ML19254B046
| ML19254B046 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Crane  |
| Issue date: | 07/25/1979 |
| From: | Fasano A, Watters J, Webster D METROPOLITAN EDISON CO., NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION I) |
| To: | |
| References | |
| TASK-TF, TASK-TMR NUDOCS 7909190221 | |
| Download: ML19254B046 (18) | |
Text
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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA l
l NUCLEAR REGULATORY CCMMISSION i
I In the Matter of:
2 IE TMI INVESTIGATION INTERVIEW 31 of John F. Watters First Class Electrician 4:
David C. Webster Si First Year N" clear 6j T
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Trailer #203 9!
NRC Investigation Site TMI Nuclear Pcwer Plant
, 10!
Middletown, Pennsylvania lli July 17, 1979 12!
(Date of Interv1ew) s 13l 5,
July 25,1979 (0 ate Transcript Typec) 141 i
336 15l (Tape Numcer(s))
16 17l 18i 19i 20i 21i NRC PERSONNEL:
22!
Anthony N. Fasano
.i Owen C. Shackleton 24 i
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1l SHACXLETON:
i;,is is the voice of Owen C. Shackleton.
The time is now 4:09 2
p.m. eastern daylight time and this is an interview of Mr. John F. Watters i
3j and Mr. David C. Webster. Mr. Watters, would you please give us your job description? I have an abbreviation here but I'm not sure what it stands 4;
g' for. Your job title.
Si WATTERS:
Present time it's first class electrician.
I was working the
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second class when the accident happened.
.g 91 SHACXLETON:
Al right.
I have here on the record UCD1 second class second vear nuclear.
11:
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l WATTERS:
Right.
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I 14 SHACKLETON:
But it's now first class?
15i 16i WATTERS:
Yes.
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SHACXLETON:
Alright, fine.
And David C. Webster.
Mr. Weoster I have for 191 your job title from Met Ed records, UCD1 man Apprentice.
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21; WEBSTER:
Correct.
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SHACXLETON:
First year nuclear.
Is that now correct?
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i lj WEBSTER:
Correct.
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I 3j SHACXLETON:
Alright, fine.
Both of these gentlemen are employed by the 4
Metropolitan Edison Company at the Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Generation Station.
5 This interview is taking place in trailer No. 203, which is parked just south of the south security gate at the Three Mile Island 6
y installation.
Present to conduct this interview frem the U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is Mr. Anthony N. Fasano.
Mt. Fasano is an Inspection g
Specialist in the Performance Appraisal Branch of Inspection and Enforcement g
f r Rea tor Construction Inspection.
He is presently assigned to Region I.
10
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My name is Owen C. Shackleton.
I am an Investigator assigned to Region V.
n.
Just prior to beginning this interview on a recording, I have presented to 12l i
Mr. Watters and to Mr. Webster a two page advisement document which advised 13l them briefly of the skills and purpose of this investigation, of the authority i
of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to conduct this investigation, and of 15:
their respective rights to refuse to be interviewed, that they would not have to furnish a signed statement if they did not want to, and of their 17!
right to have someone of their choice present during the course of this i
ISI interview.
On the second page of this document are three questions and Mr.
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Watters...we'll go in alphabetical order... responded to all three questions 20!
in the affirmative.
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l 22li SHACXLETON:
Mr. Watters at this time I'd like to ask you these three 2 31 l
questions and have you respond orally for this record.
Did you understand 24(
l the document that I'm referring to?
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lj WATTERS:
Yes.
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i 3j SHACXLETON: And do we, the U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, have your 4
permission to tape this interview?
Si WATTERS:
Yes.
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SHACXLETON: And would you like a copy of the tape and tr'anscript?
8 1 Si WATTERS:
Yes.
101 11; SHACXLETON: Alright.
So that they will be provided to you, the tape immediately after the interview and the transcription in later weeks afteE' 131 its completion.
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15i SHACXLETON:
Mr. Webster? Did you understand the document I'm referring 16i to?
17l ISr WEBSTER:
Yes.
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SHACXLETON:
And do we have your permission to tape the interview?
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WEBSTER:
Yes.
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lj SHACXLETON: And would you also like a copy of the tape and transcript?
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WEBSTER: Yes.
31 41 Sj SHACXLETON: Alright sir, that will provided to ycu as it will be to Mr.
a ers.
