ML18101B101
| ML18101B101 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Salem  |
| Issue date: | 11/14/1995 |
| From: | Olshan L NRC (Affiliation Not Assigned) |
| To: | Eliason L Public Service Enterprise Group |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 9511170014 | |
| Download: ML18101B101 (9) | |
Text
~., - M~. Leon R. Eliason Chief Nuclear Officer & President Nuclear Business Unit Public Service Electric and Gas Company Post Office Box 236 Hancocks Bridge, NJ 08038 November 14,.5
SUBJECT:
INTERNATIONAL NUCLEAR EVENT SCALE EVENT REPORTING FORM, SALEM NUCLEAR GENERATING STATION, UNIT 1
Dear Mr. Eliason:
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is forwarding the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES) Event Reporting Form that was disseminated regarding your recent declaration of an Alert on October 4, 1995.
The event involved the loss of control room audible and visual annunciators.
The NRC participates in the INES in a limited way, as was communicated to you through Generic Letter 92-09, issued on December 31, 1992.
As stated in the Generic Letter, the INES rating is not intended to affect emergency classifications, event reporting to the NRC, or communications with the public.
Because usage of the INES could lead to confusion with the existing four-level emergency response scale used in the United States, the NRC delays the INES rating for at least one week after the event is terminated.
The NRC evaluates every event classified as an Alert or higher on the U.S. emergency response scale for its INES applicability.
An INES Event Rating Form is then prepared utilizing available documentation pertaining to the event.
Not every Alert (or higher) will necessarily receive an INES classification, as some may be rated "out of scale."
In this case, the event was classified as level 0, below scale." A copy of the rating form is enclosed.
The NRC does not request a review or concurrence with the INES classification nor is any response requested.
If you have any questions, please contact me at (301) 415-1419.
Docket No. 50-272
Enclosure:
Event Reporting Form cc w/enclosure:
See Next Page DATE
// ;f:Jl/95 I// 13 /95 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY DOCUMENT NAME:
SALlPM.LTR 9511170014 951114 PDR ADOCK 05000272 p
PDR Sincerely, original signed by D. Brinkman for L.Olshan Leonard Olshan, Senior Project Manager Project Directorate I-2 Division of Reactor Projects - I/II Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
DI~TRIBUTION w/enclosure:
Docket Fi 1 e PUBLIC PDI-2 Reading SVarga JZwol i nski JStolz MO' Brien OGC ACRS LNicholson, RGN-I DCS AEOD R/F ELJordan DFRoss IRD R/F ERB R/F RBarrett HBail ey RStransky DWeaver
UNITED.STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 November 14, 1995
SUBJECT:
INTERNATIONAL NUCLEAR EVENT SCALE EVENT REPORTING FORM, SALEM NUCLEAR GENERATING STATION, UNIT 1
Dear Mr. Eliason:
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is forwarding the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES) Event Reporting Form that was disseminated regarding your recent declaration of an Alert on October 4, 1995.
The event involved the loss of control room audible and visual annunciators.
The NRC participates in the INES in a limited way, as was communicated to you through Generic Letter 92-09, issued on December 31, 1992.
As stated in the; Generic Letter, the INES rating is not intended to affect emergency classifications, event reporting to the NRC, or communications with the public.
Because usage of the INES could lead to confusion with the existing four-level emergency response scale used in the United States, the NRC delays the INES rating for at least one week after the event is terminated.
The NRC evaluates every event classified as an Alert or higher on the U.S. emergency response scale for its INES applicability.
An INES Event Rating Form is then prepared utilizing available documentation pertaining to the event.
Not every Alert (or higher) will necessarily receive an INES classification, as some may be rated "out of scale." In this case, the event was classified as "level O, below scale.
11 A copy of the rating form is enclosed.
The NRC does not request a review or concurrence with the INES classification nor is any response requested.
If you have any questions, please contact me at (301) 415-1419.
