ML17058B576
| ML17058B576 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Nine Mile Point  |
| Issue date: | 08/26/1991 |
| From: | NRC - INCIDENT INVESTIGATION TEAM |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML17056C371 | List:
|
| References | |
| CON-IIT07-160A-91, CON-IIT07-160B-91, CON-IIT7-160A-91, CON-IIT7-160B-91 NUREG-1455, NUDOCS 9305070020 | |
| Download: ML17058B576 (68) | |
Text
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OFFICIALTRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS Agency:
Title:
Nuclear Regulatory Commission Incident Investigation Team Nine Mile Point Nuclear Power Plant Interview of.:
JOE SABOCA Docket No.
- Scriba, New York
- Monday, August 26, 1991 PAO~.
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UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY(gMMISSlObl REGION I 475 ALLENDQLEROAb KING OF PRUSSIA, PJNNSYLVAAIA%1%%
~l September 27, 1991 MEMORANDUM FOR:
Hartin J McCormick,,Plant Manager, Nine Mile Point Unit 2 FROM:
SUBJECT Hayne L. Schmidt, Senior Resident Inspector, Nine Mile Point Review of IIT Interview Transcripts The
?IT has sent the transcripts of interviews conducted with the personnel listed below to the resident inspector s office.
If any of the listed individuals wish to review the transcripts they should do so at the resident inspector s office by October 4, 1991.
Guidelines for the review of transcripts are provided in the enclosure.
If an individual does not review his transcript by that date we will assume that he did not wish to do so and that the statement is correct to the best of his knowledge.
Alan DeGarcia, Ste
- Doty, Dave Barre
, Jerry Helker, Jim Bur
- ndall, Robert
- Brown, A
1 Julka.,
Perry
- rtsch, James Spadafore oe
- Savoca,
'ke
- Colomb, James Kinsl Marty McCormick, Chris Kolod, Ir red Gerardine, Anthony etrelli, Jim Reid, Fred Hhite, Rick Slade, Bruce Hennigan, and Tom Tomlinson.
Thank you for your help. If there are any questions please contact me.
(A)c~,L.5~~~~
Hayne L. Schmidt Senior Resident Inspector Nine Mile Point
ERRATA SHEET
~Pa e Line ADDENDUM Correction and Reason for Correction Date Signature
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION INCIDENT INVESTIGATION TEAM 6
Interview of 7
JOE SABOCA 8
(Closed) 10 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Conference Room B
Administration Building Nine Mile Point Nuclear Power Plant, Unit Two Lake Road
- Scriba, New York 13093
- Monday, August 26, 1991 The interview commenced, pursuant to notice, 20 at 1:10 p.m.
22 23 24 25 PRESENT FOR THE IIT:
John Kauffman, NRC William Vatter, INPO Walton Jensen, NRC
h
P R 0 C
E E
D I N G
S
[1: 10 p.m. ]
3 MR.
KAUFFMAN:
At this time we'l go on the 4
record.
My name is John Kauffman.
I'm out of NRC 5
headquarters.
We'e here at the Nine Mile Point, Unit Two, 6
P admin building, conducting interviews concerning a
7 transient and plant response to an event on August 13, 1991.
MR. JENSEN:
I'm Walton Jensen.
I'm from the NRC 9
headquarters, and I'm a systems engineer on the IIT.
10 MR. VATTER:
I'm Bill Vatter from INPO.
MR.
SABOCA:
I'm Joe Saboca.
I'm Unit Two general 12 supervisor for mechanical maintenance.
13 MR.
KAUFFMAN:
- Joe, at this time I'd like you to 14 tell us a little bit about your previous background and 15 experience you brought, to your job and a little bit about, 16 what your current job responsibilities are.
17 MR.
SABOCA:
Prior to being general supervisor, I 18 was maintenance supervisor.
We had a reorganization, and 19 the buildings and grounds fell under my responsibility.
At 20 that time I became a general supervisor.
21 Prior to that I was a construction supervisor for 22 construction services over at Unit One.
Prior to that I was 23 a maintenance support engineer.
Prior to that I was a
24 contract supervisor for Chicago Bridge
& Iron Company in 25 New Castle, Delaware.
