ML19291B107

Final Deficiency Rept Re Station Battery Qualification Test Failure.Caused by Design Discrepancy.Production of New Design Will Begin 790901.Bechtel 790815 Ltr Rept Encl

ML19291B107
Person / Time
Site:	Midland
Issue date:	08/23/1979
From:	Howell S CONSUMERS ENERGY CO. (FORMERLY CONSUMERS POWER CO.)
To:	James Keppler NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION III)
References
HOWE-225-79, NUDOCS 7908290402
Download: ML19291B107 (4)

Text

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Afg% ?censumus power g g Stephen H. Hcwell Senior Vice President r

x General Of fices: 1945 We,t Parnell Road, Jackson, Michigan 49201 . (517) 788-0453 August 23, 1979 nove-225-79 Mr J G Keppler, Regional Director Office of Inspection and Enforcement US Euclear Regulatory Commission Region III 799 Roccevelt Road Glen Ellyn, IL 60137 MIDIAND NUCLEldt PLtdiT UNIT NO 1, DOCKET NO 50-329 .

UNIT NO 2, DOCKET NO 50-330 STATION ENL'fERY QUlJIFICATION TEST FAILURE

Reference:

S H Hovell letter to J G Kepplcr; Midland Nuclear Plant; Unit No 1, Dccket No 50-329; Unit No 2, Docket No 50-330; Component Qualification Test Documentation Re-Review; Serial Hove-252-78, dated November 28,.1979 An oral 50 55(e) report was made to your office on August 1,1979 concerning a qualification test failure of Midland 's Station Betteries.- Exide Industrial Battery Division, the supplier of the batteries, has made a 10 CFR Part 21 report on the subject batteries.

This letter, cnd its enclosure, is our final report. It is our evaluation that the failure mode experienced during the accelerated aging test is one that vould be detectable during the plant operational phase prior to any significant degradation of the batteries or loss of ability to ceet functional requirements. The supplier is implementing part corrective action to eliminate the design discrepancy. The status of qualification of the Station Batteries is included in the above-referenecd 50 55(e) report on Component Qualificatien Test Documentation Re-Review. The status of the Station Batteries vill be updated via subsequent 50 55(e) reports on Component Qualification.

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Enclosure:

Bechtel Fouer Corporation letter to CPCo, Status Report on Exide 10 CFR 21 Report, KQA-79-111, dated Au8ust 15,1979

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Enclosure to Hove-225-79

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Bechtel Power Corporation 777 East Eisenhower Parkway 't AUG 11 ;W Ann Arbor, Michigan #

Mad Address P.O. Box 1000, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48100 August 15, 1979 Consumers Power Company Mr. W. R. Bird 1945 West Parnall Road Jackson, Michigan 49201 Midland Plant - Job 7220 Consumers Power Company Status Report _on Exide 10 CFR 21 Report - 7220-E-12AC File: 9507

Dear Mr. Bird:

Attached is a status report on the Exide 10 CFR 21 Report issued July 31, 1979.

Project Engineering will follow up on the action as outlined in the report. Unless there are major deviations from the actions outlined no further reports will be made and control will be maintained by standard project procedures.

If there are any questions, please contact me.

W. G. Moring WGM/Lb IIQA-79-lli Response: No ec: Mr. Bauman Mr. Miller Mr. Mar 3nglio Attaciunent 1

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SUBJECT:

Exide Industrial Battery Division '10' CFR 21 Report - 7220- ,

E-12 AC DATE: August 14, 1979 FROJECT: Consumers Power Company Midland Plant Units 1 & 2 Bechtel Job 7220

Introduction:

This is a status report covering activities and schedules developed in response to the 10 CFR 21 Report issued July 31, 1979, by Exide Industrial Battery Division.

Description of Discrepancy:

On July 31, 1979, Exide advised that there was a potential prob 1cm with batteries shipped to the Midland 1 & 2 jobsite, which could be reportabic under 10 CFR 21. Qualification testing to IEEE 323-1974 had shown a low voltage condition af ter 32 days of high temperature (160 F) artificial aging. Exide aborted the test so they cannot provide 5 years qualification by the end of August, 1979, or 20 years qualifica-tion by January, 1980. The deficiency was reported to the NRC.

Probable Cause:

During the qualification to IEEE 323-1974 of the "GN" serics of batteries, a low voltage condition was indicated on some of the test cells after 32 days of high temperature (160 F) artificial aging.

An internal examination by Exide of the involved cells indicated that the failure was most likely caused by a caterial resistance path across the top of the plate separators, between the hanging lug of one plate to the conducting lug of the opposite polarity plate.

Corrective Action:

The. Exide design staff has determined'the corrective action necessary and has instituted a minor design change. Production of the new design is scheduled to begin by September 1, 1979. The changes are internal to the cells so there will be no changes in the Exide outline drawing, -

or rack layouts affecting the battery installations in any way.

New test cells are planned to be availavic by the end of September,1979, which should enable Exide to provide us with 5 years qualification by

}brch,1980, and 20 years qualification by September,1980.

• Exide reassures us that under the quarterly individual cell voltage readings taken in accordance with IEEE 450-1975 any field prob 1 cms would be detected at an early stage.

The batteries as installed have an expected life of 3.2 years based on the portion of the test completed. In order to ccet specif-ication requirements the batteries will be replaced with the redesigned batteries. Based on the schedule provided by Exide, qualified batteries will be available for replacement prior to fuel load. The use of the present batteries is satisfactory for the pre-operational test pro-gram.

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. v Ihide Industrial Battery Division 10 CFR 21 Report August 14, 1979 Page 2 Safety Implication:

There is no safety implication involved as the problem was discovered during a qualification test specifically intended to det-crmine the life of the equipment.

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