ML17053B105
| ML17053B105 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Nine Mile Point  |
| Issue date: | 09/27/1979 |
| From: | Grier B NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION I) |
| To: | Schneider R NIAGARA MOHAWK POWER CORP. |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 7910180151 | |
| Download: ML17053B105 (16) | |
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Docket No. 50-220 UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION REGION I 631 PARK AVENUE KING OF PRUSSIA, PENNSYLVANIA19406 SP 27 n>3 Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation ATTN:
Mr.
R.
R. Schneider Vice President Electric Operations 300 Erie Boulevard west
- Syracuse, New York 13202 Gentlemen:
The enclosed Bulletin 79-24 is forwarded to you for action. Written responses are required.
If you desire additional information regarding this matter, please contact this office.
Sincerely, r Boyce H. Grier Director
Enclosures:
l.
List of IE Bulletins Issued in the Last Six Months cc w/encls:
T.
E.
- Lempges, General Superintendent, Nuclear Generation T. J.
- Perkins, Station Superintendent C.
L. Stuart, Operations Supervisor E.
B.
Thomas, Jr.,
Esquire A. Z.
- Roisman, Natural Resources Defense Council
i 1
ENCLOSURE 1 Accession No. 7908220114 SSINS No:
6820 UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OFFICE OF INSPECTION AND ENFORCEMENT MASHINGTON, D.C.
20555 IE Bulletin No. 79-24 Date:
September 27, 1979 Page 1 of 2 FROZEN LINES Summary:
On January 3, 1979, an unusual event occurred at Davis-Besse, Unit 1.
The event involved the freezing of the water in a portion of the high pressure coolant injection (HPCI) system recirculation line that is common to both high pressure coolant injection pumps.
The l,ine was not thawed until January 5, 1979, and the event was not reported to NRC until March 12, 1979.
In addition, over the past five years, there have been several events involving frozen instrument and sampling lines.
Description of Circumstances:
The condition was discovered on January 3, 1979, while the reactor was operating at approximately 96 percent power.
During a monthly surveillance test of the HPCI pumps, there was no flow through the recirculation line from the pump discharge to the Borated Mater Storage Tank (BMST).
Investigation revealed that water in a portion of the line exposed to the outside weather was frozen.
This portion of the line to the BMST is common to both HPCI pumps.
The line has redundant heat. tracing (a heated wire to prevent freezing); it is insulated; and it has a low-temperature alarm system to warn of'reezing conditions.
Mater in the line froze apparently because of prolonged sub-freezing temperatures and a defect in the insulation.
There was no apparent malfunction of the heat tracing or temperature alarm circuits, although the temperature sensing elements are located in an area not exposed to the coldest temperature conditions.
This recirculation line serves two purposes:
One is to provide a flow path for surveillance testing, and the other is to provide a minimum flow path to prevent possible damage to the pump in the event it is operated against a
closed discharge valve or a reactor coolant system pressure greater than the maximum discharge pressure of the pump (approximately 1600 psig).
In the initial review of the event on January 3, 1979, the licensee concluded that the pumps were still operable with the recirculation line frozen.
Therefore, no immediate action was taken to thaw the frozen section of the line.
On January 5, 1979, the line was thawed and the surveillance test of the pumps was successfully completed.
A
Enclosure 1
IE Bulletin No. 79-24 Date:
September 27, 1979 Page 2 of 2 Cause of Event:
This event is attributed to an inadequate design.
The heat tracing provided on this recirculation line was unable to prevent freezing when the line was exposed to sub-freezing temperatures for a prolonged period of time.
The temperature sensors which control the heat tracing and which trigger the low-temperature alarm were located in an area not exposed to the coldest temperatures to which the piping is subjected.
Corrective Action:
To prevent recurrence, the licensee increased the temperature setting of the thermostat for the heat tracing on the reci'rculation line.
- Further, a temporary enclosure was built around the line and additional heat tracing was installed.
After the line was thawed and blown down, surveillance testing to verify pump operability was performed.
An engineering evaluation was initiated by the licensee to develop long-term corrective action.
Other Frozen Lines:
In addition to this event at Davis-Besse, there have been many events involving frozen instrument and sampling lines.
During the last five years, facilities experiencing events of this kind include:
Arkansas Nuclear One Oconee Davis-Besse Pilgrim Duane Arnold Point Beach Hatch Salem Fitzpatrick Surry Haddam Neck Trojan Indian Point Zion Millstone Action To Be Taken:
All l,icensees and construction permit holders receiving this Bulletin for action are requested to review their plants to determine that adequate protective measures have been taken to assure that safety-related
- process, instrument, and sampling lines do not freeze during extremely cold weather.
The results of these reviews should be reported to the Regional D'irector by October 31, 1979.
Approved by GAO (R0072); clearance expires 7/31/80.
Approval was given under a blanket clearance specifically for generic problems.
Bulletin Subject No.
ENCLOSURE 2 LISTING OF IE BULLETINS ISSUED IN LAST SIX MONTHS Date Issued 0
IE Bulletin No. 79-24 Date:
September 27, 1979 Page 1 of 5 Issued To 79-01A Environmental qualification 6/6/79 of Class 1E Equipment (Deficiencies in the Envi-ronmental gualification of ASCO Solenoid Valves)
All Power Reactor Facilities with an OL or CP 79-02 (Rev 1)
Pipe Support Base Plate Design Using Concrete Expansion
'Anchor Bolts 6/21/79 All Power Reactor Facilities with an OL or CP 79-02 Same Title as 79-02 (Rev 1)
(Rev 1)
(Supplement No.
