ML18058A264

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LER 92-004-01:on 920107,determined That Containment Integrity Violated,Per Tech Specs 1.4 & 3.6.1a.Caused by Escape Air Lock Inner Door Equalizing Valve Stuck in Open Position.Maint Procedure revised.W/920306 Ltr
ML18058A264
Person / Time
Site: Palisades Entergy icon.png
Issue date: 03/06/1992
From: Hillman C, Slade G
CONSUMERS ENERGY CO. (FORMERLY CONSUMERS POWER CO.)
To:
NRC OFFICE OF INFORMATION RESOURCES MANAGEMENT (IRM)
References
LER-92-004, LER-92-4, NUDOCS 9203110119
Download: ML18058A264 (6)
v • d • e


Text

consumers

.Power * .. - G.B Slade Gmeral Manager POWERINli

.MICHlliAN"S PROliRESS

' *Palisades Nuclear Plant: 27780 Blue Star Memorial Highway, Covert, .Ml 49043 March* 6, 1992 Nuclear Regulatory Commission Document Control Desk

f;"*: .*

  • 'i"'.: ...
  • ~ . DOCKET 50-255 .- LICENSE.DPR-20 PALISADES PLANT .
  • LICENSEE EVENT REPORT 92-004-01-LOSS OF CONTAINMENT INTEGRITY DUE TO THE FAILURE OF THE EMERGENCY. ESCAPE AIRLOCK EQUALIZING VALVE - SUPPLEMENTAL REPORT Licensee Eve~t Report (LER)92-004, Supplement 1 i~ attached. Thi~ suppl~ment quantifies the amount of radioactivity released to the environment as a. result of this event, includes a discussion of the safety significanc~ of the event

_and clarifies that maintenance, and not replacement, will be performed on the inner door equalizing valve. This event was originally reported to the NRC in accordance with 10CFR50.73(a)(2)(i)(B) as a condition prohibited by the plant's technical ~pecifications.

h/L--rk~

  • Gerald B Slade General Manager r:- .

CC Administrator, Region III, USNRC NRC Resident In~pector - Palisades.

Attachment

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9203110119 920306 PDR ADOCK 05000255 S PDR . A CMS ENERGY COMPANY

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TITLI "' LOSS OF CONTAINMENT INTEGRITY DUE TO* THE FAILURE OF THE EMERGENCY ESCAPE AIRLOCK F()TTAT T"Tl\l~ VAT.VF IYINT DA Ill Liii 11..-111 111 lllPOlllT DA I

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  • . AllllA COOi Cris T Hillman, Staff Licensing Engineer COW'LITI ONI LINI POii IACH COWONINT PAILUlll OllClllllO IN TMll llll'OlllT C111 CAUSE SYITIM COMl'OJjENT x N 1H I I 1L W I 310 12
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                                                                                   "'"'LIMINTAL llll'OAT IXl'ICTIO IHI Xl YU                   (If ..... -                     IJCl'IC'TID IV*Mt$SION DATii                                h                NO lllPICTIO IUIM1$SION DATE 11&1 01 5      oi 1 91 2 AUTllACT (I.Im/I ID 1400 -
  • I.*.. _,.,.;,,..,.,, fl'-it 11¥*-IP<<* ry-'nwn /ina/ 1111 On January 7, 1992, at 0435 hours, with .the pl ant operat i hg at 100% power,, it
                             ~as              determined that containment integrity, as defined in_Technical                                                                                                                        .

Specifications 1.4 and 3.6.la, had been violated. At. the time of discovery the* plant staff was perfo~ming technical .specifications surveillance procedure {TSSP) S0-4b, "Escape Air Lock Penetration Leak Test." The escape air lock was last satisfactorily tested on July 10, 1991; This event is not considered a safety significant issue since a significant radiological source term did not exist* when containment integrity was violated on January 6, 1992. Therefore, the impact on the health and safety of the public was insignificant. This is further supported* by the fact that the outer door of the escape air lock was operable and only one door of an air lock is required for coritainment integrity. The proximate cause of this event was that the escape air lock inner dtior equalizing valve was stuck in the open position, thereby defeating the isolation capabilfty of th~ inner door. No root cause for the valve sticking open has been determined at this time. I Corrective action for this event includes revising the maintenance procedure for the. airlocks to require that the equalizing valves be visually checked following the completion of the s~al contact check, performing maintenance on the escape air lock.inner door equali~ing valve during the 1992 Refueling I Outage and quantifying the amount of radioactivity released as a result of this event.

