ML19320C736
| ML19320C736 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Crane  |
| Issue date: | 07/01/1980 |
| From: | Novak T Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| To: | Arnold R METROPOLITAN EDISON CO. |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8007170651 | |
| Download: ML19320C736 (6) | |
Text
__
TW I
N
(
y,,
o UNITED STATES E \\,#(;~j NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION g,6 f
E WASHINGTON, D. C. 20S55
%k' *.O (
July 1,1980 Docket No. 50-289 Mr. R. C. Arnold Senior Vice President Metropolitan Edison Cogany 100 Interpace Parkway Parsippany, New Jersey 07054
Dear Mr. Arnold:
Recently we have been notified by the Toledo Edison Co@any that a number of fuel assembly holddown spring failures have been observed at the Davis-Besse, Unit No.1 plant which is currently undergoing its first refueling We understand that as a result of these failures, Babcock & Wilcox outage.
has requested that you conduct examinations of fuel assemblies at your facility to determine if any failures have occurred. We are interested in knowing the results of holddown spring inspections at your facility as well as the safety significance of operating with broken springs in the core.
Enclosed is a set of questions regarding this subject.
It is requested that 1
you provide responses to these questions within 60 days of receipt of this letter.
Sincerely, O
M. /v4_
,,/
Thomas M. Novak, Assistant Director for Operating Reactors Division of Licensing
Enclosure:
Holddown Spring Questions cc w/ enclosure:
h See next page 1,
[
>{
80071706g\\
-v -
..[
Metropolitan Edis n Company
-1 Dr. Walter H. Jordan 881 W. Outer Drive Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830 ccw/enclosur-(s):
Mr. Marvin I. Lewis Dr. Linda W. Little 6504 Bradford Terrace 5000 Hennitage Drive P, hila delphia,
Pennsylvania 19149 Raleigh, North Carolina 27612 Walter W. Cohen, Cons emer Advocate Holly S. Eeck Department of Justice Anti-Nuclear Group Representing Strawberry Square, loth Floor York Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17127 245 W. Philadelphia Street York, Pennsylvania 17404 R::bert L. Knupp, Esq.
Assistant Solicitor John Levin, Esq.
Knupp and Andrews Fennsylvania Public Utilities Corrn.
P.O. Box P Box 3265 407 N. Front Street Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17120 Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17108 Jordan D. Cunningham, Esq.
John E. Minnich, Chairman Fox, Farr and Cunningham Dauphin Co. Board of Commissioners 2320 North 2nd Street Dauphin County Courthouse Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17110 Front and Market Sts.
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.17101 Theodore A. Adler, Esq.
WID0FF REAGER SELK0WITZ & ADLER o Atomic Safety and Licensing Appeal Board Post Office Box 1547 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Harrisburg. Pennsylvania 17105 Washington, D. C.
20555 0 Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Coatesv111e, Pennsylvania 19320 Washington, D. C.
20555 Ms. Karen Sheldon o Docketing and Service Section St e NW U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Suite 506 Washington, D. C.
20555 Washington, D. C.
20006 Robert Q. Pollard Earl B. Hoffman 609 Montpelier Street Dauphin County. Cocrnissioner Baltimore, Maryland 21218 Dauphin County Courthouse Front and Market Streets u g, e m y van a 01 Chauncey Kepford Judith H. Johnsrud Ms. Ellen R. Weiss, Esq.
Environmental Coalition on Nuclear Power Sheldon, Harmon & Weiss 433 Orlando Avenue 1725 I Street, N.W.
State College, Pennsylvania 16801 Wa h n on, D. C.
20006 Ms. Frieda Berryhill, Chairman Mr. Steven C. Sholly Coalition for Nuclear Power Plant 304 South Market Street Postponement Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania 17055 2610 Grendon Drive Wilmington, Delaware 19808 Mr. Thomas Gerusky Mrs. Rhoda D. Carr Bureau of Radiation Protection 1402 Marene Drive Department of Environmental Resources P.O. Box 2063 i
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17109 Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17120
- rz. : z :'.
Netropolitan Edison Company Karin W. Carter, Esq.
505 Executive House Mr. G. P. Miller P. O. Box 2357 Mr. R. F. Wilson Harr'2 burg, Pennsylvania 17120 Mr. J. J. Barton Metropolitan Edison Company Honorable Mark Cohen 512 0-3 Main Capital Building P. O. Box 480 Middletown, Pennsylvania l?057 Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17120 G.
F'. Trowbridge, Esquire Dauphin County Office Emergency Shaw, Pittman, Potts & Trowbridge Preparedness 1800 M Street, N.W.
Court House, Room 7 Washington, D. C.
20036 Front & Market Streets Harristiurg, Pennsylvania 17101 fir. E. G. Wallace Licensing Manager Department of Environmental Resources ATTN:
Director, Of fice of Radiological nt rp ce re Parsippany, New Jersey 07054 Post Of fice o 2063 Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17105 Pennsylvania Electric Company Mr. R. W. Conrad Director, Technical Assessment Vice President, Generation Division 1001 Broad Street Office of Radiation Programs Johnstown, Pennsylvania 15907 (AW-459)
U. S. Environmental Protection Agency Miss Mary V. Southard, Chairman Crystal Mall #2 Citizens for a Safe Environment Arlington, Virginia 20460 Post Office Box 405 Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17108 Mr. Robert B. Borsum Babcock & Wilcox Government Publications Section Nuclear Power Generation Division State Library of Pennsylvania Suite 420, 7735 Old Georgetown Road Box 1601 (Education Building)
Bethesda, Maryland 20014 Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17126
- Ivan W. Smith, Esq.