0
3 1
My responsibilities are Unit Two:
I'm responsible 2
for the mechanical maintenance department, and that includes 3
the buildings and grounds
- crews, which are laundry and 4
- decon, so I have mechanical maintenance and also laundry and 5
decon.
MR.
KAUFFMAN:
Okay.
Good.
There are a number of equipment responses and some 8
equipment problems in this event.
Walt has a list here, so 9
we'l let Walt run down through his list and ask some detail 10 technical -questions.
MR. JENSEN:
All right.
I'd like, if it's okay, 12 to go one system at a time and talk about the present 13 maintenance
- status, and past and future, with regard, I 14 guess, first to the RHR system.
15 We understand that, at the time of the event, the 16 B and C RHR pumps were both take out of service.
We'e 17 wondering if you could address the cause of that and whether 18 or not it's general practice to take two trains of safety 19 equipment out at the same time.
20 MR.
SABOCA:
I don'0 know why the two RHR loops 21 were out of service at the time, so I can't say whether or 22 not that would be a general practice.
It would depend on 23 the reason they were taken out.
24 25 MR. JENSEN:
Do you know they were taken out?
MR.
SABOCA:
No, I do not.
1 MR. JENSEN:
Later in the event, there were 2
problems with the RHR MOV-142 valve, which drains water from 3
the RHR system into the rad waste system.
Are you familiar 4
with the problems that occurred with that valve.
We wonder 5
if there have been similar problems in the past and what the 6
future maintenance might be on that valve?
MR.
SABOCA:
Again I'm not familiar with the 8
problems with that valve.
MR. JENSEN:
Has anyone from operations discussed 10 problems with the RHR system during the event with you or 11 worked up maintenance requests?
12 13 14 15 16 17 MR.
SABOCA:.
No, they haven')
MR. JENSEN:
Okay.
Any questions?
MR.
KAUFFMAN:
No.
MR.
JENSEN:
All right.
Standby gas treatment:
I understand that train B
18 was inop at the time of the event.
Are you familiar with 19 any problems with that system?
20 MR.
SABOCA:
No, again, and I don't know why it 21 was inop at the time, either.
22 23 MR. JENSEN:
Okay.
RCIC:
They had reported problems with the 24 automatic flow controller, and they had to go to manual.
We 25 understand this was a longstanding problem.
Are you aware
1 of that, problem and of any attempt to stabilize the 2
automatic control system?
4 problem.
MR.
SABOCA:
Again, I'm not familiar with that MR. VATTER:
Is that something that would fall 6
under the jurisdiction of mechanical maintenance, because 7
it's a comp, or would it be IGC that would be messing with 8
that controller?
MR.
SABOCA:
That's would be an I&C 10 responsibility.
12 MR. JENSEN:
Okay.
We understand that there were several water hammer 13 problems occurring during the event, when the reactor 14 cleanup was actuated and when the RHR MOV-142 was opened.
15 Are you aware of any mechanical maintenance that came from 16 those water hammers?
17 MR.
SABOCA:
No, I'm not aware of any maintenance 18 problems that came from those water hammers.
I do know that 19 during the event engineering requested to do a walk-down of 20 those
- systems, or portions of those
- systems, to inspect for 21 any damage to snubbers,
- hangers, spring cans, that type of 22 equipment.
23 MR. VATTER:
Did you or your people participate in 24 that water hammer -- excuse me; in that walkdown?
25 MR.
SABOCA:
A damage control team was sent out to
0
6 1
do those inspections with engineering.
I don't know for 2
- certain, but I imagine there was a mechanic to go with them.
MR. JENSEN:
All right.
Back to the RCIC system.
There were problems 5
during the event.with ALV-56 and 57, which had intermittent 6
valve position at different times during the event.
Are 7
you aware of this problems?
Has it been something that has 8
occurred in the past?
Are there maintenance requests 9
written on these?
10 MR.
SABOCA:
I'm more familiar with these.
One 11 note of correction:
It's ICS ALV-156 and 157.
12 We had maintenance requests on both of those 13 valves this outage.
On 156, the original problem was dual 14 indication, I believe.
That was corrected by adjusting the 15 limit switches.
On 157, I was not, aware there was a problem 16 with that valve during the event;
- however, a problem 17 developed this outage, and we disassembled that valve, 18 inspected it, reassembled it, and reset the limit switches.
