IR 05000312/1979023
| ML19270H831 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Rancho Seco |
| Issue date: | 11/07/1979 |
| From: | Canter H, Faulkenberry B NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION V) |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19270H821 | List: |
| References | |
| 50-312-79-23, NUDOCS 8001040034 | |
| Download: ML19270H831 (8) | |
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U. S. NUCLEAR REGUIATORY C0!SiISSION OFFICE OF INSPECTION AND ENFORCEMENT
REGION V
Report No.
50-312/79-23 50-312 License No.
DPR-54 Docket No.
Safeguards Group Licensee:
Sacramento Municipal Utility District P. O. Box 15830 Sacramento, California 95813 Rancho Seco Facility Name:
Inspection at:
Herald, California 95638 (Rancho Seco Site)
October 1-31, 1979 Inspection conducted:
Inspectors: b/itdd ekd., [tU h w;4 i (- ///7//
tt Hahvey L. Cantef, Residhdt Inspector Date Signed Date Signed Date Signed Approved By: IbI" b
Ada., u. e 7 /9/9 i
t,.
B. H. FauTkenberry, Chi eactor Projects Section 2, Date Signed Reactor Operations nd fluclear Support Branch S ur::: nary :
Inspection between October 1 and October 31, i979 (Report flo. 50-312/79-23)
Areas Inspected:
Routine inspections of plant operations; maintenance; physical security; surveillance testing; radiological, chemical and environmental operations; new fuel receipt and handling; licensee event reporting; preparations for refueling; review and audit; and, independent inspection effort.
The inspection involved 107 inspector-hours by the flRC Resident Inspector.
Resul t_s :
One item of roncompliance was identified in one area (Physical Security).
RV Form 219 (2)
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DETAILS 1.
Persons Contacted R. Rodriguez, Manager, fluclear Operations
- P. Oubre, Plant Superintendent fl. Brock, Supervisor, fluclear Instruments
- G. Coward, Maintenance Supervisor
- R. Colombo, Technical Assistant
- W. Ford, Operations Supervisor
- G. Hammond, Special Agent H. Hechert, Engineering Technician J. McColligan, Mechanical Engineering Supervisor
- R. Miller, Chemistry and Radiological Supervisor
- L. Schwieger, Manager of Quality Assurance J. Sullivan, Quality Assurance Supervisor D. Whitney, Senior Nuclear Engineer The inspector also interviewed and talked with other licensee employees during the course of the inspection.
These included shift supervisors, reactor operators, auxiliary operators, maintenance personnel, security personnel, plar.t technicians, helpers and engineers, and quality assurance personnel.
- Denotes those attending the exit interviews.
2.
Plant Operations a.
Facility Operating Records The inspector examined the log entries contained in the control room log, the shift supervisor's log, and various other logs for facility operations performed during October 1979.
The log entries were con-sistent with the requirements of facility administrative orders and were found to accurately reflect the operational status of the facility.
Station orders issued by the operations supervision were consistent with the intent of the facility technical specifications, license conditions, and IE Bulletin requirements.
Sufficient information was contained in the control room log and shift supervisor's log tc identify potential problems and to verify compliance with technical specification report-ing requirements and limiting conditions for operation.
b.
Facility Tours and Observation of Operations Tours of the facility were made by the Resident Inspector in the auxiliary building, fuel building, turbine building and other access-ible vital areas.
During the tours, the following assessments of equipment and plant conditions were made.
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(1) A number of limiting conditions for operation and limiting safety system settings were reviewed by the inspector and determined to be in compliance with technical specification and license requirements.
(2)
Routine plant effluent chemistry sampling was observed by the Resident Inspector.
The liquid samples were analyzed consistent with facility procedures.
(3) Control room observations indicated that facility manning was in accordance with regulatory requirements.
Shift turnovers were found to be in accordance with presently approved watchstanding practices.
Two or more operators were noted to be in the control room at all times.
(4)
System alignment and operability of various engineered safeguards systems were verified to be correct by the Resident Inspector.
(5)
Piping systems which were observed, appeared to show normal vibration levels and leakage.
(6) Plant housekeeping / cleanliness conditions in controlled areas were appropriate for the work occurring in the areas. There were no visible, loose items which could fall into the spent fuel pool.
(7)
Radiation controls appeared to be properly established.
(8)
Instrumentation for monitoring the status of the plant were in opera tion.
flo items of noncompliance or deviations were identified.
3.
Physical Security With one exception, based on discussions with various licensee representatives, observations, and examination of facility procedures, the inspector verified that the measures employed for the physical protection of the facility were consistent with the requirements of the physical security plan, applicable administrative orders, and regulatory requirements.
Specific aspects of phys-ical protection examined by the inspector included the following:
a.
Properly closed and locked protected area and vital area barriers.
b.
