Information Notice 1994-27, Facility Operating Concerns Resulting from Local Area Flooding

Facility Operating Concerns Resulting from Local Area Flooding

ML031060478
Person / Time
Site:	Beaver Valley, Millstone, Hatch, Monticello, Calvert Cliffs, Dresden, Davis Besse, Peach Bottom, Browns Ferry, Salem, Oconee, Mcguire, Nine Mile Point, Palisades, Palo Verde, Perry, Indian Point, Fermi, Kewaunee, Catawba, Harris, Wolf Creek, Saint Lucie, Point Beach, Oyster Creek, Watts Bar, Hope Creek, Grand Gulf, Cooper, Sequoyah, Byron, Pilgrim, Arkansas Nuclear, Braidwood, Susquehanna, Summer, Prairie Island, Columbia, Seabrook, Brunswick, Surry, Limerick, North Anna, Turkey Point, River Bend, Vermont Yankee, Crystal River, Haddam Neck, Ginna, Diablo Canyon, Callaway, Vogtle, Waterford, Duane Arnold, Farley, Robinson, Clinton, South Texas, San Onofre, Cook, Comanche Peak, Yankee Rowe, Maine Yankee, Quad Cities, Humboldt Bay, La Crosse, Big Rock Point, Rancho Seco, Zion, Midland, Bellefonte, Fort Calhoun, FitzPatrick, McGuire, LaSalle, Fort Saint Vrain, Shoreham, Satsop, Trojan, Atlantic Nuclear Power Plant, Crane
Issue date:	03/31/1994
From:	Grimes B Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
To:
References
IN-94-027, NUDOCS 9403250222
Download: ML031060478 (9)

UNITED STATES

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION

WASHINGTON, D.C.

20555

March 31, 1994

NRC INFORMATION NOTICE 94-27: FACILITY OPERATING CONCERNS RESULTING FROM

Addressees

All holders of operating licenses or construction permits for nuclear power

reactors.

Purpose

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing this information

notice to alert addressees to emergency preparedness, equipment operability

and radiological control problems that may result from local area flooding.

It is expected that recipients will review the information for applicability

to their facilities and consider actions, as appropriate, to avoid similar

problems.

However, suggestions contained in this information notice are not

NRC requirements; therefore, no specific action or written response is

required.

Background

The Cooper Nuclear Station is located between Nemaha and Brownville, Nebraska

and is adjacent to the Missouri River. The facility floor and plant grade

elevations are about 275 meters [903 feet] above mean sea level.

The

elevation of the area surrounding the plant is about 271.3. meters [890 feet]

and the area is protected by a levee to an elevation of 274.9 meters

[902 feet]. The normal groundwater table is 267.9 meters [879 feet].

The

level for the 1000-year flood and the 10,000-year flood are predicted to be

274.3 and 274.9 meters (900 and 902 feet], respectively. During this event, the Missouri River peaked at 274.6 meters (900.8 feet].

Description of Circumstances

During the months of June and July 1993, the State of Nebraska and several

surrounding states experienced record rainfalls that caused flooding over

extensive areas. In accordance with plant flood procedures, the licensee for

the Cooper Nuclear Station had placed barriers around the entrances to the

reactor building, the radwaste building, the turbine building and the diesel

generator rooms when the water level in the Missouri River reached 273.4 meters [897 feet]. On July 21, the licensee began a reactor startup from a

scheduled refueling and maintenance outage. At that time, the river level was

273.1 meters [896 feet] and decreasing.

On July 22 and 23, the river level rose rapidly and, at 10:35 a.m. on July 23, the licensee decided to shut down the reactor.

At 6:19 p.m. on July 23, the

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IN 94-27 March 31, 1994 licensee declared a Notice Of Unusual Event when the water level in the

Missouri River reached 274.0 meters [899 feet].

The river level continued to

rise and subsequently peaked at 274.6 meters [900.8 feet].

The elevated river

level caused the closure of several area roads including a portion of

Interstate 29 and Route 136 in the State of Missouri which isolated one of the

planned emergency evacuation routes.

Subsequent to the reactor shutdown, the licensee noted increased inleakage.

The vital area rooms outside of the radiologically controlled areas were

relatively dry with only a minor amount of water leaking in through the

concrete walls below ground elevation.

However, some of the below-grade rooms

inside radiologically controlled areas in the turbine building and the reactor

building, had extensive inleakage.

In some cases, the inleakage significantly

challenged the capacity of the floor drains.

Examples of this problem were:

(1) a lower hallway in the turbine building where standing water was found and

water was leaking in around safety-related cable trays and (2) the

turbine-driven feedwater pump rooms where water was dripping on control boxes, and the floor drain system had backed up so that standing water from within

areas known to be radiologically contaminated had migrated out into designated

clean areas. The NRC inspectors observed that plant personnel had not taken

actions to identify the areas where inleakage was occurring and had not

established measures to divert the water away from important components. The

turbine building inleakage was eventually stopped when the licensee pumped out

the underground cable tunnels that encircled the plant. The heavy rains had

flooded the cable tunnels and water was covering the manways and storm drains

at grade level.

Similar problems were observed in the reactor building quadrant rooms and

torus room.

Water leaking into the reactor core isolation cooling (RCIC) pump

room was impinging on RCIC electrical components: Subsequently, an

annunciator lit up indicating a ground in the RCIC 250-V dc circuitry. This

ground was apparently caused by water that had entered into some of the RCIC

circuitry. The water leaking into the torus room was impinging on junction

boxes and other electrical components. The inleakage in these areas was not

appreciably reduced when the licensee pumped out the cable tunnels and storm

drains. However, the inleakage did decrease as the river level dropped.

