IR 05000271/1979006
| ML19270H312 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Vermont Yankee File:NorthStar Vermont Yankee icon.png |
| Issue date: | 04/19/1979 |
| From: | Mccabe E, Stetka T NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION I) |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19270H310 | List: |
| References | |
| 50-271-79-06, 50-271-79-6, NUDOCS 7906260175 | |
| Download: ML19270H312 (8) | |
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U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OFFICE OF INSPECTION AND ENFORCEMENT Region I Report No.
50-271/79-06 Docket No.
50-271
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License No. DPR-28 Priority
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. Category C
Licensee:
Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corporation 20 Turnpike Road Westborough, Massachusetts 01581 Facility Name: Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station Inspection at: Vernon, Vermont Inspection conducted:
March 20-23, 1979 Inspectors:
NN
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/9/79 T. F. Stetka, Re' actor Inspector
' date signed date signed date signed Approved by:
8. C. bCi-Mu 4 l 19 h 9 E. C. McCabe, Jr., Chief, Reactor Projects date signed Section No. 2, RO&NS Branch Insoection Summary:
Inspection on March 20-23, 1979 (Report No. 50-271/79-06)
Areas Inspected:
Routine, unannounced inspection of fuel shuffling program and activities, plant operations, planned startup testing program, station personnel change, and licensee action on previous inspection findings.
The report also documents in-office review of Licensee Event Reports (LERs), an Annual Report, and a Monthly Operating Report.
The inspection involved 34 hours3.935185e-4 days <br />0.00944 hours <br />5.621693e-5 weeks <br />1.2937e-5 months <br /> onsite by one NRC regional based inspector.
Noncompliances:
None 2318 123 Region I Form 12 (Rev. April 77)
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DETAILS 1.
Persons Contacted Mr. D. Abely, Technical Assistant
- Mr. R. Burke, Engineering Support Supervisor
- Mr. W. Conway, Plant Superintendent Mr. A. Diaz, I&C Supervisor
- Mr. D. Girroir, Engineering Assistant Mr. S. Jefferson, Reactor and Computer Supervisor
- Mr. T. Keenan, Director of Engineering and Operations
- Mr. B. Leach, Health Physicist
- Mr. W. Murphy, Assistant Plant Supervisor Mr. J. Pelletier, Maintenance Supervisor Mr. W. Penniman, Security Supervisor Mr. D. Pullin, GE Resident Manager
- Mr. R. Sojka, Operations Supervisor
- Mr. G. Weyman, Chemistry and HP Supervisor The inspectors also interviewed several other licensee personnel during the course of this inspection.
These employees included operations, engineering, maintenance, and health physics personnel.
- present at the exit interview.
2.
Licensee Action on Previous Inspection Items (0 pen) Unresolved Item (271/79-04-02):
The detailed Battelle In-stitute report has not yet been received by the licensee.
The report is now expected by March 31, 1979.
(Closed) Noncompliance (271/78-29-04):
Discussion with licensee management personnel and experience with licensee reporting practices subsequent to this inspection date indicate implementation of a more diligent review process.
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(0 pen) Noncompliance (271/78-29-03): The licensee has reviewed their present valve tagging status and has added any missing tags.
It has been decided that a modification will be undertaken to physically separate existing interconnections between the de-mineralized water system and instrument racks.
This modification will be performed during the 1979 Refueling Outage scheduled for September 22, 1979.
The licensee is revising procedures AP 0155, and AP 0156.
These revisions will be completed and the procedures issued by May 15, 1979.
(Closed) Unresolved Item (271/78-29-02):
Procedure OP 2110, Reactor Recirc. System, has been revised as Revision 8 to include the requirements of Technical Specification 3.6.J.
(0 pen) Unresolved Item (271/78-29-01): The licensee is preparing a Loss of Containment Integrity procedure.
This procedure is presently in the licensee's routing circuit for comment.
The procedure is expected to be reviewed, approved and issued by June 1,1979.
(0 pen) Unresolved Item (271/79-04-01): The Night Orders of February 21, 1979 reminded operators of control room manning requirements and about 80% of the operators have been briefed on this issue.
Procedure AP 0150 has been revised and is presently in the licensee's review circuit.
Operator briefings will be completed and AP 0150 will be issued by May 15, 1979.
(Closed) Noncompliance (271/78-22-04):
Procedures OP 1100, OP 1101, and OP 1410 have been revised to incorporate the provisions of ANSI N18.7-1976.
3.
Fuel Shuffling Program The licensee decided to shutdown the facility on March 17, 1979 to replace leaking fuel (see NRC Report 50-271/79-04 dated March 20, 1979).
Suspected leaking fuel (Type 8D274) will be replaced with previously exposed fuel (Type 80219) which is presently stored in the spent fuel pool.
The suspected fuel will be wet sipped to determine or confirm clad failure.
It is expected that between approximately 40 to 128 fuel bundles will be replaced.
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The licensee and reactor vendor (General Electric) have not yet determined the failure mode of the fuel.
An ongoing investigation is continuing in this regard and will be followed in subsequent inspections.
The inspector queried the licensee with regard to the review and safety evaluation of the Type 8D219 fuel in place of the Type 8D274 fuel.
A licensee representative responded that a partial review of this use has been made and no problems have been identi-fied, however a detailed review is being made by the reactor vendor.
The detailed review is not complete.