Properly conducted personnel, vehicle and package searches.
c.
Adequate security organization manning.
d.
Proper shift turnover, shift routines, and communications procedures.
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e.
Proper weapons qualifications and agility testing performed.
f.
Properly authorized, identified and badged personnel being provided access to the protected area and vital areas.
g.
Proper escorts provided for personnel and vehicles when required inside the protected area.
One area was not conducted in compliance with the physical security plan (see Appendix A).
(79-23-01)
4.
Mainentance Records of maintenance operations on the Nuclear Service Cooling Water (NSCW)
seismic support work, fire protection modifications, and security modifi-cations were examined by the inspector.
Some of the work mentioned above was observed while in progress. All work observed or examined appeared to have been performed in accordance with established procedures and technical specification requirements.
The Resident Inspector made the following obser-vations in relation to the work performed on the above mentioned systems:
a.
Applicable limiting conditions for operation as specified in the technical specifications were apparently met during maintenance.
b.
System tagging operations and plant status controls properly indicated the performance of maintenance activities.
c.
Maintenance was performed by qualified members of the maintenance organization.
For selected work performed on the NSCW system, welders were determined to be properly qualified.
d.
Work requests had been properly prepared to provide the required administrative approval prior to initiating the work and prior to returning systems to service.
No items of noncompliance or deviations were identified.
5.
Radiological Protection Operations During plant tours, the Resident Inspector verified that the posting require-ments of 10 CFR 19 and 10 CFR 20 were met.
Radiation control barriers were examined and found to be properly posted and to have been maintained consistent with facility procedures and operat-ing practices.
Workers observed by the inspector were found to comply with the requirements of the radiation work permits.
Work performed within radiologically-controlled areas was found to have been properly authorized in accordancewith work requests.
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While witnessing pipe support work in the Tank Farm Area, the inspector noticed welders entering and leaving what appeared to be.a controlled area, in that a rope barrier was lying on the ground near the entrance point.
Discussions with health physics personnel prompted their review of the situation and they subsequently determined the area not to be a con-trolled area.
fio items of noncompliance or deviations were identified.
6.
Surveillance Testing Selected parts of Surveillance Test SP 207.04B (weekly RCS Leakage Test),
and Surveillance Test SP 200.02-2 (Daily Instrumentation Surveillance)
were witnessed by the. Resident Inspector. Approved copies of the proce-dures were used for test performance and diccrnnancir;s were handled in accordance with approved procedures.
An examination of the unidentified le:kage data covering tiie last two month period was reviewed by the Resident Inspector.
This leakage data has been trended by the licensee and shows a fairly constant leakage rate, over the two month period, of 0.6 to 0.7 gpm.
fio items of noncompliance or deviations were identified.
7.
Review and Audit The Resident Inspector attended an exit interview in which the results of the Joint Utility llanagement Audit Team audit were discussed.
The audit was a review of functional activities of upper management in their routine and on-going assessment of portions of the Quality Assurance Program.
It was performed by an inter-utility audit team from the Washington Public Power Supply System, fiebraska Public Power District, and Power Authcrity State of flew York.
The Resident Inspector also attended an f4SRC (!4anagement Safety Review Committee) meeting on the subject of lessons learned from the Three f4ile Island Accident.
fio items of noncompliance or deviations were identified.
8.
Preparation for Refueling The licensee has a refueling outage scheduled for January 1980.
In preparation for the outage, the Resident Inspector examined portions of the below listed documents to verify they are technically adequate and have received proper approval for use.
a.
AP.16, Revision 6 (Control and Accountability for Special fluclear f4a terial s)
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b.
A.13, Revision 7 (Fuel and Component Handling)
c.
B.8, Revision 3 (Refueling)
The Resident Inspector also examined the licensee's system for overall outage control. An elaborate status board and computer update listings are the main features of the outage control system.
fio items of noncompliance or deviations were identified.
9.
flew Fuel Receipt The receipt and handling of a sample of new fuel received onsite on October 15, 1979, was witnessed by the f1RC Resident Inspector. The fuel was received, handled and inspected in accordance with approved procedures.
fio items of noncompliance or deviations were identified.
10.
Licensee Event Reports The Resident Inspector conducted an initial screening, examination, and follow-up on the following licensee event reports.
This inspection activ-ity was conducted in part to determine whether or not the reporting require-ments have been met, the reports are adequate to assess the event, the cause appears accurate and is supported by report details, corrective actions are appropriate to correct the cause, generic aspects of the events have been considered, and the Licensee Event Report (LER) forms are complete.
a.
LER 79-03, Failure of SIA Inverter (Closed):
Failure was due to breaker undervoltage trip coil problens.