Docket No. 50-272
Enclosure:
Event Reporting Form cc w/enclosure:
See Next Page Sincerely, 4c~/.1$~
r-Leonard Olshan, Senior Project Manager Project Directorate I-2 Division of Reactor Projects - I/II Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
Mr. Leon R. Eli as on e Public Service Electric & Gas
- Company cc:
Mark J. Wetterhahn, Esquire Winston & Strawn 1400 L Street NW Washington, DC 20005-3502 Richard Fryling, Jr., Esquire Law Department - Tower SE 80 Park Place Newark, NJ 07101 Mr. Clay Warren General Manager - Salem Operations Salem Generating Station P.O. Box 236 Hancocks Bridge, NJ 08038 Mr. Louis Storz Sr. Vice President - Nuclear Operations Nuclear Department P.O. Box 236 Hancocks Bridge, New Jersey 08038 Mr. Charles S. Marschall, Senior Resident Inspector Salem Generating Station U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Com~ission Drawer 0509 Hancocks Bridge, NJ 08038 Dr. Jill Lipoti, Asst. Director Radiation Protection Programs NJ Department of Environmental Protection and Energy CN 415 Trenton, NJ 08625-0415 Maryland Office of People's Counsel 6 St. Paul Street, 21st Floor Suite 2102 BaHimore, Maryl and 212*02 Ms. R. A. Kankus Joint Owner Affairs PECO Energy Company 965 Chesterbrook Blvd., 63C-5 Wayne, PA 19087 Mr. Elbert Simpson Salem Nuclea~enerating Station, Units 1 and 2 Richard Hartung Electric Service Evaluation Board of Regulatory Commissioners 2 Gateway Center, Tenth Floor Newark, NJ 07102 Regional Administrator, Region I*
U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 475 Allendale Road King of Prussia, PA 19406 Lower Alloways Creek Township c/o Mary 0. Henderson, Clerk Municipal Building, P.O. Box 157 Hancocks Bridge, NJ 08038 Mr. Frank X. Thomson, Jr., Manager Licensing and Regulation Nuclear Department P.O. Box 236 Hancocks Bridge, NJ 08038 Mr. David Wersan Assistant Consumer Advocate Office of Consumer Advocate 1425 Strawberry Square Harrisburg, PA 17120 Ms. P. J. Curham MGR. Joint Generation Department Atlantic Electric Company P.O. Box 1500 6801 Black Horse Pike Pleasantville, NJ 08232 Carl D~ Schaefer External Operations - Nuclear Delmarva Power & Light Company P.O. Box 231 Wilmington, DE 19899 Public Service Cammi ss ion of Maryl and Engineering Division Chief Engineer 6 St. Paul Centre Baltimore, MD 21202-6806 Senior Vice President - Nuclear Engineering Nuclear Department P.O. Box 236 Hancocks Bridge, New Jersey 08038
ll'ITER.l'IJ.\\JlOl'IJ.\\t l'IUClEJ.\\R. EVEl'rr SCJ.\\tE (ll'IES)
EVEl'IT R.J.\\f I ~I G fOR.J'I\\
To be sent to: IAEA. Wagramerstrasse s. P.O. Box 1 oo. A-1400. Vienna. Austria TELEX: 1-12645, Cable: INATOM Vienna. Facsimile: 43-1-2309723. Telephone: 43-1-2360-US!i EVENT
. EVENT DATE TIRE SALEM UNIT.I LOSS OF CONTROL ROOM ANNUNCIATORS 95.10.04 RATING llAllNG OUT OF BB.OW. -
ONSCAIE.
'SAFm' DEGl!ADAJION OF D&ENSE IN'OEP1ll x DAJE SCA1E SCAlE 10 1 I 2 I 31 A I Ii I 6 I 7 P110V1S10NAL D I I I I I I A11lllllUTE ON-snE IJMW.C1' ANAL
~ 95.10. 2(
x Off.snE IMPACf COUNTRY FACILITY FACILITY 11<\\A NAME
<\\Al l='M-1 TYPE PWR ASPECTS OF SIGNIFICANCE TO THE PUBLIC:
YES NO ACCIDENT 0 INCIDENT D DEVIATION lX1 RADIOACTIVE RELEASES OFF-SITE D
IX]
RADIOACTIVE RELEASES ON-SITE D
IX]
WORKERS INJURED BY RADIATION D
IX]
WORKERS INJURED PHYSICAU.Y D
IX1 PLANT SAFETY IS UNDER CONTJK)L I))
D THE EVENT REPORTED IS A DISCOVERY OF A DEFICIENCY I))
D BY ROUTINE SURVElllANCE A PRESS RELEASE WAS MADE (IF YES. PLEASE ATTACH IT) rn D
A SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE EVENT:
Salem Unit 1 was shutdown in a refueling outage when control room operators discovered that the audible and visual main control board alarm annunciators had stopped responding.
These annunciators alarm in the event of abnormal conditions or actuations of plant equipment. Within one hour, control room operators reinitialized the annunciator computer syste*m and verified that the alarm annunciators were working properly.
No plant systems were affected by the loss of alarm annunciators.
NAME Ri rh;:irrl.l R~rrPtt CONrACT PBISON FOR ADDllESS USNRC. Wash1noton Ul..
l"U!::>!::>!::>
RllllHER INFOl!MAllON PHONE (301) 415-7482 FAX
( 301 l 816-5151 "PlEASE ATTACH ADOfT10NAl INFORMAJlON ON JUSTIFICAJION OF 1HE EVBf1' RA1ING AND DIFflCUIJIES ENCOUNlBIBl IF NEB>a>
Enclosure
I Basis for INES Rating of the Salem Unit 1 Alert on 04 OCT 1995 BACKGROUND:
On 04 OCT 1995, Salem Unit 1 was shutdown and defueled.
The licensee declared an ALERT due to the loss of the audible and visual main control board annunciators.
The loss of.alarms was discovered during a preplanned nightly test procedure.
Control room operators reset the annunciator computer system and restored the annunciators within approximately one hour.