  • llllC 19~31
                '°""-

                                                                                            '..JI "'-'C~l&a *IQIJ\,..ATQa-. :C11M11QH)ll LJCENSEE EVENT REPORT ILERI TEXT CONTINUATION
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Palisades Plant TIXT ,, _ _ e .__---lac,.._.-.*" 1111 01 5 EVENT DESCRIPTlON On* January 7, I992, at 0435 hours; with the plant operating at IOO% power, it was determined that containment [NH] integrity, as defined in Technical .. - Specifications 1.4 and 3.6.Ia, had been violated. At the time of discovery the plant staff was performing technical specifications surveillance procedure (TSSP) S0-4b, "Escape Afr Lock Penetration Leak Test."* The escape air lrick [NH;AL] was last tested on July IO, I99I and was found to be satisfactory with a leak rate of 102.8 cc/min. One of the early procedure sieps in JSSP S0-4b is to perform a visual insp~ction uf the sealing ~urfaces of both the inner and outer escipe air lock* doors. On January 6, I992, an auxiliary operator entered the escape air lock* to perform that inspection. *Nothing unusual concerning the operation of the* ..".,; .1 ....* 

            ~scape air lock was noted. However, during the initial pressurizatiori of the escape air lock following the inspection, it was determined that the pressurization time was longer than what had been experienced.during previous.

tests. At 0329 hours, the Shift Supervisor decided.to calculate a leak rate at the pressure attained to. that time, approximately 45 psi a; which is less than containment design pressure of 69~7 psia. (Although IO CFR 50, Appendix J, requires that test pressures be greater than the design p~essure, TSSP so~ 4b, step 5.3.I4, instructs .the operators to continue the test at the

  • obtainable pressure.)_ Temperature and ~ressure data ~as taken for one minute and a leak rate of approximately I,000,000 cc/mi~ was calculated. The leak rate obtained was assumed to be representative of the actual leak rate which was in .excess of the allowable leak rate of 65,200 cc/min, as defined in Technical Specification 4.5:2-. Soap bubble testing was performed on all
  • escape air lock fittings outside containment. Additionally, th~ outer door viewing port, outer door seal area and the outer door equalizing valve were all thecked for leakage and none was friund. These tests-confirmed that the outer door of the escape air lock was not the source of leakage. The outer door of the escap~ air lock was locked closed and the inner door was declared inoperable. Personnel entered the containment via the personnel air lock to
          . inspect the inner door of the escape air lock. Upon inspection, the escape air lock [NH;AL] inner door equalizing valve. [RV] was .found to be stuck open.

The inner door equalizing valve was initially closed by pressing on the*valve mechanism which freed up the valve and allowed the return spring to close the valve. The valve was manually operated four mor~ tim~s and each time return spring action immediately closed the valve. Test data was obtained to verify escape air lock integritj and calculations were performed for a I-hour leakrate. The caltulated I-hour leak tate was within the acceptance criteria of TSSP S0-4b. Following the successful escape air lock test~ the valve was stroked 6 more* times without sticking. As a result of the successful test and the acceptable performance of the inner door equalizing valve, both the inner door and the outer door of the escape air lock were considered operable and containment integrity had been re-established. However, the inner door is being administratively controlled using the equipment protection tagging program (yellow caution tag). Use of the escape air lock ts restricted; 

                                                                                   'JI '."UC::.lAA *IGL.rt. .. TO*., :a...11SJ()ll LICENSEE EVENT REPORT ILERI TEXT CONTINUATION                 **.-ov10 owe ..o* i, '°~'O..
                                                                                         *****u *n*"

OOCUT...,_111121 Pali.sades Plant 9 2 - 0 0. 4 - 0 1 0 3 OF 0 5 T'IXT ,,_...., * - - - - _ _ , _ ........111171 opening the inner. door may render the door inoperable *since operation of the door_may still cause the valve to stick in the open position. This event was originally reported to the NRC in actordance with . I 10CFR50.73(a)(2)(i)(B) as condition prohibited by the plant's.technical specifications. * *

