IR 05000416/1987009

Insp Rept 50-416/87-09 on 870316-26.No Violations or Deviations Noted.Major Areas Inspected:Corrosion Prevention & Plant Chemistry Control

ML20206E838
Person / Time
Site:	Grand Gulf
Issue date:	04/03/1987
From:	Kahle J, Ross W NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION II)
To:
Shared Package
ML20206E833	List: IR 05000416/1987009 ML20206E829
References
50-416-87-09, 50-416-87-9, NUDOCS 8704130752
Download: ML20206E838 (6)

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Report No.: 50-416/87-09 Licensee: System Energy Resources, In Jackson, MS 39205 Docket No.: 50-416 License No.: NPF-29 Facility Name: Grand Gulf Nuclear-Station Inspection Con u tedi March 16-26,1987 Inspector

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. Ross b 6/h//7 (Date Signed)

Accompanyij ersonnel: W. B. Gloersen J. D. Harris Approved by: !dIk V/7/7 7 J/ Bf Kahle, Section Chief (Date 51gne'd)

Dy1 (sion of Radiation Safety and Safeguards SUMMARY Scope:- This was an unannounced inspection in the areas of corrosion prevention and plant chemistry contro Results: No violations or deviations were identifie PDR ADOCK 05000416 O PDR

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REPORT DETAILS Persons Contacted Licensee Employees

• R. Hutchinson, Plant Manager

• R. F. Rogers, Manager, Unit 1 Project

• • J. V. Parrish, Chemistry-Radiation Control Superintendent

• • • G. O. Smith, Plant Chemist

• • T. Williamson, Chemistry Supervisor W. Angle, Manager, Operational Analysis, Nuclear Plant Engineering J. Burrough, Staff Chemical Engineer, Chemistry R.. Ducker Staff Chemical Engineer, Chemistry C. E11saessar, Operations Assistant, Operations J.~M. Feil, Material Science Supervisor, Nuclear Plant Engineering D. Wells, Technical Training Supervisor

• J. Vincelli, Technical Assistant to the Radiation Control / Chemistry Superintendent

• J. Yelverton, Technical Assistant to the Operations Manager NRC Resident Inspectors

• • R..Sutcher

• • W. Smith

• Attended exit interview

• • Participated in telephone conference March 26, 1987

• • • Participated in exit interview and telephone conference Exit Interview The inspection scope and findings were summarized by Messrs. Gloersen and Harris on March 20, 1987, with those persons indicated in Paragraph 1 abov No dissenting coninents were received from the licensee. The licensee did not identify as proprietary any of the material provided to or reviewed by the inspector during this inspection. A further summary was presented by Mr. Ross during a telephone conference on March 26, 198 . Licensee Action on Previous Enforcement Matters This subject was not addressed in the inspectio . Plant Chemistry (79701)

This inspection was an updating review of the licensee's efforts to maintain the integrity of the reactor coolant boundary through the prevention of ingress of corrosive species and through control of water chemistr As observed during the inspector's last site visit, in October 1985, the licensee was being forced to expend considerable

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resources to prevent degradation of the reactor coolant system from corrosive attack of the main condenser and heat exchangers in the Standby Service Water System and in the Turbine Building Cooling Water Syste Also, although Grand Gulf Unit I had begun connercial operation in July 1985, the licensee was still in the process of developing the components of an effective water chemistry control program. Both of these areas were reassessed during the current inspectio Protection Against Ingress of Corrodants from Plant Cooling Systems Through discussions with cognizant plant personnel the inspectors established that the following actions were currently being taken to prevent microbiological attack of cooling water pipe and heat exchangers by the plant service wate (1) Main Condenser Although chemicals were being added to control slime and bacteria, as well as to prevent precipitation of iron oxides in the closed-cycle condenser cooling water (Plant Service Water),

the licensee had continued to observe fouling of the stainless steel condenser tubes; however, no attack of the tube's inner surfaces had been foun The Amertap cleaning system that had been considered as a possible solution for this problem had not been installed. By increasing cooling water flow through the condenser, the licensee hoped to minimize fculing until the Amertap system can be installed during the next refueling outag (2) Standby Service Water (SSW)

Evidence of microbiological influenced corrosion (MIC) had been observed on heat exchangers in the Residual Heat Removal (RHR)

Syste This problem was continuing to be addressed by injecting biocides into the SSW cooling basins and by circulating the SSW water for eight hours per week to minimize stagnant condition (3) Turbine Building Cooling Water Increased efforts had been initiated to maintain the integrity of the heat exchangers in this system by maintaining the conductivity of this water below 1 umho/cm. However, inleakage of both plant service water and standby service water, with the potential for MIC, was still being experience (4) Sunnary The licensee had increased its efforts to prevent degradation of the condenser and the heat exchangers cooled by the SS _ . . - . . - - . - - - . - - _ . . . . - . ..- . -

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No violations or deviations were identified.