19 MR. JENSEN:
Is this a recurring problem that has 20 happened
- before, or is this the first time this particular 21 problem has occurred?
22 MR.
SABOCA:
These check valves are Anchor-Darling 23 testable check valves, and position indication is a
24 recurring problem with these valves.
25 There is a
mod designed for the limit switches for
0
7 1
these Anchor-Darling valves, and that mod has been 2
installed on several of our Anchor-Darling testable checks.
3 It has been installed on AOV-156; it has not been installed 4
on 157.
MR. JENSEN:
Is this a vendor-supplied 6
modification from,Anchor-Darling?
MR.
SABOCA:
No, I believe it was an engineering 8
- design, in house.
MR.
KAUFFMAN:
What does that mod do or correct?
10 What's the purpose of the mod?
MR.
SABOCA:
The purpose of the mod is, the 12 indicator shaft on the Anchor-Darling testable checks is, 13 especially on 156 and 157, either a quarter inch or five 14 sixteenths
- diameter, and it tends to bend really easily.
15 This mod adds a bearing on the outboard side and a larger 16 cam.
Part of it is to prevent, that indicator shaft from 17 bending.
18 19 20 MR. JENSEN:
Any other questions on RCIC?
[No response.]
MR. JENSEN:
Well, let's look at the feedwater and 21 condensate systems.
There were problems with the 84-series 22 valves in the suction of the main feedwater pumps.
These 23 valves were closed before -- they were closed, and then the 24 condensate booster pumps were started, and then they 25 couldn't open the valves again.
Do you know the nature of
8 1
that problem and why it occurred, why the valves couldn't be 2
opened?
MR.
SABOCA:
No, I don't know the nature of that 4
problem.
We had possibly a related problem with CNM MOV 5 A.
We tried to use it as an isolation point, and we could 6
not close it the whole way, or ops could not close it the 7
whole way.
We didn't get a good isolation; it closed, but 8
it wasn't 100 percent
- closed, or it appeared not to be 100 9
percent closed.
10 MR.
VATTER:
Because you had leakage?
MR.
SABOCA:
Because we had leakage by, right. It 12 was determined by operations and maintenance that it was 13 leaking by the 84 valve, not one, of the other isolation 14 points.
15 16 is?
MR. VATTER:
Do you know what type of valve that 17 MR.
SABOCA: It's a Clow tricentric stop valve 18 with a limit-torque actuator.
19 MR. VATTER: I don't understand that terminology.
20 Does that mean it's a globe valve?
21 MR.
SABOCA:
No.
It's a tricentric stop.
It's a
22 disc on a
23 24 25 MR.
VATTER:
So it's a swing-disc type.
MR.
SABOCA:
Right.
MR.
KAUFFMAN:
When did you have this problem with
1 the leakage?
Was that in the outage, before the event?
MR.
SABOCA:
No, several weeks before the outage.
3 We were getting set to do maintenance on the min flow check 4
valve.
It was a pressure-sealed check valve.
The pressure 5
seal was leaking, and we needed to use the 84 as an 6
isolation point.
MR. JENSEN:
Is there periodic calibration of the 8
limit-torque switches on the valves in the condensate and 9
feedwater systems?
10 MR.
SABOCA:
The responsibility for setting up and 11 maintaining limit-torques rests with the electrical 12 maintenance department.
13 14 MR.
JENSEN:
Okay.
MR. VATTER:
Do you have a valve diagnostic 15 program using something like MOVATS or VOTES or one of those 16 other diagnostic systems?
17 MR.
SABOCA:
Yes.
We use MOVATS here,
- and, 18 again, that s the responsibility of electrical maintenance.
19 I'm not familiar with VOTES.
20 MR.
JENSEN:
Is MOVATS used on the condensate and 21 feedwater systems?
22 MR.
SABOCA:
I don't know.
That's electrical's 23 responsibility; they would be able to tell you.
24 MR. JENSEN:
We understand that the reason that 25 the 84-series valves are closed when the condensate booster
10 1
pumps are started is to prevent damage to the upstream 2
feedwater system.
Are you familiar with that damage and 3
where it was and what it entailed?
MR.
SABOCA:
No, I'm not.
MR. JENSEN:
Could you address in general the 6
preventive maintenance program that is exercised on non-7 safety equipment?