When the review is complete, it will be evaluated by the Plant Operations Review Committee (PORC). This item (271/79-06-01) is unresolved pending examination of the PORC evaluation.
4.
Review of Plant Operations The inspector reviewed selected facility operations logs, reviewed selected surveillance tests used to demonstrate component operability, and toured areas of the facility to determine that operations were in accordance with the Technical Specifications (TS).
As identified in paragraph 3, above, the facility is presently engaged in a refueling outage; therefore, the review of plant opera-tions included refueling operations in progress and the determina-tion that all necessary systems for this mode of operation were functional.
a.
The Shift Supervisor's Log, Control Room Operators' Logs, Work Request Log, Maintenance Request Log, Jumper / Lifted Lead Log, and Auxiliary Operators' Logs were reviewed.
This review, combined with panel observations in the control room and observa-tion of various parameters throughout the facility during the plant tours verified that the following requirements were being adhered to:
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Source Range instruments inserted and indicating a count rate greater than 3 cps; Senior Reactor Operators in the control room and on the
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refueling floor during core alterations;
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Refueling interlocks were functionally tested within one week of the start of core alterations and were subsequently tested on weekly basis; 2318 126
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Fuel movement step completions were documented on the fuel loading schedule and the core and spent fuel pool status boards on the refueling floor and in the control room were accurate and up-to-date; Required communications channels between the refueling
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floor and control room were operable; Daily inspections of the refuel platform grapple and cable
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were conducted and logged in the Control Room Operators'
Log;
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Spent fuel pool level and temperature were within TS requirements;
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Fuel movement was not commenced until at least 24 hours2.777778e-4 days <br />0.00667 hours <br />3.968254e-5 weeks <br />9.132e-6 months <br /> after reactor shutdown; Containment integrity was established and maintained; and,
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Standby Gas Treatment (SBGT) Systems were operable.
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No items of noncompliance were identified.
b.
A facility tour was conducted of the following areas:
All levels of the reactor building;
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Refueling floor including observation of fuel movements and fuel sipping operations;
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Turbine building;
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Diesel Generator rooms;
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Cable Spreading room; and, Rad Waste building.
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Due to the facility's refueling outage status, particular emphasis was placed on radiation area controls and plant housekeeping conditions.
The tours identified the following:
(1) Plant housekeeping was observed to be effective and acceptable.
The licensee has taken actions to assure these conditions are maintained.
(2)
Radiation control zones were observed to verify proper identification and implementation. These observations included review of step-off pad conditions, disposal of anti-contamination clothing and area posting.
No items of noncompliance were identified.
5.
Review of Fuel Shuffling Activities The following procedures were reviewed prior to commencement of fuel shuffling activities to verify that Technical Specification (TS) requirements were included.
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OP 0112 Shutdown Operations, Rev. 2;
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AP 1000 Refueling, Rev. 4;
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OP 1100 Refuel Platform Operation, Rev. 8;
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OP 1101 Fuel Assembly Movement, Rev. 8;
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OP 1410 Fuel Loading, Rev. 7;
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RP 1620 Fuel Sipping, Rev. 5;
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OP 4420 SRM Core Monitoring Check (Refueling), Rev. 6; and,
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OP 4102 Refuel Outage Tests, Rev. 8.
In addition, fuel movement activities and fuel sipping operations i
were observed during the facility tours as described in paragraph 4.b.
No inadequacies were identified.
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6.
Startup Testing Program The inspector reviewed the planned startup test program and dis-cussed these plans with cognizant licensee personnel to verify compliance with Technical Specification requirements.
A modified startup test program is planned that will encompass the per-formance of the following procedures:
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OP 4101, RPV Operational Hydro Test, Rev. 7;
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OP 1411, Core Verification, Rev. 3;
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0F 4111, Control Rod Drive System Surveillance, Rev. 9;
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OP 4424, Control Rod Scram Testing, Rev. 4;
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OP 4426, Shutdown Margin Check, Rev. 6; OP 4430, Reactivities Anomalies, Rev. 4; and,
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DP 5401, Data Shuffling and Data Checks for Process Computer
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at B0C, Original issue.
No inadequacies were identified.
7.
Station Personnel Change The position of station chemist will change personnel on April 1, 1979.
The individual assuming this position is presently a Chemistry and Health Physics Assistant at the station.
The inspector reviewed this individual's qualifications to verify that these qualifications were consistent with facility Technical Specifications and in conformance with the requirements of ANSI 18.1-1971.
No inadequacies were identified.
8.
NRC In Office Review a.
NRC:RI in office review of LERs 79-03 and 79-04 has been com-pleted with no unacceptable conditions identified.
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b.
NRC:RI in office review of the Vermont Yankee 1978 Annual Report, submitted in accordance with 10 CFR 50.59(b), has been completed.
In addition, a review of specific areas of this report (PDCR 77-7, and EDCR's 77-19 and 78-03) were reviewed onsite with no unacceptable conditions identified.
c.
NRC:RI in office review of the Monthly Report for January,1979 was completed and no unacceptable conditions were identified.
9.
Unresolved Items Unresolved items are those items for which further information is required to determine whether they are acceptable or items of non-compliance.
An unresolved item is contained in Paragraph 3 of this report.
10.
Exit Interview
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The inspector met with licensee representatives (denoted in Para-graph 1) at the conclusion of the inspection on March 23, 1979 and summarized the scope and findings of the inspection as they are detailed in this report.
During this meeting, the unresolved item was identified.
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