ML19224C656
| ML19224C656 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Comanche Peak  |
| Issue date: | 06/07/1979 |
| From: | Seyfrit K NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION IV) |
| To: | Gary R TEXAS UTILITIES ELECTRIC CO. (TU ELECTRIC) |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 7907060023 | |
| Download: ML19224C656 (1) | |
Text
/EC-y vsq'o, UNITED STATES 4
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'j NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 7,, j'[w J
REGION IV S-g 611 RYAN PLAZA DRIVE, SUITE 1000
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AR LINGToN, T E XAS 76012 June 7, 1979 In Reply Refer To:
RIV Docket Nos.
50-445/IE Information Notice No. 79-15 50-446/IE Information Notice No. 79-15 Texas Utilities Generating Company ATTN:
Mr. R. J. Gary, Executive Vice President and General Manager 2001 Bryan Tower Dallas, Texas 75201 Gentlemen:
This Information Notice is provided as an early notification of a poscibly significant matter.
It is expected that recipients will review the information for possible applicability tc their facilities. No specific action or response is requested at this time.
If further NRC evaluations so indicate, an IE Circular, Bulletin, or NRR Generic Letter will be issued to recommend or request specific licensee actions.
If you have questions regarding this matter, please contact the Director of the appropriate NRC Regional Office.
Karl V. Seyfr-Director
Enclosures:
1.
IE Information Notice No. 79-15 2.
List of IE Information Notices Issued in 1979 m r, i 790706002 7
UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OFFICE OF INSPECTION AND ENFORCEMENT WASHINGTON, D.C.
20555 IE Information Notice No. 79-15 Date: June 7, 1979
."oge 1 of 3 DEFICIENT PROCEDURES Summary On June 2, 1979, at Arkansas Nuclear One - Unit 1, while observing conditions in the control room, an hTC inspector discovered an operational deficiency that could have resulted in the emergency feedwater system remaining isolated during subsequent power operation.
Description of Circumstances On June 2 while Arkansas Nuclear One - Unit I was preparing for startup, an NRC inspector in the control room found that during a surveillance test of the main feedwater check valves, the controls of the emergency feedwater system were positioned so that the system could not automatically respond if needed. The hTC inspector found that the test procedure being used by the licensed operators did not include, as it should have, instructions either to bypass the emergency feedwater system or to return it to normal.
The plant operators, without approved procedures covering this aspect of the test, bypassed the controls that would have started the feedwater system automatically.
Lacking a procedural requirement to return the system to normal, there was no assurance that emergency feedwater would be provided automatically if needed.
Following the Three Mile Island accident, the NRC required that operators be trained to initiate promptly the emergency feedwater system manually if it does not come on automatically. Thus, while no immediate safety hazard existed at the Arkansas Unit 1 plant because of the improper action, the NRC staff is concerned about the potential safety hazard of leaving the emergency feedwater system in the bypassed condition, about t.he possibility that other procedures at the Arkansas plant may be deficient and about the fact that the operators deviated from procedures in performing the surveillance test.
Arkansas Power and Light Company has returned the plant to cold shutdown.
The June 2, 1979, NRC Order confirmed the requirement for a cold shutdown until t'.:e Commission staff is satisfied with the utility's method of con-troll ing the development of operating procedures, the adequacy of existing prscedures, and until there is assurance that operators will not deviate trom those procedures.
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