Mr. David D. Maxwell, Chairman Atomic Safety & Licensing Board Panel Board of Supervisors U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Londonderry Township Washington, D. C.
20555 i
RFDel - Geyers Church Road itiddletown, Pennsylvania 17057 Ms. Kathy McCaughin Three Mile Island Alert, Inc.
U. S. Environmental Protection Agency 23 South 21st Street Region III Office Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17104 ATTN:
EIS COORDINATOR l
Curtis Building (Sixth Floor)
Mr. L. W. Harding 6th and Walnut Streets l
Supervisor of Licensing l
Philadelphla, Pennsylvania 19106 Metropolitan Edison Company l
P. O. Box 480 l
Metropolitan Edison Company
- Middletown, Pennsylvania 17057 ATTN:
J. G. Herbein, Vice President i
l P. O. Box 542 Reading, Pennsylvania 19603 Ms. Jane Lee R.D. 3; Box 3521 Etters, Pennsylvania 17319
Metropolitan Edison Company.
Mr. R. J. Toole Manager, TMI-l Metropolitan, Edison Company Governor's Office of State Planning P. O. Box 480 and Development Middletown, PA 17057 ATTN: Coordinator, Pennsylvania State Clearinghouse Mr. W. E. Potts P. O. Box 1323 Radiological Controls Manager, TMI-l Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17120 Metropolitan Edison Company P. O. Box 480 Middletown, PA 17057 Allen R. Carter, Chairman Joint Legislative Committee on Energy Mr. I. R. Finfrock, Jr.
Post Office Box 142 Jersey Central Power & Light Company Suite 513 Madison Avenue at Punch Bowl Road Senate Gressette Building Morristown, New Jersey 07950 Columbia, South Carolina 29202 J. B. Lieberman, Esq.
Berlock, Israel, Lieberman 26 Broadway New York, NY 10004 Mr. J. J. Colitz Plant Engineering Manager, TMI-l Metropolitan Edison Company P. O. Box 480 Middletown, Pennsylvania 17057 York College of Pennsylvania Country Club Road York, Pennsylvania 17405 Mr. G K. Hovey Director, TMI-2 Metropolitan Edison Company P, O. Box 480 Middletown, PA 17057 Mr. B. Elam Manager, Plant Engineering, Unit 2 Metropolitan Edison Company P. O. Box 480 Middletown, PA 17057 i
Mr. Richard Roberts The Patr.iot
)
812 Market Street Harrisburg, PA. 17105 Mr. R. W. Heward Manager, Radiological Control, Unit 2 Metropolitan Edison Company P. O. Box 480 1
Middletown, Pennsylvania 17057 A
.r-Enclosure HOLD-DOWN SPRING QUESTIONS TO LICENSEES e
1 (If the reactor is down for refueling and the reactor vessel head is off) Examine all fuel assembly holddown springs in the core and in the spent fuel pool and report the number and extent'of damage on the springs and affected assembly components.
or (Alt.)
(If the reactor is operating.) Review video tapes of the core from the Jast refueling and examine all assemblies in the spent fuel pools.
Report the number and extent of dinnage on the springs and affected assembly components.
2.
Provide a discussion of the safety significance of operating with one or more broken springs in the core. Your discussion should include, but not necessarily be limited to the following:
Assume the holddown spring is broken, provide an estimate of the(Provide a.
flow conditions under which the assemblies would be levitated.
the value of the force required to lift the assembly, the flow conditions under which that force would be supplied, the number of coolant pumps that would be in operation under such conditions, and the schedule of reactor operations under which such conditions might have been achieved.) Contrarily, demonstrate the margin between the assembly weight and the calculated maximum applied lift-off force, if there is such margin.
b.
Have any loose assembly parts (i.e., broken springs, pieces of cladding) been observed anywhere in tne primary system? Describe your methods for loose part detection. Are there installed noise detectors capable of detection of broken springs, pieces of cladding, or vibrating assemblies?
c.
Have there been any excore or in-core neutron detector indications of levitated assemblies? Describe the expected reactivity effects that would result from lift-off or reseating of assemblies with broken hold-down springs. What efforts are being utilized to detect loose assemblies by either nuclear or mechanical monitoring devices?
l d.
Have there been any observed indications of lateral repositioning of loose l
assemblies?. Describe the methods used to detect lateral assembly motion.
I Describe the degree of lateral repositioning that is physically (dimensionally) possible after lift-off. What are the postulated worst-case effects of a laterally displaced assembly?
I e.
(i) Describe the degree of "wont-case" mechanical damage that would be expected as a result of movement of a " loose" assembly (one with a broken j
spring) against adjacent assemblies, core baffle, or other core components.
'(ii) Discuss the results of flow tests or other experiments that have provided measurements of axial or lateral vibratory motion of an assembly after lift-off or that would otherwise support the response to Q 2.e(i).
. Enclosure 3.
Provide a tiescription of the cause of the failures and corrective action to reduce the likelihood of future failures at your facility.
a O
t 1