6 7l SHACXLETON: And now Mr. Watters at this time if you would briefly for the 8
i record give us your job history with TMI and any related experience prior g;
to that that would be of benefit for your present job.
10l ul WATTERS: Are you saying experience before I was here or what? I don't 12l l
understand.
121 141 SHACXLETON: Well, I'm not sure of your experience...if you had any training in the navy or military...something relating to the nuclear...
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WATTERS:
No.
All the experience I had was mainly through Met Ed right ISI here on the island.
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SHACXLE' g~ :
Alright, fine.
If you would just give us briefly your back-ground.
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WATTERS: Well, I was originally hired in New York in 1970 and they usually 24:
start us out as a B worker.
I wen from a B worker to meter reader in what 25i
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lj they called the outside gang, which is the EC&M... we work in the substation 2'
and so forth.
In 1974 I got laid off.
In 1976 I was called back either to 3l come over here or up to Crawford.
I went to Crawford a little over a year as a spare operator.
I wasn't working operations, S5.. 90% of the time I didn't work in operations I worked on an electrical gang up there then I Si i
6j came down here...I've been down here for a little over two years now.
I 71, 8j SHACKLETON: Alright, Mr. Watters. You worked at TMI...you worked on both Unit 1 and 2?
9, 10; 11:l WATTERS: Yes.
SHACKLETON: And that's...Mr. Webster, could you also give us briefly your background?
15; WEBSTER:
I started at Met Ed about a year ago in August ar.d started out as a utility worker B and then went to the electric depart. ment and have been there ever since.
About the last four months.
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191 SHACKLETON:
Al right.
Mr. Webster you also worked both areas...
21; WEBSTER:
Yes.
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23l SHACKLETON:
... involving Unit 1 and Unit 2 at TMI.
Is that correct?
2',
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y WEBSTER: Yes.
2,l 3j SHACKLETON: Alright, fine. Thank you gentlemen.
Now I'll turn the inter-view ver tc Mr. Fasano.
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-QSANO: What I'd like to hear from each of you...maybe John you can start out first...on March 28, 1979, where you were and how you became aware of 7
the occurrence and what you observed and what you did.
8 S!
WATTERS: Okay.
I'd come to work that W2dnesday morning.
I was coming the 101 first day of daylight off a long weekend.
Almost around 6:30 in the morning I talked to the two fellows on the 11 to 7 said they experienced a reactcr I
trip and a turbine trip and they were having trouble with the reactor.
It 131 didn't want to respond to their commands.
In other werds electrical commands or the relay controls and that's all tb.t was said as far as 15i turnover.
My starting time really isn't until 7:00 but about 6:45 I received a phone call...all available electrical personnel get their tools 17' and report to the Unit 2 control room and at that time there were several 18f different fellows.
I think it was what... Dave Long and I thir.k Mike Grem 19!
and Bill Conner and I think Hi;1iary Mitchell was supervisor, Charlie 20l Griffin the foreman. We all sort of met in the control room up there and 21l just waited for further orders in case they needed us for anything.
They 22!
had two fellows at that...later on come down and find out...try to trouble-231 l
shoot and find out what would happen in the heater pressuri::ers and had 24i trouble with the 8 fans trying to get them to run. We jumpered them out 25t
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and got them running and also I think we had two guys dressed up standing 1l by to go in the reactor building in case of problems which was Paul Brady 2
l and Joe Keppler.
In other words they were standing by in the HP area.
31 Other than that that's all really I can tell, you anything about.
4 Si 6i FASANO:
Okay.
So you got in earlier that day? Who called you, do you 7
gl recall?
91 me y a e m
e con eol room.
I reaHy don't how 101 who...I think Fern just walked in the door, he picked up the phone and that's when gave us... told us...well it was one of the phones...he told us 12' r.o grab our tools that they were having problems and report to the control 13l room.
1M 15:
FASANO: What time did you get to the control room?
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WATTERS:
Oh, it must have been about somewhere around quarter or ten of ISt 7:00, something like that I couldn't really pinpoint the time.
191 20(
FASANO:
Can you get pretty close? You were here then you were...
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22 WATTERS:
I was on the job...I was going there to our-trailer where we 231 l
usually take the turnover from the nightshift.
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y FASANO:
So you got up to the control room about 5 minutes to 7?
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i 3j WATTERS: Ah, I'd say 10 of 7, something like that we got up there, you
- know, 4
i Si FASANO:
Did a...were there many people in the control room or how did it et J
look to you?
