ML19296A707

LER 80-002/04X-1:on 800102,failure of Makeup Water Sys Neutralizer Tank Discharge Valve Allowed Release of Approx 50,000 Gallons Regenerated Waste Water.Caused by Solenoid Valve Sticking.Cleaning of Solenoid Restored Operation

ML19296A707
Person / Time
Site:	FitzPatrick
Issue date:	02/12/1980
From:	W. Verne Childs POWER AUTHORITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK (NEW YORK
To:	NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION I)
Shared Package
ML19296A701	List: ML19296A698 ML19296A707
References
LER-80-002-04X, LER-80-2-4X, NUDOCS 8002150311
Download: ML19296A707 (2)

Text

..,~,u,_ . . . . _ . . _ . . . . . . ~ , .

(7 77) i LICENSEE EVENT REPORT CONTROL BLOCK: l 1

l l l l l o

lh (PLEASE PRINT OR TYPE ALL REQUIRED INFORMATIONI l

l0 l1l8 lN 7 3 lYLICENSEE lJ l ACODE lF ll l@l O l 0 l -l 0 l 0LICENSE to 15 l O !NUMBERO ! - I n l n l n25l@l264 l LICENSE I l i l 1TYPE l 1JOl@l Si CAT 58 l-@

CON'T IOlil 7 8

% "' l 60L l@l015 l0DOCK 61 loETloNUYBER 1313 l 3)@l011 68 6-J lo 121810 l@l 0121 EVENT DATE 14 75 REPORT IlDATE

?! Bl nl@ 80 EVENT DESCRIPTION AND PROBABLE CONSEQUENCES h o 2 l Failure of the makeup water system neut ralizer tank discharno valvo I o 3  ; allowed release of an estimated 50,000 gallons of regeneration waste i O 4 water with a pH value outside of the limits of Environmental TS 2.2.3. I o 3 l Due to the short duration of the releases no signi ficant environmental I 0 e effect should result. See attachment for details. l O 7 l l 0 8 1 l

80 7 8 9 SYS T E *,1 CAUSE CAUSE CC"P. VALVE CCCE CCCE SU3 CODE COMPONENT COD'i SUSCODE SUBCJOE 7

ol9 8

lW lC l@ lE l@ l Xl@ l V A l L l V l O l P l@ lE @20 d@

9 to 11 12 13 18 19 SEQUE NTI AL OCCURRENCE REPORT REVISION EVENT YE AR REPORT NO. CODE TYPi NO.

b *LE yj".g R RO l __ l [0l0l2l l/] l0 14 l l Xl l-l [J,j

_ [218l0l 22 23 24 26 21 28 23 Ja 31 32 ACTION FUTURE EFFECT SH U T OOWN ATTACwMENT NPRD4 PRIME COMP. COMPONENT TAKEN AC T ICN ON PLANT METHOD HOURS SUBMITTED FORMbuB. SUPP LI E R MANUFACTURER

[X 33 l@l34Z l@ l35Z l@ W@

36 l010l0l0l 31 40 lY l@

41 d@

42 Al@

43 l XI 9l 9l 9l 44 47 CAUSE DESCRIPTION AND CORRECTIVE ACTIONS i o l The discharge valve was open due to stickinn nf the entonnia u,iun I i l caused by foreign material . I i Cleaning of the eninnnia u,1ue restnrod

, , j operation of the tank discharge valve to normal, Procedure changes  !

t

, ,, l to assure proper valve lineup should preclude recurrence. See l

, ,, ; attachment for details. I 7 g 9 80 STA[ ; *tPOWER OTHER STATUS SCO RY DISCOVERY DESCRIPTION l1 l 5 l l E l@ l0 l 7 l 9 l@ NA l l Al@l Operator Observation l A TIVITY CON TEN T REu AsEn OF RE LE A".E AMOUNT OF ACTIVirY LOCATION OF RELEASE i c l Z l @ l Z lgl NA l l 45 NA 80 1 d 'J IV 11 44 PERSONNEL E XFO5URES NUMut R TYPE DE SCR!PTION 0

7 i  ?

8 9 l0 l0 11 l@ ] @l12 13 NA 80 l

PE HSONNE L INJURIES Ni es'* E R CESCRIPTION 7

i 1, 8 9 l0 10 10 l@l12 tt NA _l80 LOSS OF OR D AM AGE TO rACILITY TYPE DESCniPT;ON 8002150 g i I9 Z l@l NA 7 d 'J fu 81 PUHLICITY NRC USE ONLY 12 l o l IN ISSUE l l n@DESCRIP TION NA

[l68 69llI llIIlllII

!'l' 7 8 9 10 NAME OF PREPAREn

• U PHONE:

8E

POWER AUTHORITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK JAMES A. FITZPATRICK NUCLEAR POWER PLANT DOCKET NO. 50-333 ATTACHMENT TO LER 80-002/04X-1 Page 1 of 1 During normal operations, personnel noted that the air operated drain valve on the "B" waste neutralizer tank (42-A0V-111B) associated with the plant's makeup demineralizer system was open. The makeup demineralizer processes raw water from Lake Ontario for use where high purity water is required for other plant systems. The valve which was found open, and its companion valve on waste neutralizer tank "A" are normally closed except during discharge of the tank when the pH of the contents have been neutralized to within the pH limits of Environmental Technical Specifications, Paragraph 2.2.3.

Investigation indicates that the discharge valve for the "B" neutralizer tank may have been open since December 19, 1979. During the time period from December 19, 1979 until the valve was discovered open on January 2,1980, two chemical regenerations of the makeup system cation and anion ion exchange beds were conducted resulting in a release of approximately 50,000 gallons of chemical wastes. Calculations indicate that at various times during the release of the chemical waste the pH could have varied between 4.0 and 9.1 compared to a limit of 6.0 to 9.0. In addition, Paragraph 2.2.3 requires pH and conductivity sampling and continuous measurement of the pH during release which was not conducted.

It should be noted that the event did not cause the release of any radio-active material and that in estimating the pH ranges discussed above, no credit was taken for possible buffering effects as a result of other chemical compounds which normally are present in the waters of Lake Ontario. In addition, the maximum release rate of the chemical waste was 300 GPM compared to dilution flow in the plants discharge tunnel of approximately 375,000 GPM. In view of these calculations, the release of 50,000 gallons of chemical waste should not cause any significant environmental damage.

Investigation revealed that the discharge valve (42-A0V-111B) was open due to sticking of the valves solenoid operator (42-50V-1118). The solenoid valve was disassembled, cleaned, returned to service and satisfactory operation of 42-A0V-111B was restored. 'o preclude recurrence, the operating procedure associated with the makeup water treating system will be changed by February 15, 1980 to require verification of proper neutralizer tank drain valve position prior to the start of ion exchange bed regeneration or other activities which could result in the release of untreated and/or unmonitored wastes if the drain valve was open. Further, this event has been discussed with the personnel who operate the system to preclude recurrence.

NOTE: Revision 1 of this LER is submitted to include all of the required limiting conditions for operation which were not met and provide additional detail with respect to corrective action. Items 9, 17, 18 and the attachment were revised.

q r

.