IR 05000309/1979003
| ML19274F792 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Maine Yankee |
| Issue date: | 05/01/1979 |
| From: | Keimig R, Lazarus W NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION I) |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19274F788 | List: |
| References | |
| 50-309-79-03, 50-309-79-3, NUDOCS 7908020121 | |
| Download: ML19274F792 (13) | |
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U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OFFICE OF INSPECTION AND ENFORCEMENT Region I Report No.
50-309/79-03 Docket No. 50-309 License No. DPR-36 Priority Category C
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Licensee:
Maine Yankee Atomic Power Company 20 Turnpike Road Westborough, Massachusetts 01581 Facility Name: Maine Yankee Atomic Power Station Inspection at: Wiscasset, Maine Inspection conducte M
, 20-23, and 27, 1979 Inspectors:
9-5/-78
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. J. Laza date signed
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date signed
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. RI KI Chief, ctor Projects date signed Section to 1, RO&'
Branch Approved b :
j j_ g
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V date' signed Inspection Summary:
Insoection on March 15, 20-23, and 27,1979 (Report No. 50-309/79-03)
Areas Inspected:
Routine, unannounced inspection by a regional based inspector of: compliance with comnission order to shutdown; plant operations including a review of shift logs and records, a tour of accessible areas, and observation of plant activities; licensee's onsite organization and administration; licensee's actions regarding selected IE Circulars and previous inspection findings; and followup of selected Licensee Event Reports. The inspection involved 35 inspector-hours on site by one NRC inspector.
Results: Of the five areas inspected, two apparent items of noncompliance were identified (Infraction - exceeded 1 hour1.157407e-5 days <br />2.777778e-4 hours <br />1.653439e-6 weeks <br />3.805e-7 months <br /> gaseous release rate limit; Infraction -
failure to follow procedure).
Region I Form 12 7 908 02OG\\
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(Rev. April 77)
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DETAILS 1.
Persons Contacted
- P. Anderson, Staff Assistant to the Plant Manager
- R. Arsenault, Assistant Operations Department Head J. Brinkler, Reactor and Computer Engineering Department Head
- C. Frizzle, Assistant Plant Manager W. Paine, Operations Department Head R. Painter, Maintenance Foreman R. Radasch, Acting I and C Department Head J. Stevens, Technical Assistant D. Sturniolo, Chemistry and HP Department Head B. Futhill, Assistant Engineer The inspector also interviewed several licensed operations personnel and members of the licensee's technical and administrative staffs.
- denotes those present at exit interview.
Other NRC Personnel Contacted J. Gianelli, Program Support Branch, D0R R. Gruff, EG&G Corporation S. Hosford, Mechanical Engineer, D0R C. Nelson, Licensing Project Manager, D0R W. Russel, Technical Assistant, D0R 2.
Licensee Action on Previous Insoection Findings (0 pen) Followup Item (309/77-17-27): The licensee has made progress in updating the Yellow Tag Log to delete tagout requests and clear tags on lifted leads which have subsequently become permanent modifications. The licensee expects to have the remaining tags in this category cleared by May 1,1979.
(Closed) Unresolved Item (309/78-13-01): The inspector reviewed procedure 11-2, Revision 4 and verified that it had been corrected as required.
(Closed) Unre;alved Item (309/78-23-03): The inspector reviewed procedure 1-13-2, Revision 3, which had been corrected to include the recurrence of going below RWST required boron concentratio.
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(Closed) Unresolved Item (309/78-23-04): The inspector reviewed procedure 1-4 which had been revised to incorporate a requirement for cperators to inform plant chemists when a power change had been performed which required a RCS iodine sample.
3.
Comoliance With Show Cause Order On March 13, 1979, the Commission issued a Show Cause Order requiring that the plant be in cold shutdown condition within 48 hours5.555556e-4 days <br />0.0133 hours <br />7.936508e-5 weeks <br />1.8264e-5 months <br /> of receipt of the Order, and remain shutdown until further order from the Commission pending resolution of questions concerning the ability of piping in certain safety related systems to withstand design seismic forces.
The inspector witnessed plant operations associated with the shutdown and cooldown of the plant and verified that as of 6:25 o.m. on March 15. 1979, the plant was in compliance with the order.
The following parameters were verified by the inspector by inspection of records or observation of instrumentation as noted.
Cold Shutdo.in Boron Concentration
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Computation of cold shutdown boron concentration was performed on March 13, 1979, in accordance with procedure 12-200, " Calculation of Shutdown Margin", Re. vision 1, showing a minimum required concentration of 840 ppm. A review of the Primary Chemistry Analysis Report of March 15, 1979, indicated boron concentration in the RCS of 1571 ppm and in the RHR System of 1645 ppm.
Reactor Ccolant System Temperature
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Technical Specification definition of cold shutdown requires that RCS average temperature be less than 210 F.