Loss of the annunciators did not affect the automatic initiation of any safety systems, nor the main control board display of safety system parameters.
RATING BASIS:
The event ~s rated "level 0, below scale" in accordance with Paragraph III-2.3 of the INES User's Manual. This paragraph defines the levels of safety function availability used in rating events. Table I of the INES User's Manual provides INES rating factors based upon the level of safety function availability. This event had no effect on safety-related equipment.
NAME OF DOCUMENT: H:\\ERB\\INES\\SALEMl.95\\SALlRAT.ING
U.S N.R.C. REGION 1 Kl~
005 News Bulletin Cont*act: _William L. Stewart 60~~273-0396 or 273-047~
October s, i9g5
!'or. !Dlll\\ed.iate Distribution New~ Bulletin i 1 Lower Alloway6 Creek, NJ - Plant operators at the Salem Unit 1 n~clear qeneratinq station, located 1n Lower Alloways Creek Township, about 35 miles southwest of Ph1ladelph1a, declared an AJ.ert at 1:36 a.m. today because t:he overhead
~larm panels in the ~ain con~rol roo~ stopped functioning frorn 10:35 p.m. to 11:3.5 p.m.. on October 4, 1995. The pa.nels are now operat1.nq, testing is in progres5 and the cause of the problem is under ;.nvestiqation.
The main control room has multiple indications of important pl.ant paraltletrtr.s and !unctiona and t:hese... back-up" ind1ce.t:1ons were fu.lJ.y lunct.1onal during the time the overhead panels-were out ct service.
fi~lem tinit l 1~ in a maintenanc~ ~no refueling outage.
There is no ruel in the r~actor. 'there was no rele4se of radiation and*tio danger to the public or on-$ite p~rsonnel.
- sale~ Generat~ng Station 15 o~erated by Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G).
- More -
1=e U.5 N.R.C. REGION 1 Kl~
004 An Alert is tho first lev~l in the PSE'G emergency plan where emergency off-site facilities are started. The declaration of an Alert 1s standard operating procedure whe~
equipment of thia type is fou.nd to not be* funct10il'i"nq--
properly.
All appropriate feQeral, state and local authorities have been noti~ied of the a1tuat1on.
Salllln. Unit 2 is cvrrently off line and in a maintenance outage. Hope Creek is operating at 98 perc*ent powe"** Salem Un.i. t 2 and Hope Creek a.re not affected by the Alert at Salem Unit l. Both of these plants are.also operated by PSE&G and are a.l:io located at th.e plant site in Lower Alloways Creek Township~
More details will follow as they becoma available.
I
- I
~--1 U.S N.R.C. REGION 1 Kl~
003 NOT~ TO EDITORSt Public Servico Electric and Gas Co., owner-operators of the Salem /Hope Creek nuclear qenerating 6tation are activating an Emarg~ncy:Newe Center at th~ Salam Community Center, 118 Walnut Street. (Corner of Gr1~vea P3rkway),
Sale~, New JerGay.
Once the facility ia activated, a company spokeeper6on will hold periodic briefings and state and county spokesperson~ aleo will be availabl~.
ALE~T -
An Alert is an Emergency Plan claseiricat1on tor an event which could artect plant safety.
In an Alert, PSE~G emergency raaponse teams are activated and some oft-site respons~ may be needed.
No radiation has been released outGide of the plant.
Salem Generatinq station is a 2 unit pressurized water reaotor (PWa) that is owned by PSE&G (42.59 per cent),
Philadelphia Electric {42.59 per cent), Atlantic Electric (7.41 per cent) ond Delmarva Power and Li9ht (7.49 per centl.
ffope Creek is a slngle unit pJ.ent that i.s owned by
~a~~o (95 pe~ cent) end Atlantic Electric (5 per cent).
Opei:ated by PSE,G, Salem Unit I and Ir went lnto commercial operation in 1977 and 1981. respectively.
PBE&G is thQ larqest en~~9Y utility in Ne~ Jersey and the fourth largest combined electric and ga~ utility in the United States.
The station is in Low~~ Alloways Creek Township, loc~ted in Salem County, New Jersey.
The plant site is on a penineula near the mouth of the Delaware River about 35 miles eouth~ast of Ph1ladelph1e.
Hope creek Generatinq Station is aloo operated by PSE'G end ia located dt the same site.
The th*ee units in Lower Alloways Creek TownGhip compriGe the seccnd largest commgrcial nuclear facility 1n the United States.
The Sale:JQ plants ace rated at 1106 megawatts each (enough co provide '?lectrical power to approxinua.tQl.y 1. S million homes each).
The nuclear steam supply syseems were supplied by Wecstinqhouse El12ctric corporation and conatruc~ed by United Engineers and congtructora Inc.
Rope Cr.eek ig ~ boi 1 l.nq water reactor (BWR) a.nd is rated a.t 1031 ni.eqawatts. It's nuclear steall\\ supply system wae eupplied by the Gen~ral Electric Company end constructed by the Bechtel.Power Corporation.