1) 8/20/79 Same as 79-02 (Rev 1) 79"03 79-04 79-05 Longitudinal Weld Defects in ASME SA-312 Type 304 Stainless Steel Pipe Spools Manufactured by Youngstown Welding and Engineering Company Incorrect Weights for Swing Check Valves Manufactured by Velan Engineering Corporation Nuclear Incident at Three Mile Island 3/12/79 3/30/79 4/1/79.
All Power Reactor Facilities with an OL or CP All Power Reactor Facilities with an OL or CP All Babcock and Wilcox Power Reactor Facilities with an OL, Except Three Mile Island 1 and 2 (For Action),
and All Other Power Reactor Facilities With an OL or CP (For Information)
LIST OF IE BULLETINS ISSUED IN LAST SIX MONTHS (CONTINUED)
IE Bulletin No. 79-24 Date:
September 27, 1979 Page 2 of 5 Bulletin No.79-05A 79-05B 79-06 79-06A Subject Nuclear Incident at Three Mile Island-Supplement Nuclear Incident at Three Mile Island-Supplement Review of Operational Errors and System Mis-alignments Identified During the Three Mile Incident Same Title as 79-06 Date Issued 4/5/79 5/21/79 4/1-1/79 4/14/79 Issued To Same as 79-05 Same as 79-05 All Pressurized Water Power Reactor Facil-ities with an OL Except'8W Facilities (For Action), All Other Power Reactor Facil-ities with an OL or CP (For Information)
All Westinghouse Designed Pressurized Power Reactor Facil-
.ities with an OL (For Action), and All Other Power Reactor Facilities with an OL or CP (For Information)79-06A Same Title as 79-06 (Revision 1)p 4/18/79 All Westinghouse Designed Pressurized Power Reactor Facil-ities with an OL (For Action), and All Other Power Reactor Facilities with an OL or'CP (For Information)
LISTING OF IE BULLETINS ISSUED IN LAST SIX MONTHS (CONTINUED) 0 IE Bulletin No. 79-24 Date:
September 27, 1979 Page 3 of 5 Bulletin No.79-06B Subject Same Title as 79-06 Date Issued 4/14/79 Issued To All Combustion Engineering Designed Pressurized Power Reactor Facilities with an OL (For Action), and All Other Power Reactor Facilities with an OL or CP (For Information) 79-05C806C Nuclear Incident at Three Mile Island-Supplement 7/26/79 All PMR Power Reactor Facilities with an OL 79-07 79-08 79"09 Seis'mic Stress Analysis of Safety-Related Piping Events Relevant to Boiling Mater Power Reactors Identified During Three Mile.
Island Incident Failures of GE Type AK-2 Type Circuit Breaker in Safety Related Systems 4/14/79 4/14/79 4/17/79 All Power Reactor Facilities with an GL or CP All BMR Power Reactor Facilities with an OL (For Action), All Other Power Reactor Facil-ities with an OL or
'P (For Information)
All Power Reactor Facilities with an OL or CP 79-10 Requalification Training 5/ll/79 Program Statistics All Power Reactor Facilities with an OL
LISTING OF IE BULLETINS ISSUED IN LAST SIX MONTHS (CONTINUED)
I IE Bulletin No. 79-24 Date:
September 27, 1979 Page 4 of 5 Bulletin No.
79-11 79-12 79-13 Subject Faulty Overcurrent Trip Device. in Circuit Breakers for Engineered Safety Systems Short Period Scrams at BWR Facilities Cracking in Feedwater System Piping Date Issued 5/22/79 5/31/79 6/25/79 Issued To All Power Reactor Facilities with an OL or CP I
All GE BWR Facilities with an OL All PWRs with an OL (for Action),
All Other Power Reactor Facilities with an OL or CP (For Information) 79-13 Cracking in Feedwater (Revision 1) System Piping 8/30/79 All Designated Ap-plicants for OLS 79-14 Seismic Analysis for As-Built Safety Related Piping Systems 7/2/79 All Power Reactor Facilities with an OL or CP 79-14 Same Title as 79-14 (Revision 1) 79-14 Same Title as 79-14 (Supplement) 79-14 Same as Title 79-14 (Supplement 2) 7/18/79 8/15/79 9/7/79 Same as 79-14 Same as 79-14 Same as 79-14 79-15 79-16 79-17 Deep Draft Pump Defi-ciencies Vital Area Access Con-trols Pipe Cracks in Stagnant Borated Water Systems at PWR Plants 7/11/79 7/30/79 7/26/79 All Power Reactor Facilities with an OL or CP All Holders of and Applicants for Reactor Operating Licenses All PWR Power Reactor Facilities with an OL
LISTING OF IE BULLETINS ISSUED IN LAST SIX MONTHS (CONTINUED)
-8 IE Bulletin No. 79-24 Date:
September 27, 1979 Page 5 of 5 Bulletin No.
79-18 79-19 79-20 79-21 Subject Audibility Problems Encountered on Evacuation Packaging Low-Level Radioactive Waste for Transport and Burial Same Title as 79-19 Temperature Effects on Level Measurements Date Issued 8/7/79 8/10/79 8/10/79 8/13/79 Issued To All Power Reactor Facilities with an OL All Power and Re-search Reactors with OL, all Fuel Faci-lities (except Uranium Hills), and certain Materials Licensees Certain Materials Licensees All Power Reactor Facilities with an OL or CP 79-22 79-23 Possible Leakage of Tubes 9/5/79 of Tritium Gas Used in Timepieces for Luminosity Potential Failure of 9/12/79 Emergency Diesel Generator Field Exciter Transformer Each Licensee who Receives Tubes of Tritium Gas in Timepieces for Luminosity All Power Reactor Facilities with an OL or CP
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