The problem was repaired in concurrence with the breaker manufacturer's recommendations and consisted of the addition of a voltage limiting resistor to the undervoltage tripping coil circuit. Also, the Class I Inverters (Sl A, SlB, SIC, and SID) had their input breakers replaced to preclude excess service life from causing future failures.
b.
LER 79-05, Inoperable Hydraulic Snubbers (Closed)
Two inoperable hydraulic snubbers were discovered during a visual inspection of 77 normally " inaccessible" snubbers.
Both were repaired and returned to service.
The surveillance interval was decreased to six months on these snubbers in accordance with technical specification requirements.
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LER 79-06, Small Break Analysis / Tripping of Reactor Coolant Pumps (Closed):
SMUD has implemented the requirements of IE Bulletin 79-05C by instructing operators to immediately trip all operating Reactor Cool-ant Pumps upon reactor trip and initiation of High Pressure Injection caused by low reactor coolant system pressure. This action is intended to preclude exceeding 10 CFR 50, Appendix K, criteria.
d.
LER 79-07, Piping Supports flot Meeting Safety Factors in IE Bulletin 79-02 Closed)
The plant was shut down for a period of 54 hours6.25e-4 days <br />0.015 hours <br />8.928571e-5 weeks <br />2.0547e-5 months <br /> to modify the six anchors of concern. The systems which were effected were the
"A" and "B" Decay Heat Systems and the "B" fluclear Service Raw Water System.
e.
LER 79-03, Decay Heat Pu.ap Seal Leakage (Closed):
Seal leakage exceeded the technical specification limit of 0.63 gph as discovered during the performance of a surveillance test on the "B" Decay Heat Pump. The seal was replaced and the system returned to service..
f.
LER 79-09, Low Boron Concentration in the BWST (Closed)
A plant shutdown was commenced at the time the chemical sample indicated less than 1800 ppm boron in the Borated Water Storage Tank (BWRT). A 50 MWe power reduction in one hour was associated with this event, while the boron concentration was returned to above the technical specifica-tion limit.
The corrective action consisted of instructing Operations personnel to add concentrated boric acid to the BWST when the concentra-tion drops to 1825 ppm rather than wait until the 1800 limit is reached.
fio items of noncompliance or deviations were identified.
11.
Independent Inspection Effort Discussions were held with operations, security and maintenance personnel in an attempt to better understand problems they may have which are related to nuclear sa fety. These discussions will continue as a standard practice for the Resident Inspector.
On numerous occasions during the month of October, the Resident Inspector attended the morning status meetings.
These meetings are held by the Operations Supervisor to provide all disciplines onsite with a daily update on the plant status and ongoing maintenance work.
Due to improperly built seismic restraints on the iiuclear Service Cooling Water "A" Pump discharge line, the plant was forced to shutdown to repair 1683 W8
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the restraints.
The Resident Inspector witnessed portions of the shutdown and verified that proper approvals were obtained prior to startup.
flo items of noncompliance or deviations were identified.
12.
Environmental Protection Operations The Resident Inspector witnessed the licensee's sampling of milk, vegetation and water.
All the samples were packaged and sent offsite for anlaysis. The person taking the milk samples followed the instructions given to him, and the instructions were determined by the Resident Inspector to be in accordance with approved procedures.
The possibility of contaminating samples by not using standard cleanliness practices with the chemicals that are added to the milk samples was discussed with the person taking the samples.
There was no apparent contamination problem involved with the gathering of the four samples witnessed by the Resident Inspector.
The quarterly maintenance check of eight air samples around the Rancho Seco countryside was witnessed by the inspector.
The Lodi air samples had an "0" ring missing; however, this missing
"0" ring did not appear to adversely affect the sample being taken in that two other
"0" rings were in place to seal the sample.
The licensee will replace the missing
"0" ring.
All vacuum checks indicated greater than the 20 inch acceptance criteria.
fio items of noncompliance or deviations were identified.
13.
Exit Interviews The flRC Resident Inspector met with licensee representatives (denoted in Paragraph 1) on October 18, 1979, and flovember 1,19M.
During these meet-ings, the inspector summarized the scope and findingi of the October 1979 Resider' inspection effort.
The one physical security item of noncompliance as discussed at the exit meetings (79-23-01).
Item 79-21-01 which dealt with control room operators spending excessise time on answering the phone is Closed.
The security organization now handles the site phone system during off hours.
Unresolved item 79-21-04 was addressed again during the flovember 1,19'9, exit.
This item deals with the propriety of removing the safety features signals frem valve SFV 23616, the reactor coolant pump seal injection ;upply line isolation valve, without prior flRC approval as per 10 CFR 50.59a.
The licensee was informed by the Resident Inspector that this item is bei g pur-sued with IE:HQ. The licensee representatives at the flovember 1,1979 exit meeting stated that their position is unchanged and that the MSRC considers
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this to be a 10 CFR 50.59b item.
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