  • CAUSE OF THE EVENT
                                                                                                                                 - . ~.:_

PROXIMATE CAUSE The escape air lock inner door equalizing valve was stuck in the open positiori, thereby defeating the isolation capability of the inne~ dopr. ROOT CAUSE No root caose had b~en d~termined ~t this time. This event *involved the failure of the containment escape air lock .. The escape air lock is designed to pre~ent a radiologital effluent release path to the ~nvironment and, therefore, is equipment that ii important to safety. This event did not involve personnel error. 

         'ANALYSIS OF EVENT Palisades Technical Specific~tions, Section 1.4, Item a under Containment
          .Integrity, requires that one door on each air lock (i.e., personnel and escape) be properly closed and sealed whenever containment integrity is required. Furthermore,. Technical Specification 3.6~la requires that containment integrity, as defined in Section 1.4, shall not be violated unless the reactor . is in the cold shutdown condition. Contrary to these requirements, on January 6, 1992, containment integrity was violated during the escape air lock seal inspection, which was being performed in conjunction with TSSP S0-4b. .

There are two possible occasions when the escape ai~ lock inner door equalizirig valve could have stuck open to cause this event. The valve could either have stuck open following the seal contact check performed as part of TSSP S0-4b on July 10, 1991 or following the seal .inspection performed as part of TSSP S0-4b on January 6, 1992. *However, we believe that the equalizing 

          .valve stuck open during the seal inspection _performed on January 6, 1992.

This position is supported by the fact that the operation of the escape air lock inner door equalizing valve was checked following the completion of S0-4b on July 10, 1991, at which time no problems with the inner door equalizing valve were ident1fied. - 

                                                                                                                                                                                      ..JI       "-'C::..t.AA          8IQW1.ATO*.,* :~ 1 -.,()frl LICENSEE EVENT REPORT ILEA> TEXT CONTINUATION                                                                                                  *-oveo oi.ie ..o                               1* 9C...Q1o.e h***u *1.11 n
  • OOCUT. ~Ill 121
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              . **o* *JI
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Palisades Plant 0 4 OF 0. 5 A***review**of the:*act.tvities *which ..occurred *as**a *normal**part'of **theperformance of. TSSP S0-4b, :indicates that *in two separate instances on January -6,

  • 1992,
  • .. ,._.:containment**"i*ntegrtty,:.was Yi*olated~*:;::*:.TheseAnst:anc.es~are~descr.ibed ,-below..
          . ,__ ** <On January .6 ;: .1992,.
  • the,.A1,1xi l fary. Operator opened* the:*escap_e: air; *1 ock
              ~, .*'.. * * *"""l>t.iter .:"door*to*,*exit:*,*the*escape "air *lock *following -the*"'i*nspecti'on;**of the * * * .. *
             ... ; (\ . .L.'::d.nner,door .._                                                                                    *                      , ... , . ****.***.... _,:;,.,;~.~~.;i:"';**.~ ......"" ...
                                                                                                                                                                                                    .. *I{
                                                                                                                                                                                                              ** ~  **.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                        -~...  * **
                                                                                                                                                                                                                               '*.*  .   -        ~-
                ..... -.* .. ;*on **January
  • 6, * ;1992;~ 'maintenance -men,' opened :the 'outer "door ~to =enter*. the ......J.
                        *. :c* *'.'esca,pe .:air:: 'lock* and""i Qstal l *:the *. .strong backs*' on<*the* *tnner *door.*                                                                                                                 *                                      ."
                .                                                                            .                                                                                                                                                               '_;     ~<. *..*.....';~   :.. :
           . Once it' was:determined that the inner door equalizing valve was the source                                                                                                                                                of                                    .:~q ,

the leakage, the outer door was not-opened until*the inner door had passed the . *i

