ML19296C085
| ML19296C085 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Grand Gulf  |
| Issue date: | 11/06/1979 |
| From: | Levelius W PROFESSIONAL SERVICE INDUSTRIES, INC. (FORMERLY PTL-I |
| To: | Haass W Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19296C067 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8002250192 | |
| Download: ML19296C085 (5) | |
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November 6, 1979 9
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U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Connission g
Ouality Assurance Branch Division of Project !!anagement
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Office of NRR Washington, DC 20555 Attention:
Mr. W. Haass, Chief
Subject:
Sicy Calibration Gentlemen:
Pittsburgh Testing Laboratory (PTL) is currently providing construction phase testing and inspection ser-vices for.several nuclear power plant projects in the i
United States.
These testing and inspection activities i
are perforned in accordance with the applicable portions j
of 10CFR50 Appendix B, ASME Section III, and ANSI N45.2.
" Sone.of the tests we perform are on concrete and soil construction naterials and require.the use of wire cloth sieves manufactured in accordance with ASTM Ell, Standard Specification for Wire Cloth Sieves for Testing Purposes.
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During the course,of Nuclear Regulatory Connission (NRC), inspections at various projects, a question has been raised concerning the need for the user to " calibrate" sicves employed.to perform tests on concretc aggregates and soil materials.
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/ITT S U UIlGil TESTING L A 0 0 Fi ATO).
(;()pgr Nuclear Berulatory Comnionion g
Pa,-^ Teo Povcnhcr 6, 1979 The purnose of thic Ictter is to present PTL'n cor-porste position on this natter and to request the VDC'n concurrence in order to resolve this c.ucction indu:try wide rather than debatir.' thn,incue en a project by prc-ject bacic.
PTL's position in t here $r ne technical requirerent or reed to verify the cctuel rize of the nieve openin a by the user.
A recular visual inspaction of the ci<ve for tears, enrre o,
or other distortion 'n sufficient te resure thrt the nanufectured quality of the cieve in ncirtaineri.
In eupport of this position, PTL offers the followinr information:
1.
In nctordanca vith I.5TP. f-ll, para.
4.1.2, a latc1 in required to be affixed to each rieve ddpotin.- that sieve conforms to the specified
.requirenentn.
li certificate of confor.9ance is also avriinble fron the r.anufacturer which attests to the c cec i fic..t i on cor.:pliar.co.
The Jabel or certificate provides the objective evidence that the cieve hr.s becn ranufactured to the specifications of AST;! ?-11.
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2."
ASTM F-11 references ASTM-STP-447, Manual on Test Sievin-Methodc.
Thic docurent., preparcd by I.ST: Co:~ittee P-F t:hich has jurirdictior.
over the ASTF '?-11 ctandard, cteten, 'If prop-erly handled, a tant c.jeve cheule retain the accuracy of its openin"c throurhout the life of the cieve cince ordir;nry t'ccr is on top of L. ' ' '
the knuckles of the wire cloth and no neasur-t able wenr occurs in the openintc."
3.
ASTM E-ll is intended to be a ranufacturin-i standard as supported by the.stetesent in l
ASTS-STP 447, pa ra.
4.1.
The ricorous enli-bration procedures outlined in the f.f rendi:'
to ASTM E-11 are not intended or practical to apply to a user, especially under field lat-oratory conditions.
The class sphere method i
is not pernitted to detcenine conformance to l
ASTM E-11 specifications, in addition to uhich 1
the M9S traceabic spheren are of ten not avrill-at.l e for all sieve nizes and can vary consid-l cre.bly after just one use.
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' PITTSDUR G H TESTING L AnoR AToRY Nuclear Der ~ulatory o
J@S COPY Connission Pa"c Three f;p}3{y' cP November 6, 1979 p
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4.
Extrene accuracy in sieve toleranccc used
_j$1 f,cneral construction naterials is not neccccary m,
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nor appropriate.
The gradinr, linits of these d'; x 'V natcrials is quite broad and for concrete ar.-
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r,regates is intended prinarily to prevent
" gap" grading or extreme uniformity of sinc.
M The sicvinr,of these caterials does not re-quire highly sensitive or analytical neasure-nents.
5.
PTL has corresponded with the First Vice Chair-non of the ASTM E-29 Cornittee.
Enclosed is a copy of his response to our inquiry regardin.c sieve calitration.
6.