Is there such a program to prevent 8
potential damage in non-safety-equipment, and how is that 9
maintained?
10 MR.
SABOCA:
We have a preventative maintenance 11 program on non-safety-related equipment.
What we did back 12 during construction days
- was, we evaluated all the equipment 13 we had in the plant and, based on our experience at Unit 14
- One, we decided -- it was a combination.
Based on our 15 experience at Unit One and vendor recommendations, we 16 decided which equipment we would and would not perform 17 preventative maintenance on.
That went across safety-18 related and non-safety-related equipment.
19 20 So,
- yes, we have a non-safety-related PM program.
There was another half to your question.
What was 21 the other portion of the question?
22 MR. JENSEN:
Well, I think you'e answered it.
23 Does that include the condensate and feedwater system?
Is 24 there a preventive maintenance program on that?
25 MR.
SABOCA:
We have preventative maintenance on
i
11 1
both condensate and feedwater; however, specifically the 84 2
- valves, no, to my knowledge, there is no preventative 3
maintenance on those 84 valves.
As a note, the 84 valves were replaced at our 5
first refuel outage.
MR. VATTER:
Why was that?
MR.
SABOCA:
We never got adequate isolation 8
capability with the original design, so they were replaced.
10 MR. VATTER:
So this is a different-design valve?
MR.
SABOCA: It's very similar.
The seat design 11 is different.
The original valves were Clow tricentric stop 12
- valves, also; this is a later model.
13 MR. JENSEN:
I have a general question.
In your 14 view, is the maintenance backlog of work orders something 15 that has been decreasing with time or increasing, or is it 16 about --
About how many maintenance work orders are 17 outstanding at this time?
18 MR.
SABOCA:
Our backlog has been decreasing, and 19 we recently had a
PSC goal to decrease our backlog.
I don' 20 remember the numbers offhand, but we met that goal.
The 21 problem we'e had with decreasing maintenance backlog has 22 been what operations will allow us to work while the plant 23 is running.
That has had more of an impact than the number 24 of work orders.
25 MR.
KAUFFMAN: Bill, do you have any questions?
12 1
MR.
VATTER:
No.
MR. JENSEN:
That's about the end of my list.
MR.
KAUFFMAN:
- Just, a general topic:
We'e been 4
asking the questions.
Is there anything that you learned 5
about this event or know about this event that you think is 6
important or interesting and something that we might like to 7
know?
Do you know of any failures, for example, as a
9 result of the event that we didn't bring up?
10 MR.
SABOCA:
We had a problem with the turbine 11 turning gear when the plant came down.
12
~
13 MR.
VATTER:
What was the cause of that problem?
[No response.]
MR.
VATTER:
We heard that the turbine wouldn't go 15 on the turning gear.
16 17 MR.
SABOCA:
That's correct.
MR.
VATTER:
But I think we don't know much beyond 18 that -- or I don't personally know much beyond that.
MR.
SABOCA:
I believe what happened
- was, when the 20 plant came down and the turbine coasted to a stop, it was 21 several hours before operations tried to put it on gear.
22 Our feeling is that it may have warped slightly, and then, 23 when they tried to put it on gear, the turning gear motor 24 didn't have enough torque to take that wobble out.
25 We rolled it by hand; once we did that, we were
13 1
able to get it on turning gear.
MR.
VATTER:
I infer from your answer that that 3
turning gear does not start automatically when it coasts 4
down.
MR.
SABOCA:
I don't believe it does.
I believe 6
there's an ops procedure to put it on gear.
10 MR. JENSEN:
Any more questions?
[No response.]
MR.
KAUFFMAN:
That concludes the interview.
[Whereupon, at 1:30 p.m., the taking of the ll interview was concluded.]
12 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
0
REPORTER'S CERTIFICATE This is to certify that the attached proceedings before the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission In the Matter of:
NAME OF PROCEEDING:
Interview of Joe Saboca DOCKET NUMBER:
(Not applicable)
PLACE OF PROCEEDING:
- Scriba, New York were held as herein appears, and that this is the original transcript thereof for the file of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission taken by me and thereafter reduced to typewriting by me or under the direction of the court reporting
- company, and that the transcript is a true and accurate record of the foregoing proceedings.