The inspector verified that as of 6:25 p.m. on March 15, 1979, RCS average temperatu'e, by Control Room indications was 207.
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Shutdown and Cooldown Procedures The inspector reviewed the following procedures, both completed by the licensee on March 15, 1979:
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1-5, Plant Shutdown, Revision 5; l-7, Plant Cooldown, Revision 8.
No items of noncompliance were identified.
4.
Organization and Administration a.
The licensee's organization and administration was reviewed to verify that:
The licensee's onsite organization structure is as described
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in the Technical Specification;
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Personnel qualification levels are in conformance with applicable codes or standards as described in the Technical Specifications;
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Authorities and responsibilities of licensee personnel are as delineated in the Technical Specifications and applicable standards;
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Minimum shift crew composition and licensed personnel re-quirements are in compliance with Technical Specifications; Onsite and offsite safety review committee membership and
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qualifications are as required by Technical Specifications; and,
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Changes in organization and structure have been reported to the NRC as required by Technical Specifications.
b.
The review included discussions with licensee personnel and review of Technical Specifications and the following standards, plant procedures, and records.
ANSI N18.1, 1971, " Selection anu Training of Nuclear
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Power Plant Personnel."
ANSI N18.7,1972, " Administrative Controls for Nuclear
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Power Plants':.
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1-201-2 Responsibilities and Authorities of Operating
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Personnel, Original.
Plant Organization Chart, dated September 1,1977.
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Technical Specification Proposed Change PC-66-1 of July
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17, 1978.
The inspector noted that several changes to plant organization had been made and had been reported as required in a proposed change to Technical Specifications (PC-66-1, July 17, 1978)
whicn has not yet been issued by NRR.
Changes included personnel title changes, addition of a Fire Protection Supervisor, and deletion of the Administrative Supervisor.
A new I and C Department Head (Acting) has been designated.
The inspector verified by review of personne7 training / qualification records for the individual that the requirements of ANSI N18.1-1971 were met.
Several organizational changes proposed for the near future were discussed along with the need for additional proposed changes to Technical Specifications to report the changes.
These changes will be reviewed in a subsequent inspection after the organizational changes have been implemented.
No items of noncompliance were identified.
5.
Unplanned Release of Airborne Radioactivity At 1:15 p.m. on March 15, 1979, while cooling down the plant to cold shutdown conditions, a leak of primary coolant into the Spray Building was experienced when an attempt was made to establish shutdown cooling with the Residual Heat Removal (RHR) System. The leakage occurred from a body to bonnet leak on Containment Spray Valve CS-M-2.
The isolation valve to CS-M-2 was closed to stop the leakage, but it leaked part its seat allowing the release to the Spray Building to continue until 2:45 p.m. when operators became aware of the fact that the leak had not been isolated and secured the RHR System, stopping the leak. The resulting gaseous activity release rate via the primary vent stack was calculated to be 78,604
cubic meters /second which is in excess of the one hour release rate limit of 31,000 cubic meters /second imposed by Technical Specification 3.17. A. 3.
This represents an infraction level item of noncompliance (309/79-03-01).
While following up en this incident, the inspector noted an entry in the Centrol Room Operator's Log for 2:40 a.m. on March 16, 1979, that indicated that the Spray Building ventilation exhaust filters were placed in service at that time.
Subsequent discussion with the Assistant Operations Department Head revealed that the HEAA and charcoal filter beds had unintentionally bypassed throughout the release up until 2:40 a.m. on fiarch 16.
Procedure 1-12-3, " Control Area Ventilation", Revision 3, paragraph 2.6 requires that Spray Building ventilation exhaust be directed to the filters whenever airborne radioactivity exceeds 5 E-10 uc/cc, to limit the amounts of iodine and other particulates released to the environment.
Gross airborne activity levels in the Spray Building were initially 2.8 E-5 uc/cc at 1:40 p.m. on March 15, and remained greater than 5 E-10 uc/cc throughout the period in question.
Failure to adhere to this procedure as required by Technical Specification 5.8.1, represents an infraction level item of noncompliance (309/79-03-02).
6.
Shift Loas and Operatir.g Records a.
The inspector reviewed the following plant procedures to determine the licensee established administrative requirements in this area in preparation for review of various logs and records.
0-06-01, " Procedure Preparation, Classification, and Format."
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0-06-2, " Procedure Review, Approval, and Distribution."
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0-09-1, " Reporting Requiruents. "
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0-09-2, " Reportable Occurrence Reports."
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0-10-3, " Maintenance of Operations Department Logs."
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SP-3.1.1, " Routine Instrumentation Surveillance. "
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16.1, " Maine Yankee Operation Safeguard, Yellow Tag - Control
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Log."
