ML19224C749
| ML19224C749 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Sterling |
| Issue date: | 06/07/1979 |
| From: | Grier B NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION I) |
| To: | Arthur J ROCHESTER GAS & ELECTRIC CORP. |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 7907060135 | |
| Download: ML19224C749 (1) | |
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s UNITED STATES
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,f i NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
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631 PARK AVENUE KING OF PRUSSI A, PENNSY LVANI A 19106
't,.....f June 7, 1979 Docket No. 50-485 Rochester Gas & Electric Corporation A'ITN : Mr. J. E. Arthur Chief Engineer 89 East Avenue Rochester, NY 14649 Gentlemen :
This Information Notice
~.'s provided as an earl.v notification of a possibly significant matter.
It is expected that recipicn+.s will review the infomation for possible applicability to their facilities.
f.o specific action or response is requested at this time.
If further NRC cvaluations so indicate, an IE Circular, Bulletin, or NRR Generic Letter will be issued tc recommend or request specific licensee actions.
If you have questions regarding the matter, clease contact this office.
Sincerely, lh
~Sn Boyce H. Grier Director
Enclosures:
1.
IE Infomation Notice No. 79-15 with Attachment 2.
List of IE Information Notices Issued in 1979 cc w/encls:
C. R. Anderson, Manager, QA Lex K. Larson, Esquire N. A. Petrick, Executive Director, SNUPPS Garald Charnoff, Esquire rg (, '
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ENCLOSURE 1 UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 0FFICE OF INSPECTION AND ENFORCEMENT WASHINGTON, D.C.
20555 IE Information Notice No. 79-15 Date:
June 7, 1979 Page 1 of 3 DEFICIEN' PROCEDURES Summary On June 2,1979, at Arkansas Nuclear One - Unit 1, while observing conditions in the control rcom, an NRC 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 NRC 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 the possibility that cther 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 Licht Company has returned the plant to cold shutdown. The June 2,1979, NRC Oruer confirmed the requirement for a cold shutdown until the Commission staff is satisfied with the utility's method of controlling the development of operating procedures, the adequacy of existing procedures, and until there is assurance that operators vill ~ + Ah + o "+W~~d"~
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