ML20030A492
| ML20030A492 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Big Rock Point File:Consumers Energy icon.png |
| Issue date: | 06/11/1969 |
| From: | Haueter R CONSUMERS ENERGY CO. (FORMERLY CONSUMERS POWER CO.) |
| To: | |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8101090754 | |
| Download: ML20030A492 (11) | |
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CONSUMERS POWER COMPANY Docket No 50-155 Report of Operation of Big Rock Point Nuclear Plant License No DPR-6 November 1, 1968 Through April 30, 1969 This report, submitted in accordance with Paragraph 3.D.(3) of Operating License No DPR-6 (effective May 1,196h), covers the tenth six-month' operating period for the Big Rock Point Nuclear Plant (Plant).
2 I.
SUMMARY
OF OPERATIONS A.
POWER OPERATION Plant output at the beginning of this report period was 72 Mwe (gross) and this load was maintained until Decembe-1h, 1968, when the Plant output vs.s lowered to 68 Mve (gross) to reduce the rate of fuel deterioration in light of the slowly increasing off-gas activity.
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During this six-veek period, the Plant experienced three short outages:
a 23-hour outage on November 6, due to a packing leak on the main steam bypass isolation valve; a 45-hour outage on November 15, for operator license examinations; and a 17-hour outage on December lb, due-
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to a packing leak on the steam supply to the condenser air ejectors.
l The Plant load was further reduced to 62 Mwe (gross) on January 2, 1969, to again lower the off-gas activity and also to con-serve reactivity since the refueling outage date had been advanced to l
late April 1969 This load was held until February 18, 1969, when it was reduced to 53 Mwe (gross). One outage occurred during this period -
when the unit was taken off the line for 24 hours2.777778e-4 days <br />0.00667 hours <br />3.968254e-5 weeks <br />9.132e-6 months <br /> on January 17, 1969, to repair a steam 2eak on a turbine stage drain header.
2 Plant load remained at 53 Mwe (gross) until April 10, 1969, when the all-rods-out condition was reached. The power had " coasted down" to 51 Mve (gross) by April 18, when the unit was taken off the line for.the sixth refueling.
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-t Two outages were experienced during these last two months of operation. The unit was off the line 'for about 29 hours3.356481e-4 days <br />0.00806 hours <br />4.794974e-5 weeks <br />1.10345e-5 months <br /> on March 1 and.2 to repair a steam leak in valve packing on the air ejector supply.line.
On March 3, the unit was forced out of service due to excessive cooling water. leakage at the D-3 control rod drive flange. New 0-rings corrected the difficulty,.The outage was lengthened to permit the replacement of three drives for normal maintenance and the replace =ent of the shaft seals on the No 1 reactor recirculating pump.
(See maintenance section.)
The off-gas activity at the beginning of the report period was approximately 12,000 pCi/sec.- The activity rose slowly during November and December with' the level reaching about 35,000 pCi/see on December 1k when power was reduced. The activity held relatively constant through January 2 when the load was further decreased, resulting in a decrease in off-gas activity to about 20,000 pCi/sec.
In late January, a control-rod was partially inserted in the area of the suspected failure, reducing the off-gas. activity to about 8,000 pCi/sec. The activity remained rela-i tively stable at this level until late March when it again started to rise slowly. At the time of the refueling shutdown, it had risen to about 20,000 pCi/sec.
The members of the Company-wide Union (Utility Workers Union.
of America) vent out on strike on April 8 and remained on strike through-out.the remainder of the reporting period. At Big Rock Point, the Union-represented personnel are the Control Operators, Auxiliary Operators, Maintenance Personnel and Janitors, totaling 29 men.
Operation of the Plant was continued utilizing supervisory personnel, engineers and tech-nicians. No significant problems were encountered and very nearly normal conditions were maintained, although several maintenance and modification items that had been planned for the refueling outage vere deferred. The significant items deferred were the turbine inspection, the 30 Mw load rejection test, the installation of the control rod drive support struc-ture, and the primary system piping surveillance program.
B.
REFUELING OUTAGE Items of interest occurring during the refueling outage are:
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1.
Eighty-two of the 8k fuel assemblies that were in the core during the last run were dry sipped. Nine assemblies were found failed and one additional assembly was classified as a probable failure. The intermediate performance centermelt assembly (D-50) was found quite severely failed as had been predicted by flux. tilting. Three out of the 30 "B" assemblies in the core were found failed, with an additional one
. classified as a probable failure. The "B" fuel has an average exposure of about 15,500 Mvd/ Ton. The "four" failed assemblies averaged about 15,600 Mvd/ Ton.
Two cf the 10 "C" (ViPac-Powder UO ) assemblies were found to 2
be failed. One assembly had an exposure of 13,100 Mvd/ Ton and was one of.the early "C" assemblies inserted into' the reacter. The other "C" assembly was one of the reworked "C" assemblies and had an exposure of 6,100 Mud / Ton. The other six reworked assemblies were sound.
The big surprise of the fuel inspection was the discovery of three failed "E" assemblies, all with exposures of 5,200 to 5,700 Mvd/ Ton.
Visual examinations of "E" fuel rods, "E" fuel rods, and D-50 rods all showed significant crud accumulaticns and evidence of crud spalling.