' Water Makeup System

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A second pathway for ingress of contaminants into the Reactor Coolant i

System is through makeup of condensate /feedwater. During this

inspection the licensee was obtaining makeup water from a temporary system provided by a contractor. The licensee's water treatment -

plant had been made inoperable because of the corrosion of drain i lines associated with the regeneration of ion-exchange

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demineralizer The inspector observed that the latest revision (Revision 8) of Chemistry Procedure 08-S-03-10 set the following limits on chemical -

parameters related to the makeup water (i.e., water in the condensate storage tank): conductivity-3 umho/cm, silica-50 ppb, total organic carbon-1.0 ppm, and chloride-0.02 ppm. These limits were considered

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to be sufficiently low to ensure that the quality of the condensate /feedwater would not be degraded by makeup wate No violations or deviations were identifie Water Chemistry Program i Through discussions with Chemistry Department supervisory personnel

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and cognizant staff specialists the inspector reassessed actions that had been taken to develop the elements of a water chemistry control program for Grand Gulf Unit (1) Staffing

j' Major changes had been made in the supervisory personnel since the inspector's last site visit:

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A Plant Chemist had been selected and placed in charge of

all chemistry activities under the management of the i Superintendent of Chemistry / Radiation Contro A Chemistry Supervisor and six Chemistry Shift Supervisors had been selected to direct the activities of sixteen

, chemists (onsixshifts)andanInstrumentSpecialist.

- A support group of three chemist / specialists had been organized to oversee activities in the areas of training, process monitoring, and radiochemical measurement ' - Two chemical engineers had been hired and dedicated to the control of corrosion by the plant service water.

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(2) Training A progten week (ram for training modules) chemistry classroom andpersonnel laboratorythrough a seventeen curriculum coordinated with a structured on-the-job (0JT) training program, had been developed. Two senior chemists had boen transferred to the Technical T raining Center as instructors, and a chemist / specialist had been given the responsibility for coordinating the OJT program with the formalized program at the Training Cente (3) Chemistry Procedures The licensee had revised Administrative Procedure 01-S-08-16, Chemical Treatment Program, so as to endorse and reference the BWR Water Chemistry Guidelines that had been developed by the BWR Owners Group (BWROG) and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). Time limits for maintaining chemistry control had been established that must be adhered to in order to prevent jeopardizing system integrity (i.e., the concept of action levels and action statements developed in the BWROG/EPRI guidelines).

The inspector was informed that plant operating procedures were being reviewed to determine what revisions needed to be made to implement the directions given in AP-01-S-08-16. The inspector was also informed that consideration was being given to the development and issuance of a higher tiered document that would formalize a corporate / plant policy for implementing the philosophical and technical guidelines developed by the SG0G/EPR (4) Quality Assurance The inspector verified that a program had been developed for ensuring the necessary level of quality control of measurements of chemistry variables used to control plant chemistr Responsibility had been established for both an interlaboratory and an intralaboratory QA program to ensure accuracy and precision of chemical measurement A summary audit indicated that control charts were being developed and used properly to ensure credibility of results as well as to monitor the training and performance of chemist (5) Conclusions The inspector verified that the chemistry control requirements of Technical Specification 3/4 4.4 had been met since the last inspection. The licensee has taken a number of positive actions to increase its capabilities to implement the stringent chemistry criteria that have been established by the industry

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(SG0G/EPRI) to protect the integrity of the reactor coolant boundary and to minimize release of radioactivity. Although this plant has not encountered intergranular stress corrosion cracking (IGSCC) in the recirculating water system, the licensee was observed to be knowledgeable of this problem and to be informed of industry activities related the implementation of hydrogen water chemistry control to mitigate IGSCC in BWR No violations or deviations were identifie . IE Notice 86-106, Feedwater Line Break The inspector was informed that the following actions were being taken in response to this Notice related to a feedwater line break at Surry Unit 2 in December 1986:

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A preliminary evaluation of the extent to which pipe thinning / corrosion was being monitored had been complete A consultant is performing an in-depth evaluation of this monitoring progra Enhanced inspection criteria were being developed for existing inspection programs for high pressure system No violotions or deviations were identified.

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