Discussion

This event demonstrates that flooding problems and degradation of equipment

may be caused by water inleakage even though flood waters are not above grade

elevations. Water leaking through underground walls may impinge on electrical

equipment or may enter radiologically controlled areas and spread

contamination to other areas. Underground cable and pipe tunnels may become

flooded and serve as pathways for water to enter plant buildings. Management

and plant personnel attention to these conditions is important to ensure that

equipment is protected and unsafe facility conditions are not created. The

IN 94-27 March 31, 1994 NRC previously discussed problems caused by water leakage through conduit

seals into plant buildings in NRC Information Notice 92-69, "Water Leakage

From Yard Area Through Conduits Into Buildings."

This information notice requires no specific action or written response. If

you have any questions about the information in this notice, please contact

one of the technical contacts listed below or the appropriate Office of

Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) project manager.

Brian K. Grimes, irector

Division of Operating Reactor Support

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Technical contacts: W. B. Jones, RIV

(817) 860-8147

J. L. Birmingham, NRR

(301) 504-2829 Attachment:

List of Recently Issued NRC Information Notices

I

Attachment

IN 94-27

March 31, 1994 LIST OF RECENTLY ISSUED

NRC INFORMATION NOTICES

Information

Date of

Notice No.

Subject

Issuance

Issued to

94-26

93-17, Rev. 1

94-25

94-24

Personnel Hazards and

Other Problems from

Smoldering Fire-Retard- ant Material in the

Drywell of a Boiling-

Water Reactor

Safety Systems Response

to Loss of Coolant and

Loss of Offsite Power

Failure of Containment

Spray Header Valve to

Open due to Excessive

Pressure from Inertial

Effects of Water

Inadequate Maintenance

of Uninterruptible Power

Supplies and Inverters

03/28/94

03/25/94

03/25/94

03/24/94

All holders of OLs or CPs

for nuclear power reactors.

All holders of Ols or CPs

for nuclear power.

All holders of OLs or CPs

for nuclear power reactors.

All holders of OLs or CPs

for nuclear power reactors.

94-23 Guidance to Hazardous,

Radioactive and Mixed

Waste Generators on the

Elements of a Waste

Minimization Program

03/25/94 All NRC Licensees.

94-22

94-21

94-20

Fire Endurance and

Ampacity Derating Test

Results for 3-Hour Fire- Rated Thermo-Lag 330-1

Fire Barriers

Regulatory Requirements

when No Operations are

being Performed

Common-Cause Failures

due to Inadequate

Design Control and

Dedication

03/16/94

03/18/94

03/17/94

All holders of OLs or CPs

for nuclear power reactors.

All fuel cycle and materials

licensees.

All holders of OLs or CPs

for nuclear power reactors.

OL = Operating License

CP - Construction Permit

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IN 94-27 March 31, 1994 This information notice requires no specific action or written response.

If

you have any questions about the information in this notice, please contact

one of the technical contacts listed below or the appropriate Office of

Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) project manager.

Original ignld W

Brian K. GrimeS

Brian K. Grimes, Director

Division of Operating Reactor Support

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Technical contacts:

W. B. Jones, RIV

(817) 860-8147

J. L. Birmingham, NRR

(301) 504-2829 Attachment:

List of Recently Issued NRC Information Notices

• See Previous concurrence

OFFICE l C/ECGB:DE:NRR

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NAME

Ghoutam Bagchi*

WHodges*

DATE

03/16/94

1 03/16/94 OFFICE

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DATE

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DATE

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02/24/94

03/04/94

03i/Z7/94 Commenis from the Emergency Preparedness Branch have been included, indicated that they did not need to be on concurrence.

OFFICIAL DOCUMENT NAME: 94-27.IN

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IN 94-xx

March xx, 1994 This information notice requires no specific action or written response. If

you have any questions about the information in this notice, please contact

one of the technical contacts listed below or the appropriate Office of

Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) project manager.

Brian K. Grimes, Director

Division of Operating Reactor Support

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Technical contacts:

W. B. Jones, RIV

(817) 860-8147 J. L.

(301)

Birmingham,

504-2829 NRR

Attachment:

List of Recently Issued NRC Information Notices

• See Drevious concurrence

OFFICE

C/ECGB:DE:NRR

D:DE:NRR

NAME

Ghoutam Bagchi*

WHodges*

DATE

03/16/94

03/16/94 OFFICE

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March xx, 1994 This information notice requires i

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the appropriate Office of Nuclear Reactor

Brian K. Grimes, Director

Division of Operating Reactor Support

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Technical contact:

W. B. Jones, R-IV

(817) 860-8147 J. L.

(301)

Birmingham, NRR

504-2829 Attachment:

List of Recently Issued NRC Information Notices

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IN 94-xx

March xx, 1994 This information notice requires no specific action or written response. If

you have any questions about the information in this notice, please contact

one of the people listed below or the appropriate Office of Nuclear Reactor

Regulation (NRR) project manager.

Brian K. Grimes, Director

Division of Operating Reactor Support

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Technical contact: W. B. Jones, Region IV

(817) 860-8147

J. L. Birmingham, NRR

(301) 504-2829 Attachment:

List of Recently Issued NRC Information

Notices

• See previous concurrence

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IN 94-xx

March xx, 1994 This information notice requires no specific action or written response. If

you have any questions about the information in this notice, please contact

the person listed below or the appropriate Office of Nuclear Reactor

Regulation (NRR) project manager.

Brian K. Grimes, Director

Division of Operating Reactor Support

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Technical contact:

W. B. Jones, Region IV

(817) 860-8147 Attachment:

List of Recently Issued NRC Information

Notices

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