ML17053B106
| ML17053B106 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Nine Mile Point  |
| Issue date: | 09/27/1979 |
| From: | Grier B NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION I) |
| To: | Rhode G NIAGARA MOHAWK POWER CORP. |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 7910180153 | |
| Download: ML17053B106 (16) | |
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/4 UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION REGiON I 631 PARK AVENUE KING OF PRUSSIA, PENNSYLVANIA19406 Docket No. 50-410 St:P 2V lay'iagara Mohawk Power Corporation ATTN:
Mr.
G.
K.
Rhode Vice President System Project Management 300 Erie Boulevard, West
- Syracuse, New York
-13202 Gentlemen:
The enclosed Bulletin 79-24 is forwarded to you for information. If you desire additional information regarding this matter, please contact this office.
Sincerely, Boyce H. Grier Director
Enclosures:
l.
List of IE Bulletins Issued in the Last Six Months cc w/encls:
Eugene B. Thomas, Jr.,
Esquire f910 y 801
ENCLOSURE 1 Accession No. 7908220114 SSINS No:
6820
- UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OFFICE OF INSPECTION AND ENFORCEMENT WASHINGTON, 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 line was not thawed unti.l 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 freezing conditions.
Mater in the line froze apparently because of'rolonged sub-freezing temperatures and a defect in the insulation.
There was no apparent malfunction of the heat tracing or t'emperature 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.
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 recirculation line.
- Further, a temporary enclosure was built around the line and additional heat tracing was installed.
After the line was thawed and blown down, surveil.lance 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 Davis-Besse Duane Arnold Hatch Fitzpatrick Haddam Neck Indian Point Millstone Oconee Pilgrim Point Beach Salem Surry Trojan Zion Action To Be Taken:
All licensees 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 Director 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 No.
Subject 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 qualification 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 Bul 1 etin No.79-05A 79-05B 79-06 79-OGA 79"OGA (Revision 1)
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 Same Title as 79-06 Date Issued 4/5/79 5/21/79 4/11/79 4/14/79 4/18/79 Issued To Same as 79-05 Same as 79-05 All Pressurized Water Power Reactor Facil-ities with an OL Except B8W 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)
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)
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 Seismic 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 OL or CP All BMR Power Reactor Facilities with an OL (For Action), All Other Power Reactor Facil-ities with an OL or CP (For Information)
All Power Reactor Facilities with an OL or CP 79-10 Requalification Training 5/11/79 Program Statistics All Power Reactor Facilities with an OL
LISTING OF IE BULLETINS
.ISSUED IN LAST SIX MONTHS (CONTINUED)
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 BMR 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 All GE BWR Facilities with an OL All PMRs 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-trolss Pipe Cracks in Stagnant Borated Mater 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)
IE Bulletin No. 79-24 Date:
September 27, 1979 Page 5 of 5 Bulletin Subject No.
Date Issued Issued To 79-18 79-19 79-20 79"21 Audibility Problems Encountered on Evacuation Packaging Low-Level Radioactive Waste for Transport and Burial Same Title as 79-19 Temperature Effects on Level Measurements 8/7/79 8/10/79 8/10/79 8/13/79 All Power Reactor Facilities with an OL All Power and Re-search Reactors with OL, all Fuel Faci-lities (except Uranium Mills), and certain Materials Lic'ensees Certain Materials Licensees All Power Reactor Facilities with an OL or CP 79-22 Possible Leakage of Tubes 9/5/79 of Tritium Gas Used in Timepieces for Luminosity Each Licensee who Receives Tubes of Tritium Gas in Timepieces for Luminosity 79"23 Potential Failure of Emergency Diesel Generator Field Exciter Transformer 9/12/79.
All Power Reactor Facilities with an OL or CP
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