/i Si WATTERS: Well, it was the 11 to 7 shift control room operators would be g;
there nlus the oncoming 7:00 shift, plus operators and some instrument men.
10l It wasn't really too crowded.
It just seemed at that time like they were 11; l
experiencing a normal operation trip to me you know so they told us to 12:
stand by and that's what we did.
131 14!
FASxNO: Okay.
You mentioned that you were...that you...what are the 8 15!
fans, you jumpered the 8 fans? Did you do that or did someone else?
i 17l WATTERS: Well, we looked up the press foreman and I believe...the incident 18!
shop foreman...he was...two things could have held out...was the fire 19t system was one of them, which we thought maybe that was where the problem 20:
was.
Ah, I can't think of his name now... then he volunteered to go down 21!
and see if there was a jumper in this fire pinto box down there and what 22l wouldn't let them operate.
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j lj FASANO:
I&C is it?
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3l WATTERS: Yeah.
44 A ANO:
Now, Weaver?
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61 WATTERS: Weaver, Doug Weaver, yeah.
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8 FASANO:
Okay.
So what are these fans for...just...I'm not familiar with g
the term.
101 t
11l WATTERS: Well, there's four sets of 8 fans I think two are supply and i
bring supply air in and two are exhaust.
13) 14i FASANO:
To heated ventilation?
15i 16i WATTERS: Yeah. The ventilation systems for absorbed giving in.
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181 FASANO:
And you mentioned the pressurizer heaters.
191 20l WATTERS:
Yes.
They were...in other words pressurizer heaters refer to 21!
t pressurizer control and temperature which I didn't go, Conran was the other 22l fellow who went down to check them out I stayed in the control room.
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FASANO: Did you leave the control room?
2' WATTERS: When I was there?
41 h
FASANO: Uh huh.
T Si WATTERS: No.
Not the first couple of hours, no. They kept us around the
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control room. They wouldn't even start to show iodine air samples. They g
sent Dave out cause he didn't...they thought he had enough experience and g,
Bill Carter and another chief and I stayed in plus Charlie Griffin the 10t f
foreman, and we just more or less stayed around there oh I'd say it must have been around dinner time or something like that they sent us up to unit i
1 ano < apt us up there for an hour or two then they let us leave the 131 islana. They felt they didn't need us no more.
141 15; FASANO: John, then you were in the control room ready to do a job if 16!
needed.
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i 18l WATTERS:
Right.
That's about it.
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20i FASANO: Then you have a unique advantage of watching the events in the 21!
control room?
22' 23j WATTERS: Well, some of them off and on.
I tried to stay out of the way.
24i We were more or less back in the corner, back where the main ventilation 25i GNI $
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control system is, in other words that's in the back side of it. Where the y
i 2j men's, room is.
3; 4j FASANO: Yeah over on the left hand side of the safety panel.
51 6l WATTERS: Yeah, uh huh. That's where we were most of the time.
Then we 7f waited there about two hours and they sent us over to the I&C shop and figured it's getting...they ran us out of there for I don't know why, and g
then we were out in the turbine building sitting for awhile but we might 91 have spent two to three hours in the control room maybe until about 9:00...say 10l l
about 10:00.
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l FASANO: Were you involved at all when they were trying to get the reactor 131 coolant pumps started, I guess they called it the K-3 relay jumpered that 141 out, do you...
16i WATTERS:
No.
I think Charlie Griffin might have been involved in that I'm 17!
not sure.
I know there were several different things going on.
That came 18(
later on, didn't it?
19l 20i FASANO:
They did it twice I think but I was wondering if you had any 21l involvement.
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I 23 WATTERS:
No.
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FASANO:
So you never...you just sat there and waited.
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3; WATTERS: Most of the time just stand by waiting, that's what it was.
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FASANO: When did they finally relieve you, or release you?
Si Si 7l WATTERS:
It must have been around 1:30 or 2:00 that afternoon.
i 81 FASANO:
Did you take the route up to the 500 KVE station... that route?
g, 10j WATTERS:
Yes.
IL, 12l FASANO: You checked out, were you contaminated or...
t 14!
WATTERS:
No.
15) 16:
FASANO:
Clean?
17' ISt WATTERS:
Yes.
191
-20l FASANO:
So when did you leave the site?
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WATTERS:
I just said it was around 1:30 or 2:00.
I think it was more 23t close to 2:00 I guess, somewhere in there.
