ML18227A445

Letter Reporting Abnormal Occurrence 251-75-11 of High Boron Concentration in the C Boric Acid Storage Tank, in Unit 4 on 11/12/1975

ML18227A445
Person / Time
Site:	Turkey Point
Issue date:	11/21/1975
From:	Schmidt A Florida Power & Light Co
To:	Moseley N NRC/RGN-II
References
Download: ML18227A445 (8)

Text

CQNTRO it:~1 FILE INCIDENI.'EPORT FII NRC STR IBUTION FOR.PART 50 DOCK ~

M(ATERIAL (TEMPO BARY FO RM)

~..

~

1 FROM Flordia Power ig t Co.

'Miami, Flordia.

'.D.

Schmidt'O:

DATE OF DOC 11-21-75 OREG DATE R EC'D 12-5-75

'C OTHER LTR XXX TWX RPT r

OTHER GLASS UNCLASS PROP INFO INPUT NO CYS REC'D 4

SENT LOCAL PDR DOCKET NO:

50-251

~>I=SCAtPTION:

Abnorma1--Occurrence 8 75-,11, on 11-12-75; Concerning High -Boron Concentration in the "C" Boris Acid Storage.Tank,;.;:.:

'r

. {1.Copy 'Received.),

ENCLOSURES:

ri

, I r

PLANT NAME:

Turkey Point 0 4 i

. FOR ACTION/INFORMATION SAB 12 BUTLER (L)

. W/ Copies CLARK {L)

W/ Copies PAR R (i 'i W/ Copies KNIEL (L)

Ml/ Copies A/T INO BRAITi>>IAN SALTZMAN MELTZ LIC ASST R. DIGGS (L)

H. GEARIN (L)

F GOULBOURNE (L)

P. KREUTZER {E)

J. LEE (t.)

M.'ROSHMOOK (L)

S. REED(E)

M. SE RVtCE (L)

S. SHEPPARD (L)

M. SLATER (E)

H. SMITH {L)

S.'EETS (L)

G. WILLIAMS(E)

~

V.

I LSON (L)

~

.,INGRAM (L)