Mark Handy Official Reporter Ann Riley
& Associates, Ltd.
0
~q-l go&-'ll OFFICIALTIVDSCRIPI'F PROCEEDINGS Agency:
Title:
Nuclear Regulatory Commission Incident Investigation Team Nine Mile Point Nuclear Power Plant Interview of:
JOE SABOCA Docket No.
LOCATION:
- Scriba, New York DhTE:
- Monday, August 26, 1991 PAGES:
&&RILEY8c ASSOCIATES, LTD.
1612 KR. N.'W., Suite 500
%hshinyon, D.C. 20006 (202) 293-3950.
4 p4. 0%
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+>>*++
UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY (IMMISSION REGION I 47s ALLENDQLERoAS KING OF PROSSCA, P~C4NSYLVAAIA14'406 Beptember 27, 199l MEMORANDUM FOR:
Hartin J. McCormick,,Plant Manager, Nine Mile Point Unit 2 FROM:
SUBJECT:
Hayne I. Schmidt, Seniox Resident Inspector, Nine Mile Point Review of IIT Interview Txanscripts The IIT has sent the transcripts of interviews conducted with the personnel listed below to the resident inspector s office.
If any of the listed individuals wish to review the transcripts they should do so at the resident inspector s office by October 4, 1991.
Guidelines for the review of transcripts are provided in the enclosure.
If an individual does not review his txanscx ipt by that date we will assume that he did not wish to do so and that the statement is correct, to the best of his knowledge.
Alan DeGarcia, Ste Doty, Dave Barre
, Jerry Helker, Jim Burr
- ndall, Robert
- Brown, A
1 Julka, Perry
- rtsch, James Spadafore, Joe
- Savoca, Mike
- Colomb, James Kinsl Marty McCormick, Chris
- Kolod, Iran Fred Gerardine, Anthony etrelli, Jim Reid, Fred Hhite, Rick Slade, Bruce Hennigan, and Tom Tomlinson.
Thank you for your help. If there are any questions please contact.
me.
(Acc ~,L.~~~~~
Hayne L. Schmidt Senior Resident Inspector Nine Mile Point
f
ERRATA SHEET
~Pa e Line ADDENDUM Correction and Reason for Correction Date Signature
r'
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION INCIDENT INVESTIGATION TEAM 6
Interview of 7
JOE SABOCA 8
(Closed) 10 12 zs 14 15 16 17 18 19 Conference Room B
Administration Building Nine Mile Point Nuclear Power Plant, Unit Two Lake Road
- Scriba, New York 13093
- Monday, August 26, 1991 The interview commenced, pursuant to notice, 20 at 1:10 p.m.
21 22 23 24 25 PRESENT FOR THE IIT:
John Kauffman, NRC William Vatter, INPO Walton Jensen, NRC
U"
~
P R 0 C
E E
D I N
G S
[1: 10 p.m. ]
MR.
KAUFFMAN:
At this time we'l go on the 4
record.
My name is John Kauffman.
I'm out of NRC 5
headquarters.
We'e here at the Nine Mile Point, Unit Two, 6
P admin building, conducting interviews concerning a
7 transient and plant response to an event on August 13, 1991.
MR. JENSEN:
I'm Walton Jensen.
I'm from the NRC 9
headquarters, and I'm a systems engineer on the IIT.
10 MR. VATTER:
I'm Bill Vatter from INPO.
MR.
SABOCA:
I'm Joe Saboca.
I'm Unit Two general 12 supervisor for mechanical maintenance.
13 MR.
KAUFFMAN:
- Joe, at this time I'd like you to 14 tell us a little bit about your previous background and 15 experience you brought to your job and a little bit about 16 what your current job responsibilities are.
17 MR.
SABOCA:
Prior to being general supervisor, I 18 was maintenance supervisor.
We had a reorganization, and 19 the buildings and grounds fell under my responsibility.
At, 20, that time I became a general supervisor.
21.
Prior to that I was a construction supervisor for 22 construction services over at Unit One.
Prior to that I was 23 a maintenance support engineer.
Prior to that I was a
24 contract supervisor for Chicago Bridge
& Iron Company in 25 New Castle, Delaware.
3 1
My responsibilities are Unit Two:
I'm responsible 2
for the mechanical maintenance department, and that includes 3
the buildings and grounds
- crews, which are laundry and 4
- decon, so I have mechanical maintenance and also laundry and 5
decon.