The Concrete & Cenent Eaference Laboratcry (CCHL), which is a qualified national authority, does not', as part of its equipment inspection of concercial laboratorics, netsure the' actual size of the openings in uire cloth sieves.
A visual exanination 13 perforned, which is also the sane policy of the U.S. Corps of Engineers durinr,their inspection of connercial labora-Lorics.
7 AUSI U45.2, cuality Assurance Procran P.equire-nents for Nuclear Facilities, under the section addressing Control of I:casuring and Test Equip-states, "To assure accuracy, inspection
- nent, and neasuring test equipnent shall be controlled, calibrated This requirenent is not in-tended to icply a need for special calibration
- i and control neasures on relers, tape mcasurcs, Icycls, and such other devices if normal con-nercial practices provide adequate accuracy."
i PTL considers that sieves fall under this the category since the ranufacturer certified item and no neasurable wear occurs with use.
Variousotherorg$nizationshavesuggestedaconpari-son of gradings betueen " working" sieves and so enlled
" standard" sicves.by establishinr artificial acceptancc limits.
It is PIL's profeccional opinion that this prac-confor-tice would serve no useful purpose in deternininrs mance of sicves to specification requirements and, in fact, could risrepresent the quality of the sieve.
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G PITTSDURGH TESTING L ADOR ATO. (
fiuclear Re,ulatory
(:C)PNr coenission Pac.c Four November 6, 1979 If there is concern over the quality of sicves being used, then this concern should be directed toward the nanufacturer, who is required to produce a certified product, and not the user.<
I In summary, uc believe that because:
the sicyc is j
initially certified by the manufacturer, no measurable wear occurs in the sicyc openinr,3, extreme accuracy is 3
not warranted for construction natcrials, national auth-1 orities do not verify actual sicyc openings durinr,co..-
i nercial laboratory inspections and A".SI 1:45.2 exempts 1
these types of equipment; only a routine visual increc-
- tion by the sieve user is neccccary to provide adequate quality control of sieves.
This natter should be re-viewed with consideration to the practical limitations of ficJd laboratory facilitics and the actual benefits 1
cxpected to be achieved if a sophisticated progran is mandated.
Uc respectfully request NBC concurrence of the above present,cd data.
Very truly yours, W. H.' Levelius Vice President WSM/WHL/pb
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Onalit y A sso ra nce t ' N i.
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l'a tt s bu rg h T c., ting L.bo ra t o r y q' s l'. O. Box 1/"l 6 g.J\\%
l>i t t s bu r g-h, l>c n os yl'. a nia l 2 3 d B"
Dear Mr. McKay:
With ref erenc e 1iyour h ' t e.
of is. y : l ',, t o.
( re er nas discus m i w it h -ome m embe r s o f C. u n m i t t e e E.' '! r ei;.. r o.
.ese ;p e r.i r. g v e r i t i c t t o :.
O by the user of ASTM E-11.
A ttac hed is a copy of ^,STM Specification i. N.
' ion will not e there is nof la ng specific in tla s s pecif.c:.t t o:. r e: ' rdu c a : t a r.i tio n o ' sieves on a r egular ba sis.
'I he manu f a c tu r er o: t es ti n-
~; eve 1:rne hes s t eves i n a ccorela nc e w it h ASTM E-11 and it is t he writ er'. c ;n m o n t h a t, if the sies "
.i t e n ed on rlet ermination 0: r o n c r e t e a g g r e ;:a t e.- ' i.e r e t h e s i c v i rg is l.... oc i' a-
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einite nr ol, it is not nece a ry to t e v e r. f '. i infor riut s to speciticalt."
if the user inspects the sieve:
<2 s u a ll:. 10 : d.u na,.,, t ea r :., d e r.t s o r w a r p.' 6 c.
G ene ra ll y s pealu ng, u nl e u s' t h e sie <c i t d-. m r ed r dipperI i n aci<l s olu t io ns, no mea surable w ea r occu rs on t he
'ie.c o p"ni n g.
If ve rit tcation is r cepo r ed, t he si ev es. < ould b e s ent t o t he..at o.: :1 Hurea of S t a r.d r. r<;. i n Wa s hinntun o r r etit rncil to llic ma nu f..c t u r e r f or < c r it icati on.
We trust this gives you the information desi red.
V ei y truly yua rs, i
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W. I t e r C. M. hli g l'i:, t V ic e-Ci>ai r ma n A d 'l M C o m m. t t e.. E.' ')
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