been calibrated on a timely basi Four vendor supplied button type Sr-90 sources covering a range of count rates up to about 1E6 cpm (1E7 cpm is maximum range of the instrument)

are used to calibrate the stack normal range noble gas monitor, based on transfer calibrations in which gas sources were used. The calibration shows reasonably linear respons The licensee continues to calibrate the liquid radwaste monitor using an exteraal solid source at two different distances corresponding to two

< different radiation fields. The calibration is based on previous transfer calibrations in which liquid sources having three different concentrations of Cs-137 were use Procedures and records for setpoint determination for selected effluent and process monitors were reviewed and appear to comply with applicable technical specification and ODCM criteri No violations or deviations were identifie . Primary Coolant Chemistry and Radiochemistry The inspector reviewed the licensee's reactor coolant chemistry and radiochemistry results for the period of May 20, 1985, through March 10, 1986, to determine compliance with technical specification requirements for chemistry anc radiochemistry limits and surveillance frequencie The inspector reviewed data for conductivity, pH, chloride, boron, and dose equivalent I-131. The review indicated that all of these parameters remained within applicable technical specification limits throughout the review period. It is noted that the dose equivalent I-131 activity has remained well within technical specification limits despite continuing fuel cladding problems. No problems were identified regarding compliance with frequencies of required surveillance No violations or deviations were identifie . Air Cleaning Systems The licensee has no air cleaning systems subject to technical specifica-tion surveillance requirements. A moisture separator and HEPA filter are located in the off gas line at the base of the vent stack. No~in place l

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testing is performed for this HEPA filter; however, a new HEPA filter, certified as meeting standard acceptance criteria, is installed each refueling outage. The chemistry laboratory has a separate unmonitored vent with HEPA filtration. An in place leakage test is performed annually using DOP and an administratively established acceptance criterion of 98 percen In addition, analyses of monthly smears from the ducting down stream of the chemistry laboratory 1 EPA filter continue to show no detectable activity above backgroun No violations or deviations were identifie . Audits The inspector reviewed one report of an audit involving, in part, the gaseous and liquid radwaste processing and effluent program at the Big Rock Paint facility. Audit Report No. QT-85-22, conducted by corporate personnel (having expertise in health physics) on November 12-15 and December 2-3, 1985, covered both Big Rock Point and Palisades radiological environmental monitoring program and radiological effluent technical specification None of the two audit findings and six observations involved the Big Rock Point gaseous and liquid radwaste processing and effluent progra No violations or deviations were identifie . Training and Qualification Effectiveness Neither a radwaste release nor preparation for a release was observed by the inspector as no releases were scheduled during the inspection perio The licensee still uses the previously established chemistry and health physics technician training program which consists of a basic training program for new technicians and an advanced radiation protection course leading to senior technician statu The basic training consists of a 12 week course provided at the Midland Training Center, followed by on-the-job-training and completion of task requirements for progression in technician level In January this year, the licensee initiated a one day training program each month for chemistry and health physics technicians covering such subjects as IE Bulletins, procedure changes, and plant systems. A former senior technician from the Chemistry and Health Physics Department has joined the Trsining Department to direct this training effort as well as to provide training to operations personnel in the area of chemistry and radiation protectio ,

The ifcensee is committed to INPO accreditation in 198 Toward this end, efforts have progressed through task analysis, s m'a .

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Supervisory personnel interviewed during the inspection appeared to have a good understanding of areas of responsibilities including applicable regulations and procedures. The transition on January 1,1986, to the RETS technical specifications, ODCM, and the many associated procedure revisions appears to have been reasonably smoot The inspector identified no problems relating to procedure adherenc Further, licensee identification of procedure adherence problems are infrequent. Management policy encourages workers to identify problems with procedure so that prompt corrections or improvements to the procedure can be mad No violations er deviations were identifie . Open Items Open items are matters which have been discussed with the licensee, which will be reviewed further by the inspector, and which involve some action on the part of the NRC or licensee or both. An open item disclosed during the inspection is discussed in Section . Exit Interviay The inspector summarized the scope and findings of the inspection with licensee representatives (Section 1) at the conclusion of the inspection on March 20, 1985. The inspector discussed the likely informational content of the inspection report with regard to documents or processes reviewed by the inspector during the inspection. The licensee did not identify such documents or processes as proprietar !

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