MR.
KAUFFMAN:
Okay.
Good.
There are a number of equipment responses and some 8
equipment problems in this event.
Walt has a list here, so 9
we'l let Walt run down through his list and ask some detail 10 technical questions.
MR. JENSEN:
All right.
I'd like, if it's okay, 12 to go one system at a time and talk about the present 13 maintenance
- status, and past and future, with regard, I 14 guess, first to the RHR system.
15 We understand that, at the time of the event, the 16 B and C RHR pumps were both take out of service.
We'e 17 wondering if you could address the cause of that and whether 18 or not it's general practice to take two trains of safety 19 ec[uipment out at the same time.
20 MR.
SABOCA:
I don't know why the two RHR loops 21 were out of service at the time, so I can't say whether or 22 not that would be a general practice.
It would depend on 23 the reason they were taken out.
24 25 MR. JENSEN:
Do you know they were taken out?
MR.
SABOCA:
No, I do not.
MR.
JENSEN:
Later in the event, there were 2
problems with the RHR MOV-142 valve, which drains water from 3
the RHR system into the rad waste system.
Are you familiar 4
with the problems that occurred with that valve.
We wonder 5
if there have been similar problems in the past and what the 6
future maintenance might be on that valve?
MR.
SABOCA:
Again I'm not familiar with the 8
problems with that valve.
MR. JENSEN:
Has anyone from operations discussed 10 problems with the RHR system during the event with you or ll worked up maintenance requests?
12
~s 14 15 16 17 MR.
SABOCA:
No, they haven'>
MR. JENSEN:
Okay.
Any questions?
MR.
KAUFFMAN:
No.
MR. JENSEN:
All right.
Standby gas treatment:
I understand that train B
18 was inop at the time of the event.
Are you familiar with 19 any problems with that system?
20 MR.
SABOCA:
No, again, and I don't know why it 21 was inop at the time, either.
22 23 MR.
JENSEN:
Okay.
RCIC:
They had reported problems with the 24 automatic flow controller, and they had to go to manual.
We 25 understand this was a longstanding problem.
Are you aware
1 of that problem and of any attempt to stabilize the 2
automatic-control system?
MR.
SABOCA:
Again, I'm not familiar with that 4
problem.
MR. VATTER:
Is that something that would fall 6
under the jurisdiction of mechanical maintenance, because 7
it's a comp, or would it be IGC that would be messing with 8
that controller?
MR.
SABOCA:
That's would be an IGC 10 responsibility.
12 MR. JENSEN:
Okay.
We understand that there were several water hammer 13 problems occurring during the event, when the reactor 14 cleanup was actuated and when the RHR MOV-142 was opened.
15 Are you aware of any mechanical maintenance that came from 16 those water hammers?
17 MR.
SABOCA:
No, I'm not aware of any maintenance 18 problems that came from those water hammers.
I do know that 19 during the event engineering requested to do a walk-down of 20 those
- systems, or portions of those
- systems, to inspect for 21 any damage to snubbers,
- hangers, spring cans, that type of 22 equipment.
23 MR. VATTER:
Did you or your people participate in 24 that water hammer -- excuse me; in that walkdown?
25 MR.
SABOCA:
A damage control team was sent out to
6 1
do those inspections with engineering.
I don't know for 2
- certain, but I imagine there was a mechanic to go with them.
MR. JENSEN:
All right.
Back to the RCIC system.
There were problems 5
during the event with ALV-56 and 57, which had intermittent 6
valve position at different times during the event.
Are 7
you aware of this problems'?
Has it been something that has 8
occurred in the past?
Are there maintenance requests 9
written on these'?
10 MR.
SABOCA:
I'm more familiar with these.
One 11 note of correction:
It's ICS ALV-156 and 157.
12 We had maintenance requests on both of those 13 valves this outage.
On 156, the original problem was dual 14 indication, I believe.
That was corrected by adjusting the 15 limit switches.
On 157, I was not aware there was a problem 16 with that valve during the event;
- however, a problem 17 developed this outage, and we disassembled that valve, 18 inspected it, reassembled it, and reset the limit switches.