The above procedures, Technical Specifications, and ANSI N18.7-1972, " Quality Assurance Requirements for Nuclear Power
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Plants", and 10 CFR 50.59 were used by the inspector to determine the acceptability of logs and records reviewed.
b.
Shift logs and operating records were reviewed to verify that:
Control Room logs and shift surveillance sheets are
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properly completed and that selected Technical Speci-fication limits were met.
Control Room log entries involving abnormal conditions
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provide sufficient detail to communicate eculpment status, lockout status, correction, and restoration; Log Book reviews are being conducted by the staff;
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Operating orders do not conflict with Technical Specifi-
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cations requirements;
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Jumper (Bypass) log does not contain bypassing discrepar.cies with Technical Specification requirements and that jumpers are properly approved and installed.
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Plant Information Reports confirm that there is no violation of Technical Specification requirements.
c.
The following plant logs and operating records were reviewed.
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Control Room Operators' Log for March 1-21, 1979.
Control Room Log Sheets I and II and Primary and Secondary
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Side Logs for February 25-March 17, 1979.
Compliance with the following Technical Specification limits were verified.
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PWST and RWST level Diesel fuel supply
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Quadrant power tilt (Tq)
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Axial flux offset
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FI tank pressure and level
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Cardox Pressure and level
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All effective Operating Memos.
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Yellow Tag Control Log Request forms (all effective),
including verification of proper approval and placement of tags 79-1 through 79-7 associated with blocking automatic actuation of Safety Injection, Containment Spray, Recirculation, and Containment Isolation (due to plant cold shutdown).
Except as noted below no items of noncompliance or other inadequacies were identified.
d.
Control of RPS Chcnnel Trio / Bypass Keys The licensee revised procedure 16-1, " Maine Yankee Operation Safeguard - Yellow Tag Control Log", to exempt the RPS channel bypass keys from centrols Jnder the procedure. The keys are now under the control of tne Senior Control Room Operator (SCRO) who documents approval for and installation of the keys in the Control Room Operators' Log.
Since the Plant Shift Superintendent (PSS; controls all other safety-related jumpers and bypasses and there is no requiremint for the SCR0 to review the status of these jumpers and bypasses wnen assuming the watch, the inspector expressed concern that the SCR0 could bypass an RPS channel without knowing that at the same time the PSS had authorized a different channel to be deenergized.
The licensee acknowledged the inspector's concern and is reevalutating this method of control of the RPS channel bypass keys.
This item is unresolved (309/79-03-03).
7.
Plant Tour The inspector conducted a tour of accessible areas of the plant including the Prima"y Auxiliary Building, Ventilation Equipment Room, Spray Building, Auxiliary Feed Pump area, Turbine Building, Switchgear Rooms, HP Control Point, Diesel Generator Rooms, and the Control Coom.
Details are noted below.
a.
Monitoring Instrumentation and Annunciators Control Board annunciators were checked for alarms, abnormal for plant conditions, on several occasions during the inspection.
None were identified.
The following monitoring instrumentation was checked to verify that required instrumentation was operable and that, where applicable, values indicated were in accordance with Technical Specification,
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SI Tank Isolation Valve Closed
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SI Tank Pressure Low
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SI Tar,< Level Low
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SI Bloc ked
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Containnent Spray Blocked
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Containment Recirculation Blocked Containment Isolation Blocked
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SI Loss of Control
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RMS Process and Area Monitors
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All were indicating normal levels except.for " Primary Vent Stack Gaseous Activity" channel which was alarming during the release from the Spray Building as noted in detail 5.
CEA Posit.cn Indication
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All rods were on the bottom except group A which were at 50 steps to provide an increased shutdown margin while cooling down.
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Reactor Coolant System Pressure and Temperature Normal for cold shutdown condition.
No items of noncompliance were identified.
b.
Radiation Controls Radiation controls established by the licensee, including posting of radiation areas, the condition of step off pads, and the disposal of protective clothing were observed for conformance with the Maine Yankee Radiation Protection Manual.
MYAPC Radia+, ion Work Permits issued for the insoection of the Primary Auxiliary Building and Reactor Containment were reviewed for proper documentation and compliance.
RWP's issued on March 15-16, 1979, for entry into the Spray Building were reviewed and computation of the indicated MPC's and stay times were discussed with the HP Superviso '
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No inadequacies were identified, c.
Plant Housekeeping and Fire Protection Plant housekeeping conditions, including general cleanliness and' storage of material to prevent fire hazards, were observed in all areas toured for conformance with the flaine Yankee Plant Safety fianual.
The inspector noted that general plant housekeeping conditions were good.
Cardox tank pressure and level was verified to be normal and the main transformer deluge system was set for automatic actuation.
d.
Fluid Leaks and Pipino Vibrations Systems and equipment in all areas toured were observed for the existence of fluid leaks and abnormal piping vibrations.
None were identified.
e.