--*leakage*"*test~ 'This *'test* was . conducted --on '*January '7 ;--:1992;~*and .. resulted in a ..._, __ '"" "~*"*~ *
    .. -~-leak r-ate of., 87...4. "cc/min. *.                                                    *                                        * .* * . .                                                                          **       ::'-" _.,,,, .":, . ... )
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   .-:~
                                                                                                                                                                                                                    . *:.: *~' *. :.*... .~. ::~ ,.::.::.;..::. ..:..     ;      -    }

Safety Si.gnificance 

.. .:. .The.' . l oss*.;of:::cont.ainmen.t :.tot~grJty~.:~on . ;,J.anuar.y -,~, ..::J9,9.~.:.res.1Jlted,jn *'.th,e. :creatjon :.'. , * :-.....
 *. **,*..,.of '~an"*'unmon'ltored ' ratJi*ofo'g'i't<<fl *'c:re*1 *eas EfJ)ath"to *~the **'*enVlranmene;*=**:~*Th*er*iffore *; . *. an(:~" *. *-* * *: .
          . assessment.:of.. the . _imp.acL.on ...the .hea lth . . and. safety...of..the .pub lic . . was .per.formed. 1. :..........i . :
        .: To:**,adc;ine,.$.s*::*~the *_;:JS.:$iU.e~l. . .:t.i,j!!p:a~t*~~on:::t-:be ;~tubltc . ~:b.e_alt.h::~and. . .s.~'feJ:Y.;. -.;,the .....*,,:,....~ *"J *. -~*. * * '*.:t:* ..
       . .r.adi.oJogi.caL . condit.i-_ons ;;of th.e :*pr.imary:,*cool!tnt -system, :*the :*second!tY:'Y r:(,steam ; '*""; '*:* :,,;u;,~ ,....
      .. gene.rator}o:system and '.the :.containment atmos_phere, _prior to . and during 'the                                                                                                                                                    .. : .*. .f: ...
         *:event,* were'rev'*iewed. **"'This was'.:-necessary since* a :1e*ak on=*:t*hEf'"A:*::'steam                                                                                                                                             *i*;:: ':!/':._ * *
      *... generator:;:secondary' .s-i de' :h*and *hole' ex i s.ted--~and *:some. *f uel ~as semb1'r*l ea ks*,:were-.J;;:~~ * :.- .. :
       *--P~esent ....:r:;,Jhis .cr~.ated:. a .. potent.ial ..leak .path..from . the. l?.CS..into ..the .ste.am .... _,_.'.' "" >"**:
         . generator Jhroygh ~a *~postulated. tube leak; out of the. steani gener,_a~or throµgh .* *"* .":*:*

th *tf:'teaktritj *'"lla nd':;;h"Ole ~"ill to ";:the*;*;to*nta tnme*nt ;_~::atmo:s'Jlher:e:;:~::::o t:if ;~*of :-cont*a:i nmettt' * .;. :.:1o-* :L .* .;~ * *,. * 

          . through the-:escape* *air *-lock inner door .equalizing :v_aive* .and'<:fi.nally'.to'*;the***:,:'..; , .. * *
            **en*v*1**ronment*
             .      -     . *            *. . . . th*r.ough***the*vop*en-.:.ou-teri"..door*
                                             -:**~*    ... .        . ~..     '#.'.   . *~    .*    :'.

1 

                                                                                                             -:~* :of... ' ...the *-es-c*ape,;'. "'l**r *-1 ock ** ... , * * .,,. '::;-i:t;;**;:::!i
                                                                                                                                   -~-           .*.;..;;a~  ...., . .         ~~--     ~-*: ...-.,.:.:** ... :.:*:**,*               *-: *.......... , '"' *.* *.:,'-,.". '
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              *~**.
                        .                           .                                     .             .                                                                    .            ..                     .      .. .          .. . . .                     ~    . ... ..        **.
                                           .               . .... .    . .  ~       *       .           . ..                          - .                              *.         ..: .,,; >::.-"!.**.* *.. '. !   '*     '-;   *.- >:...:*'.:-=-:: :;:: ,: _;_.;-;.::, ...-*X            -,

PCS' gamrna*~a-Cl,*lfty' ;fdf**the*:**week'-~prior:to'.. the*~event ;* . lricludi n'g *'the.-dayjof".the *. ~- *: ":* ... ::* *