19 MR. JENSEN:
Is this a recurring problem that has 20 happened
- before, or is this the first time this particular 21 problem has occurred?
22 MR.
SABOCA:
These check valves are Anchor-Darling 23 testable check valves, and position indication is a
24 recurring problem with these valves.
25 There is a mod designed for the limit switches for
7 1
these Anchor-Darling valves, and that mod has been 2
installed on several of our Anchor-Darling testable checks.
3 It has been installed on AOV-156; it has not been installed 4
on 157.
5 MR. JENSEN:
Is this a vendor-supplied 6
modification from Anchor-Darling?
MR.
SABOCA:
No, I believe it was an engineering 8
- design, in house.
MR.
KAUFFMAN:
What does that mod do or correct?
10 What's the purpose of the mod?
MR.
SABOCA:
The purpose of the mod is, the 12 indicator shaft on the Anchor-Darling testable checks is, 13 especially on 156 and 157, either a quarter inch or five 14 sixteenths
- diameter, and it tends to bend really easily.
15 This mod adds a bearing on the outboard side and a larger 16 cam.
Part of it is to prevent that indicator shaft from 17 bending.
18 19 20 MR. JENSEN:
Any other questions on RCIC?
[No response.]
MR.
JENSEN:
Well, let's look at, the feedwater and 21 condensate systems.
There were problems with'he 84-series 22 valves in the suction of the main feedwater pumps.
These 23 valves were closed before -- they were closed, and then the 24 condensate booster pumps were started, and then they 25 couldn't open the valves again.
Do you know the nature of
8 1
that problem and why it occurred, why the valves couldn't be 2
opened?
MR.
SABOCA:
No, I don't know the nature of that 4
problem.
We had possibly a related problem with CNM MOV 5 A.
We tried to use it as an isolation point, and we could 6
not close it the whole way, or ops could not close it the 7
whole way.
We didn't get a good isolation; it closed, but 8
it wasn't 100 percent
- closed, or it appeared not to be 100 9
percent closed.
10 12 14 15 MR.
VATTER:
Because you had leakage?
MR.
SABOCA:
Because we had leakage by, right. It was determined by operations and maintenance that it was leaking by the 84 valve, not one of the other isolation points.
MR. VATTER:
Do you know what type of valve that 16 is?
17 MR.
SABOCA: It's a Clow tricentric stop valve 18 with a limit-torque actuator.
19 MR. VATTER: I don't understand that terminology.
20 Does that mean it's a globe valve?
21 22 disc on'a MR.
SABOCA:
No.
It's a tricentric stop.
It's a
23 24 25 MR.
VATTER:
So it's a swing-disc type.
MR.
SABOCA:
Right.
MR.
KAUFFMAN:
When did you have this problem with
1 the leakage?
Was that in the outage, before the event?
MR.
SABOCA:
No, several weeks before the outage.
3 We were getting set to do maintenance on the min flow check 4
valve.
It was a pressure-sealed check valve.
The pressure 5
seal was leaking, and we needed to use the 84 as an 6
isolation point.
MR.
JENSEN:
Is there periodic calibration of the 8
limit-torque switches on the valves in the condensate and 9
feedwater systems?
10 MR.
SABOCA:
The responsibility for setting up and 11 maintaining limit-torques rests with the electrical 12 maintenance department.
13 MR. JENSEN:
Okay.
14 MR. VATTER:
Do you have a valve diagnostic 15 program using something like MOVATS or VOTES or one of those 16 other diagnostic systems?
17 MR.
SABOCA:
Yes.
We use MOVATS here,
- and, 18 again, that s the responsibility of electrical maintenance.
19 I'm not familiar with VOTES.
20 MR. JENSEN:
Is MOVATS used on the condensate and 21 feedwater systems?
22 MR.
SABOCA:
I don't know.
That's electrical's 23 responsibility; they would be able to tell you.
24 MR. JENSEN:
We understand that the reason that 25 the 84-series valves are closed when the condensate booster
10 1
pumps are started is to prevent damage to the upstream 2
feedwater system.
Are you familiar with that damage and 3
where it was and what it entailed?
4 MR.
SABOCA:
No, I'm not.
MR. JENSEN:
Could you address in general the 6
preventive maintenance program that is exercised on non-7 safety equipment?