Control Room Manning / Shift Turnover Control Room manning was reviewed for confonnance with the requirements of 10 CFR 50.54(k) and Technical Specifications.
The inspector observed that appropriate licensed operators were on shift as specified by the posted shift schedule on several occasions during the inspection, and manning requirements were met at all times.
Several shift turnovers were observed during the course of the inspection.
All were noted to be thorough and orderly.
8.
Meeting to Discuss Reanalysis of Piping Systems for Seismic Loads The inspector attended a meeting between representatives frcm Central Maine Power Company, Maine Yankee Atomic Power Company, Stone and Webster Coupany, and NRR division of Operating Reactors.
Th purpose of the meeting was for NRR to review documentation of the reanalysis performed on the seismic design of safety related systems which had originally been analyzed with a possibly non-conservative computer program.
Following the meeting, the inspector accompanied the NRR team on an inspection tour of protions of primary and secondary component cooling systems and the PJiR System.
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9.
In-Office Review of Licensee Event Reoorts (LER's)
The inspector reviewed LER's received in RI office to verify that details of the event were clearly reported including the accuracy of the description of cause and adequacy of corrective action.
The inspector also determined whether further information was required from the licensee, whether generic implications were indicated, and whether the event warranted on site followuo. The following LER's were reviewed.
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78-026, RPS Matrix Trip Rela / Malfunction 78-027, Missed Steam Generator Gross Activity Sample
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78-028, Failure to Review Temporary Procedure Change When Required 78-029, RPS Channel C TM/LP Malfunction
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79-001, Loss of Minimt.:n Degree of Redundancy for RPS Start-up
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Rate Trip
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79-002, RPS Matrix Trip Relay Malfunction 79-003, SIAS Channel Setpoint Drift
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79-004, RPS Channel C Tg and SOTC Malfunction
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79-005, Nonconservative Computer Code used om Seismic Design of Safety Related Piping.
Except as noted below for those LER's identified by (*), the inspactor had no further questions in this area.
10.
On Site Licensee Event Followuo For those LER's selected for on site followup, the inspector verified that reporting requirements of Technical Specifications and Regulatory Guide 1.16 had been met, that appropriate corrective action had been taken, that the event was reviewed by the licensee as required, and that continued operation of the facility was conducted within Technical Specification limits The review included discussions with licensee personnel, review of PORC meeting minutes, Plant Information Reports (in-house reports), and applicable logs. The following LER's were reviewed on sit,
..78-026 and 79-002, RPS Matrix Trip Relay Malfunction
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This has been a repetitive malfunction and is being investigated by the vendor.
The licensee is pursuing plans to replace these mercury-wetted relays with a more reliable dry contact relay.
The inspector will continue to follow the licensee's and vendor's progress in resolving these failures.79-005, Nonconservative Computer Code used in Piping Design.
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Inspector followup on this item is documented in details 3 and 8.
11.
IE Circulars Licensee action concerning the following IE Circular was reviewed by the inspector to verify that:
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The Circular was forwarded to appropriate onsite management; A review for applicability was performed; and,
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Appropriate corrective action was taken.
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--IEC 79-02, Failure of 120 Volt Vital AC Power Supplies.
The inspector verified that the Circular had been received on site, reviewed by the Plant Engineering Quality Assurance Group, which determined that the design of Maine Yankee 120 volt vital buses was significantly different from that described in the Circular, thus requiring no corrective action. The inspector had no further questions in this area.
12.
Increased Iodine Levels in RCS In the followup of iodine releases from the Spray Buildir; (see detail 5), the inspector reviewed the Primary Chemistry Analysis Reports for the period February 1-March 16, 1979, for gross activity and Dose Equivalent Iodine-131 calculations.
Results of this review indicated a significant jump in both gross activity (5.73 mci /ml) and iodine levels (9.29 E-2 mci /ml) on March 5, 1979, and a jump in gross activity again on March 13, 1979, (10.34 mci /ml).
Eight hours following the shutdown on March 15, 1979, D.F. Iodine-131 level was 2.06 mci /ml.
The licensee is aware of the recent indication of fuel cladding degradation and is investigat11g the situatio.
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The inspector informed the licensee that an LER is required on this item.
RCS chemistry trends will be evaluated during subsequent inspections.
13.
Review of Periodic Reports The inspector reviewed the Monthly Operating Reports for December 1978 -February 1979 in the Region I office to verify that reporting requirements were met.
No items of noncompliance were identified.
14. Unresolved Items Unresolved items are items for which more information is required to determine if they are acceptable, items of noncompliance, or deviations.
Unresolved items identified during this report are discussed in paragraph 6.d.
15.
Exit Interview The inspector met with licensee representatives (see detail 1 for attendees) at the conclusion of the inspection to discuss the scope and findings of the inspection as detailed in this report.