ML19224C736
| ML19224C736 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | FitzPatrick  |
| Issue date: | 06/07/1979 |
| From: | Grier B NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION I) |
| To: | Leonard J POWER AUTHORITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK (NEW YORK |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 7907060115 | |
| Download: ML19224C736 (1) | |
Text
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t, UNITED STATES
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fj NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 3
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REGION I S 'A A
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,h' KING OF PRUSSI A, PE NNSY LVANI A 19400 Docket No. 50-333 Power Authority of the State of New York James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant ATTN: Mr. J. D. Leonard Resident Manager P. O. Box 41 Lycoming, New York 13093 Gen tlemen:
This Information Notice is provided as an early notification of a possibly significant matter.
It is expected that recipients will review the information for possible applicability to 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 the matter, please contact this office.
Sincerely, lJf4 n
Boyce H. Grier
' Director
Enclosures:
1.
IE Information Notice No. 79-15 with Attachment 2.
List of IE Information Notices Issued in 1979 cc w/encls:
George T. Berry, Executive Director P. W. Lyon, Manager - Nuclear Operations A. Klausmann, Director, Quality Assurance M. C. Cosgrave, Quality Assurance Supervisor J. F. Davis, Chairman, Safety Review Committee L. R. Bennett, Assistant General Manager - General Counsel G. M. Wilverding, Licensing Supervisor
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ENCLOSURE 1 UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OFFICE OF INSPECTION AND ENFORCEMENT WASHINGTON, D.C.
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IE Information Notice No. 79-15 Date: June 7,1979 Page 1 of 3 DEFICIENT PROCEDURES Summary On June 2,1979, at Arkansas Nuclear One - Unit 1, while observing conditions in the control room, an NRC inspector discovered an operational deficiency that could have resulted in the emergency feedwater system remaining isolated during subsequent powea operation.
Description of Circumstances On June 2 while Arkansas Nuclear One - Unit 1 was preparing for startup, an NRC inspector in the control rocm found that during a surveillance te -t 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 NRC inspector found that the test procedure being used by the licensed operators did not inclede, as it should have, instructions either to bvpass 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 norr.1, there was no assurance that emergency feedwater would be provided automati
'y 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 rutomatically.
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 the 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 the Commission staff is e tisfied with the utility's method of controlling the development of operhcing procedures, the adequacy of existing procedures, and until there is assurance that operators will not Avig frog +h e y nco g oc. _.
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