H DUNCAN G FILE TECH REVIFW

~ NR

~SCHROEDE R

~

OGC, ROOMi P-506A

~<ACCARY

'OSSICK/STAFF KNIGHT

~CASE PAWLICKI SHAO BOYD

~~~ STE LLO MOOR E (L)

+-~HOUSTON DEYOUNG (L)

""+~NOVAK SKOVHOLT (L)

~ROSS GOLLER (L) (Ltr)

~ IPPOLITO P. COLLINS

(()PTE DESCO

~

. DENISE J.

COLLINS REG OPR

'AINAS r PII E Si REGION (2)

BENAROYA

~.>EI~/>~

(S)

~VOLLMER-STEE LE DFNTON

~GRIMES GAMiVIILL KASTNER BALLARD SPANGLER PLANS MCDONALD CHAPMAN.

DUBE (Ltr)

E. COUPE PETERSON HARTFIELD (2)

~ KLECI ER EISENHUT

'WIGG INTON

<<P. tlILLIANS

<<HA

'NVI RO MULLER DICKER KNIGHTON YOUNGB LOOD REGAN:

PROJECT, LDR HARLESS EXTERNAL DISTRIBUTION SCHWENCER {L)

ZIEMANN(L)

BEGAN (E)

W/ Copies W/ Copies gl Copies STOLZ (L)

DICKER (E)

~AR (I )

W/ Copies W/ Copies WQCopies YASSALLO (L).

KNIGHTON (E)

SPELS

'y~ilI'P<gMO>>

W/ Copies W/ Copies W/ Coppis.O

.PURPLE (L)

YDUNGBLooo (E)

RBID

< ~Yr~TOjgL@QQKQ' rW/ Copies W/ Copies W/ Copies'.C/KN INTERNALDISTR IBUTION g1 1

1 16 LOCALPDR~Mgj,M]o d TIC (ABERNATHY)

(It(2))10) NATIONALLABS NSIC (BUCHANAN) 1 '- W. PENNIMGTON, Rm E-201 GT

ASLB, 1

CONSULTANTS Newton Anderson NEWMARK/BLUME/AGBABtAN ACRS SEi j<

TO LIC SST R

1 ngram SEND ONLY TEN DAY REPORTS 1 PD R-SAN/LA/NY 1 BROOKHAVEN NAT LAB 1 G. ULRIKSON, OR<'<I L 1 AGMED (RUTH GUSSMA)M)

Rm 8-127 GT 1 ~ J. D. RUNKL'ES, Rm E-20l GT

PP IP

%P

/

~

+ P I Q,,l 5 P, I IP) I J

P.O. BOX 3100 MIAMI,FLORIDA 33IOI

~L C4

)975 La-dP U $. y'tg~Ã*iIR~IJIAT0R4 COMACIg I0N Ep M-il So<<riog FLORIDA POWER 8; LIGHT COMPANY November 21, 1975 R OP/

Mr. Norman C. Moseley, Director Region II Office of Inspection and Enforcement U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 230 Peachtree

Street, N.N., Suite 818 Atlanta, Georgia 30303

Dear Mr. Moseley:

ABNORMAL OCCURRENCE 251-75-11 TURKEY POINT UNXT 4 DATE OF OCCURRENCE:

NOVEMBER 12, 1975 c

IF+PPy

'4 HXGH BORON CONCENTRATXON IN THE "C" BORIC ACID STORAGE TANK A.

CONDITIONS PRXOR TO OCCURRENCE The Unit 4 reactor was in steady state power operation at about 99% rated power.

The Unit 3 reactor was in the refueling shutdown condition.

B.

DESCRIPTION OF OCCURRENCE At about ll:00 AM on November 12, 1975, it was verified that the boron concentration in the "C" Boric Acid Storage Tank (BAST) was above the upper limit defined in Technical Specification 3.6.b.3.

The measured concentration was 22,600 ppm which was slightly above the upper limit of 22,500 ppm.

C.

DESIGNATION OF APPARENT CAUSE OF OCCURRENCE This occurrence was caused by the addition of a concentrated boric acid solution to the "C" BAST which was in-service at the time.

The addition was made to increase the quantity of boric acid solution in the "C" BAST to ensure that it was well above the minimum quantity required by Technical Specifications for single reactor operation.

Under normal operating conditions, the "B" BAST, which is normally iso-

lated, would have been placed in-service and the "C" BAST (Continued)

HELPING BUILD FLORIDA

C I

Mr. Norman C. Moseley November 21, 1975 Page Two would have been isolated prior to the chemical addition.

However, maintenance on the 4A Boric Acid Transfer Pump suction valve necessitated a system valve lineup that prevented the "B" BAST from being placed in-service.

" The action at this point would normally have been to complete the valve work and shift the in-service BAST, but the quantity of boric acid solution in the "C" BAST was near the low limit specified for single reactor operation, therefore, the decision was made to proceed with trans-ferring the boric acid solution to the in-service "C" BAST.

Under the circumstances, a judgment was made that the con-servative action would be to add to the in-service BAST which could then be sampled and recirculated if necessary to bring the boron concentration into specification.

D.

ANALYSIS OF OCCURRENCE An increase in the boron concentration increases the potential for flow blockage caused by the possible precipitation of boric acid.

During this occurrence, checks of the boric acid system indicated there was no significant precipitation.

Temperatures throughout the system were well above the saturation temperature for a boron solution concentration of 22,600 ppm.

In addition, the high boron concentration increased the available negative reactivity in the "C" BAST, so the availability of the tank as a source of negative reactivity was not reduced.

Therefore, we conclude that the health and safety of the public were not adversely affected by this occurrence.

E.

CORRECTIVE ACTION Primary grade water was added to the "C" BAST and the contents of the tank were recirculated to dilute the boron concentration.

The tank was resampled at about 12:30 PM on November 12, and the boron concentration was found to be within specifications.

Operating Procedure 2603.5 will be revised to include a

requirement to sample the Boric Acid Batching Tank to ensure that its boron concentration is within the BAST specification whenever it is necessary to add boric acid solution to an in-service BAST.

(Continued)

t t

T Cg g

~

A

Mr. Norman C. Moseley November 21, 1975 Page Three F.

FAILURE DATA There has been one previous occurrence involving high boron concentration in a BAST. It was reported as Abnormal Occurrence 250-73-10.

Very truly yours, A

. Schmidt Vice President, Power Resources MAS/jar CC Jack R.

Newman, Esquire Director, Office of Inspection and Enforcement (40)

Director, Office of Management Information and Program Control (3)

r 4

'I