Is there such a program to prevent 8
potential damage in non-safety-equipment, and how is that 9
maintained?
10 MR.
SABOCA:
We have a preventative maintenance 11 program on non-safety-related equipment.
What we did back 12 during construction days
- was, we evaluated all the equipment 13 we had in the plant and, based on our experience at Unit 14
- One, we decided -- it was a combination.
Based on our 15 experience at Unit One and vendor recommendations, we 16 decided which equipment we would and would not perform 17 preventative maintenance on.
That went across safety-18 related and non-safety-related equipment.
19 20 So,
- yes, we have.a non-safety-related PM program.
There was another half to your question.
What was 21 the other portion of the question?
22 MR. JENSEN:
Well, I think you'e answered it.
23 Does that include the condensate and feedwater system?
Is 24 there a preventive maintenance program on that?
25 MR.
SABOCA:
We have preventative maintenance on
11 1
both condensate and feedwater; however, specifically the 84 2
- valves, no, to my knowledge, there is no preventative 3
maintenance on those 84 valves.
As a note, the 84 valves were replaced at our 5
first refuel outage.
'6 MR.
VATTER:
Why was that?
MR.
SABOCA:
We never got adequate isolation 8
capability with the original design, so they were replaced.
10 MR. VATTER:
So this is a different-design valve?
MR.
SABOCA: It's very similar.
The seat design 11 is different.
The original valves were Clow tricentric stop 12
- valves, also; this is a later model.
13 MR. JENSEN:
I have a general question.
In your 14 view, is the m'aintenance backlog of work orders something 15
.that has been decreasing with time or increasing, or is it 16 about --
About how many maintenance work orders are 17 outstanding at this time?
18 MR.
SABOCA:
Our backlog has been decreasing, and 19 we recently had a
PSC goal to decrease our backlog.
I don' 20 remember the numbers offhand, but we met that goal.
The 21 problem we'e had with decreasing maintenance backlog has 22 been what operations will allow us to work while the plant 23 is running.
That has had more of an impact than the number 24 of work orders.
25 MR.
KAUFFMAN: Bill, do you have any questions?
12 MR.
VATTER:
No.
MR. JENSEN:
That's about the end of my list.
MR.
EAUFFMAN:
Just a general topic:
We'e been 4
asking the questions.
Is there anything that you learned 5
about this event or know about this event that you think is 6
important or interesting and something that we might like to 7
know?
Do you know of any failures, for example, as a
9 result of the event that we didn't bring up?
10 MR.
SABOCA:
We had a problem with the turbine 11 turning gear when the plant came down.
12 14 MR. VATTER:
What was the cause of that problem?
[No 'response.]
MR. VATTER:
We heard that the turbine wouldn't go 15 on the turning gear.
16 17 MR.
SABOCA:
That's correct.
MR. VATTER:
But I think we don't know much beyond 18 that -- or I don't personally know much beyond that.
19 MR.
SABOCA:
I believe what happened
- was, when the 20 plant came down and the turbine coasted to a stop, it was 21.
several hours before operations tried to put it on gear.
22 Our feeling is that it may have warped slightly, and then, 23 when they tried to put it on gear, the turning gear motor 24 didn't have enough torque to take that wobble out.
25 We rolled it by hand; once we did that, we were
0
13 1
able to get it on turning gear.
MR. VATTER: I infer from your answer that that 3
turning gear does not start automatically when it coasts 4
down.
MR.
SABOCA:
I don't believe it does.
I believe 6
there's an ops procedure to put it on gear.
10 MR.
JENSEN:
Any more questions?
[No response.]
MR.
KAUFFMAN:
That concludes the interview.
[Whereupon, at 1:30 p.m., the taking of the ll interview was concluded.]
12 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
0
REPORTER'S CERTIFICATE This is to certify. that the attached proceedings before the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission In the Matter of:
NAME OF PROCEEDING:
Interview of Joe Saboca DOCKET NUMBER:
(Not applicable)
PLACE OF PROCEEDING:
- Scriba, New York were held as herein appears, and that, this is the original transcript thereof for the file of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission taken by me and thereafter reduced to typewriting by me or under the direction of the court reporting
- company, and that the transcript is a true and accurate record of the foregoing proceedings.
Mark Handy Official Reporter Ann Riley
& Associates, Ltd.
C