  • ev'ent ;~'.-sho~d -no. unusual or~sign'ffitant -increases.** **.sross. gamma. analy§fs' 'of. ; -.::;.. ':)j:ffi:

th*e_.~_wat.er..-:::j:n.~.:t.he:~:.~s.~:c.ond.ary>:.s.i-de~.o"f~:;.t~*e .. -,si~~m~::g.eraef.a*to.~.s:.=~fr-~.m~=:.J.~.o.~:ary.~.&.;:**~::l.992. .~-~**** and: Januar.Y. 7, 1992* ~howed*le*ss :than~detectable acti:YHY~ *The ,ra9iolqgital * :'.. conditions* of the containment wete.also reviewed~* He*alth *physics:Togbook *data* *

  • for *i'odi n*e~"'~:parffculate:'*and"TIObte*"gas :*a*cti~vtt*i es *for . ~a *containmen:t"* a*i r sample "

taken A n'.*.c-0njunctj. on,:.wJth,_._a-.-,conta-tnment~,,_entr:y .. made;,.,On.:December .31, .*l99J. ~we~e . -=-- *** ...... 

        ..::'~compa,red.~-:t~o *!h~ . .~a,i.r:- . ,-sampl~; . ,result:s-,taken.~dur,;.ng ,.the ..,-con;tainment .. entry,,-on ;- ... "
        . January 7~~.::1992         . .      -          .....
                                                          . ::No .
                                                                           .s.ignifi.cant .di.fterences.

in ~activity_.were 

                                                                                                                                        ~          .. .          .     ,, .'
                                                                                                                                                                             ~~~~.t:!d
        **.A:~ca*l .cu"l,atton:*~w:a:s~-:p*er.:formed: ".-to:~-iquant'ify .:th.e*c.<amo.unf,:o'f. *:.acti\1 i ty *" releai.ed: to:*ih*e:*.'; **

env i.r.onment "as _.. a . r..eslil.t. of . ,:th is.:...event .....Jh..is ..calculat i.on .. ~is _,documented .,i.n.~an. 

         *.engineer,ing ,.analys;i~s :.(.EA.-..£::.:PAL-:,;92,';"00lE'."..01:) ... ~ ....J:he . ::calcul.atJori showed,..thaLa .* .
  • total of 1~35E-2 curies of.activity wa~ r~leas~d. This ~onstitutes 3.27E~3%
        *-of the. total--*maximum permissible concentration*(MPC); as defined in our

1111*c *., ... .-.. <MJI * .JI .. ..,C~lAa llG1.J1..£TO*., :011M1G'Otll LICENSEE E ENT REPORT ILEA) TEXT CONTINUATION *-Ovto owe .,iJ i*'°~'~ h**lll(S liJI 11 OOCUT ~Ill 111 ** 

                                                                                  ~*11-~11111 Palisad~$      Plant*

05000 255 2 - 0 0 4 - 0 1 0 5 OF 0 5 TIXT ,, _ _ * , _ . - _ _ , _ iw.. m.*11117! Off-site Dose Calculation Manual {ODCM); using the most ~onservative site boundary dose dispersion factor. This release will be included in the next Semi-Annual Radioacti~e fffluent and 

               *Waste Disposal Release Report as required by Palisades Technical Specification_

6.9.3.1.A .and.10CFR50.36a. Therefore, since a significant radiological source term did not* exist when containment integrity was violated on January 6, 1992, and the release through* the escape airlock was small., the impact on the health and safety of the public was insignificant. Furthermore~ since the outer door of the escape air lock was determined to be oper~ble and bnly one door*of an air lock is required for containment integrity, according to the technical specifications, there is no safety 

              . significant issue regarding this event.

CORRECTIVE ACTION

i. The maintenance proced~re for the airlocks will be revised to require that the equalizing valves be visually checked following the completion of the seal contact ch~ck.

2; A work order was written tci pe~form maintenance on the equalizing valve during the 1992 Refueling Outage.

3. *Perform a calculation to quantify the amount of radioactivity released. '

i.. to the environment as a result of this activity. Incl~de thi~ information in the annual radiological effluent release report ..

  • ADDITIONAL INFORMATION A second supplement to this LER will be submitted after the 1992 refueling
  • outage.}}
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