IR 05000206/1986007

Discusses Insp Rept 50-206/86-07 on 860212-0425 & Forwards Notice of Violation & Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalty. Violation Involves Failure of Five Feedwater Check Valves to Close as Designed Rendering AFW Flow Path Inoperable

ML20149E373
Person / Time
Site:	San Onofre
Issue date:	09/17/1986
From:	Martin J NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION V)
To:	Fogarty D SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EDISON CO.
Shared Package
ML20149E307	List: IR 05000206/1986007 ML20149E303 ML20149E393 ML20149E399
References
FOIA-97-177 50-206-86-07, 50-206-86-7, EA-86-097, EA-86-97, NUDOCS 9707180179
Download: ML20149E373 (3)

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,, NUCLEAR RE20LATCRY C3MMISSION 2N-

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1450 MARIA LANE, SUITE 210 WALNUT CREEK. CALIFORNIA e4908

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• .. * Docket No. 50-206 License No. OPR-13 L EA 86-97 ,

a Southern California Edison Compan ; ATTN: Mr. D. J. Fogarty Executive Vice President P. O. Box 800- t 2: - -

2244 Walnut Grove Avenue- '

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Rosemead, California 91770

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, SUBJECT: NOTICE OF VIOLATION AND PROPOSED IMPOSITION OF CIVIL-PENAt. TIES ,

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L(NRC INSPECTION REPORT.NO. 50-206/86-07)

' Gentlemen:

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This refers'to'a special inspection conducted during the period of February 12 l 1 - April 25, 1986 at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating' Station, Unit.1 of acti-

, vities authorized by NRC License DPR-13. The report of this. inspection -

(50-206/86-07) was sent to you by letter dated May 16, 1986. This special 1 inspection was conducted as foilowup to the inspection performed in November ~

and December 1985, by an NRC Ixident Investigation Team (IIT) of the loss of.

p power and water hammer event which occurred at San Onofre 1 on November 21, 1985.

The report of this inspection was published in January 1986 as NUREG-1J90..

, ' Based on the results of these special' inspections, it appears that certain of ,

, your-licensed activities were not conducted in full compliance with NRC require-  ;

ments. 'An Enforcement Conference was held with you and members of your staff  ;

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at the San Onofre site.on May 22, 198 ,

Item A in the enclosed Notice of Violation and Proposed' Imposition of Civil Penalties (Notice) involves the failure of five feedwater check valves to close i

. as designed' rendering the auxiliary feedwater flow path inoperable. With the

check valves not fully closed, the low pressure portion of the feedwater system on the suction side of the pumps:was overpressurized when the electrical power

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was-lost to the motors driving the pumps. The overpressure condition ruptured the housing of a' low pressure evaporator in the system. This in turn-permitted

the coolant flow from the auxiliary feedwater pumps to be diverted from the-

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steam generators and .a portion of the .feedwater lines to empty. Closure of

- selected isolation valves in'accordance with system emergency procedures re-stored auxiliary feedwater flow to the steam generators. However the resto-

, ration of the flow resulted in a water hammer event in.the "B" feedwater line t which caused significant line movement,and the failure of four pipe support ..

CERTIFIED MAIL RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED e ,

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9707180179 970700! n *

.PDR- FOIA -

i FOWLER 97-177 PDR g-

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( Southern California Edison Company -2-

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Item B in the enclosed Notice involves the failure of your test program to assure the continued operability of check valves in the feedwater syste Your failure to adequately test and maintain operability of the check valves within the feedwater system resulted in conditions which contributed to the water hammer event of November 21, 198 Item C in the enclosed Notice involves the failure to thoroughly analyze, evaluate, and identify the source of noise in the "B" feedwater line during plant operations in June 1985. Both the Onsite Review Committee and the Nuclear Safety Group reviewed and evaluated the results of radiographic examination of a block valve in the line and a noise analysis of the feedwater line. The noise analysis identified that the noise could be from either a failed block valve or a failed check valve. Neither the engineering group nor the safety committees addressed the safety consequences of multiple check valve failures in the feedwater lines. The valves were scheduled to be disassembled and examined during the next plant outage; however the valves were not inspected during the brief outages in August and September 1985 even though the

. outages were of sufficient duration to permit inspection of the valves suspected of being defectiv To emphasize the importance which the NRC attaches to maintaining operability of safety-related systems, effective testing programs, and the proper correc-tion of identified deficiencies, I have been authorized, after consultation with the Director, Office of Inspection and Enforcement, to issue the enclosed Notice of Violation and Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalties in the amount of One Hundred Eighty Thousand Dollars (5180,000) for the violations s.et forth in the enclosed Notice. Violation A has been categorized as a Severity Level II violation oder the " General Statement of Policy and Procedure -

for NRC Enforcement Actions," 10 CFR Part 2, Appendix C (1986) (Enforcement Policy), based on the inability of the auxiliary feedwater system to perform its intended safety function of providing auxiliary fee.dwater to the steam generators until operator actions were taken and be:ause it is of very '

significant regulatory concern. Violations B and'C have been categorized as l Severity Level III violations. The base civil penalties for Severity Level II l and III violations are 580,000 and 550,000, respectively. The escalation and I mitigation factors of the Enforcement Policy were considered and no mitigation J or escalation has been deemed appropriat '

You are required to respond to this letter and should follow the instructions specified in the enclosed Notice when preparing your response. In your response, you should document the specific actions taken and any additional l actions you plan to prevent recurrence. After reviewing your response to this !

Notice, including your proposed corrective actions, the NRC will determine whether further NRC enforcement action is necessary to ensure compliance with NRC regulatory requirement * ~~

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~f Southern California Edison Company -3-i In accordance with Section 2.790 of the NRC's " Rules of Practice," Part 2, Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, a copy of this letter, its enclosure, and your response will be placed in the NRC Publ.ic Document Roo The responses directed by this letter and the enclosed Notice are not subject to the clearance procedures of the Office of Management and Budget as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980, PL 96-51

Sincerely,

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fm RegionalAdminiktor Enclosure:

1. Notice of Violation and Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalties cc w/ enclosure:

K. P. Baskin, SCE H. B. Ray, SCE (San Clemente)

H. E. Morgan, SCE (San Clemente)

S. B. Allman, SDG&E

State of California

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