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FASANO: And then go home after you went to the 500 KVE substation.
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3 WATTERS:
No. After that Bill Carter and I went to eat cause we didn't eat 4j since about 5:00 that morning.
They wouldn't let you. eat or drink or 5l nothing while you were in there you know.
So we went over to a restaurant Gj and got dinner and came back and they told us that we could go home you know and we did.
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FASANO:
0id you end up back at the Observation Center?
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WATTERS: Yes.
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FASANO: And you went home from there?
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14i WATTERS:
Yes.
16i FASANO: Was that about 3:00 or 4:00?
17l lSi WATTERS:
Oh, I think it was around 3:30.
It was the normal quitting time-
,d and our reliefs were in cause we were usually working shifts so they felt they didn't need us.
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FASANO:
Now you mentioned you were a shift...you were on shifts, right?
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So you're not a day maintenance, you are shift maintenance personnel.
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lj WATTERS:
Yeah.
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FASANO:
And are you assigned primarily to a specific unit?
41 5j WAITERS:
No.
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FASANO: You are assigned...
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'WATTERS:
First call first serve, usually you fight over where he wants you g
at.
Each shift foreman in each unit feels they have a more important area 10 y
you know so you have to go wherever they told you to go.
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FASANO:
Is that true for all the maintenance and the other disciplines 131 also? The repair maintenance and the I&C?
14!
151 WATTERS: Oh yeah. Well, now I&C had two guys on both units where electrical and mechanics don't. There are two guys left...there are three mechanics 17l on a shift and two electricians that maintain both units so that's a handicap.
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FASAMO:
How ' bout you Dave, did you have pretty much the same experience?
201 21!
WEBSTER:
The same following right up until I was told to leave the island.
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You can check out right there at the processing center...just after you get 23l inside the processing center, and I was crapped up and he told me to take a 2 41 shower and I took a shower and went to the Observation Center and that was 25{
i about it.
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ij FASANO: Where did you go different than where John went to, to get contam-2 inated?
31 4l WEBSTER:
I'm not sure.
I can't even rememoer...
I can't remember where I Sj w uTd get all crapped up?
61 WATTERS:
7l Well several of the fellows this is the wrong thing... Gremis and gj some of the other guys I can't remember who all were...they were crapped up gj too, weren't they?
I 10!
WEBSTER:
Yeah.
11:
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FASANO:
But you and John were always in the same room.
I mean you...
13j pretty much everything he said you were with him?
15:
WEBSTER:
Pretty well close with him until he stayed and they sent me out cause I didn't really have enough experience.
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FASANO:
They sent you back to the processing center.
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WEBSTER:
In that general direction to get checked out by HP personnel.
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And I set off the monitors and I went to the locker room and took a shower 22' and got my car and left.
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f FASANO: You were in the control room about the same time?
I 2!
i 3j WEBSTER:
Yes.
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FASANO:
About 10 of 7?
t Gi 7;
WEBSTER: Yes. And then they had us move out to the turbine building and i
g then that's when they told me to leave from there.
So maybe from there..
gj heading frcm there to the...to both units to the...I can't think of the 10j w rd...pr cessing center I must have got crapped up somewhere around there.
That's about it.
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FASANO: Was there contamination sort of in your hair, on your clothes, or...
15i WEBSTER:
On my clothes and just outside.
17!
FASANO: Not on your body?
19!
WEBSTER:
Yeah.
There was some on my arms and stuff and my hands.
I guess just from walking through airborne, I guess.
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FASANO:
Uh, huh.
Okay.
And so far as doing anything under the direction 23l of operations you did not go out and...
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[r 17 WEBSTER:
No.
I didn't work on any system whatscever.
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3; FASANO: Owen, do you have any questions?
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5l SHACXLETON: No ! have nothing further Tony.
Do you want to bring the 1
6i interview to a close at this point?
I 7l I
FASANO: Yeah.
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91 SHACXLETON:
10 The only thing I can say gentlemen, if you have any observations that you made during that first day... recommendations that you could make to help othe' people in your industry...this is an opportunity to make it a i
matter of record. John?
E 14' WATTERS:
No I have nothing.
7 16; SHACXLETON:
And David?
ISi WEBSTER:
No I have nothing else to say.
191 20!
SHACXLETON: Okay gentlemen. We appreciate very much you giving us your 21:
time and we will bring this interview to a close.
The time is now 4:27 22l p.m. eastern daylight time.
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