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Preltninary investigation of the failures seems to point toward accelerated j
corrosion resulting from high cladding temperatures and, in general, these 3
preliminary conclusions seem to apply to all failures experienced during this run. The crud buildup during thic run is not consistent with previous runs, especially in light of the retubing of the feed-water heaters with stainless steel. An investigation of these anomalies is under way. - In the meantime, we have restricted the nonnal power level of the reactor to about 165 Mvt in order to reduce cladding temperatures.
Twenty-three new "E" fuel assemblies were loaded into the reactor during the refueling. Sixteen of the "E" assemblies with two special plutonium rods per assembly were loaded.
(See Propcsed Change No 17, dated February 11, 1969, and Amendment No 3 to License DPR-6, dated April 18,1969.) The new core consists of the following:
(a) 1 developmental assembly (D-09, 19 mil Inconel-600 cladding).
(b) lh "B" assemblies.
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k (c) 8 "C" assemblies.
(d) 39."E" assemblies.
(e) 22 "E-G"'(with gadolinium) assemblies, 16 of which have two plutonium rods each.
2.
The central 16 control rods were rotated in position in order to equalize burnup:and prolong control rod-lifetime.
3.
Visual inspection of reactor vessel internals was performed during the refueling. All internals were found to be in good condition.
4.
Visual inspection of Control Rod B-5 and the four surrounding
. channel-and-support-tube assemblies was performed as a follow-up on the B-5 control rod drive malfunction of October lb, 1968.
(See ninth semi-annual report of operations.) The control rod was in excellent condition,
-with~only a rub mark through the crud on one side of one blade. All rollers were free and operable. The channels were normal and showed no unusual rub marks or scored areas. The support tube showed no unusual rub marks or scored areas.. Inspection of the core support plate in the general area did not reveal any foreign objects.
Subsequently, as part of the control rod rotation program, the control rod was moved from the B-5 position to the D-3 position. All operational checks in the new position were also normal.
In summary, the overall inspection revealed nothing with respect to reactor internals that could have contributed to the malfunction of the control rod drive.
C.
STATISTICS 4
The reactor was brought critical seven times during the report period. The reactor was critical for 3,876 hours0.0101 days <br />0.243 hours <br />0.00145 weeks <br />3.33318e-4 months <br /> with electrical genera-tion of 232,501 Mw hours (gross) or 220,h67 Mw hours (net). The thermal output of the reactor was 721,488 My hours.
II.
ROUTINE RELEASES. DISCHARGES AND SHIPMENTS OF RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL A.
A total of approximately 1.84 x 10 curies of activation and l
fission gases was released to the environs via the stack. This figure is based upon 3,100 EFPH of operation at an average release rate of
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l.65 x 10 uCi/sec.
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During this reporting period, the liquid radioactivity, released
.o Lake Michigan by way of the circulating water discharge canal, num-bered 31 batches,.with a total activity of 3.1 curies. Seven of the batches were released on a partially. identified basis where at least 90%
l37 of the activity was determined to be a cambination of Zn, Co Cs and Ba
-La All other batches were released under unidentified limits.
C.
A total of nine off-site shipments of radioactive material was made during this reporting period, as follows:
Ship-ment Transfer No Date From Transfer to Radioactive Material 1
11/ 7/68 DPR-6 GE-Val, SNM-960 Four bolts fram thermal DOT SP-5607 shield seal hold-down de-vice, 12 fuel rods. 31,880 Ci 2
11/ 8/68 DPR-6 GE-Val, SNM-960 Twelve fuel rods, 2 dummy DOT SP-5607 fuel rods.
24,000 Ci 3
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12/ 3/68 DPR-6 Nuclear Engineer-110 ft of solid waste.
ing 16NSF-1 8.5 Ci k
12/10/68 DPR-6 GE-Val, 0017-60 Crud samples - heater (Calif) drains.
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5-1/ 3/69 DPR-6 GE-Val, 0017-60 Crud samples - heater (Calif) drains. 1 mci 6
2/1t/69 DFB-6 GE-Val, 0017-60 Crud samples - heater (Calif) drains.
1 mci 7
2/17/69 DPR-6 Dow Chemical Co One liter reactor water.
20-002u5-06 0.6 mci 8
3/20/69 DPR-6 GE-Val, 0017-60 Crud samples - heater (Calif) drains.
0.1 mci 9
3/28/69 DPR-6 Isotopes, Inc 200 ml reactor water; 1
29-55-6 200 ml condensate.
0.1 mci 1
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i-III. RADIOACTIVITY LEVELS IN PRINCIPAL ~ FLUID SYSTEM (FOR SIX~ MONTHS)
A.
PRIMARY COOLANT Minimum Average Maximum Reactor Water Filtrate (a)
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7.4 x 10 1.17
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pCi/cc 6.5 x 10
- Reactor Water Crud
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pCi/cc Turbidity 1.0 x 10 h.h x 10 2.33 Iodine Activity
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6.0 x 10~
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pCi/cc 1.0 x 10 2.2 x 10 B.
REACTOR COOLING WATER SYSTEM Minimum Average Maximum Reactor Cooling Water (a)
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-1 pCi/cc 1.3 x 10 1.5 x 10 1.2 x 10 The principal radionuclides in the reactor cooling water system were K and CrN. These radionuclides resulted from the activation of the potassium chromate inhibitor.
C.
SPENT FUEL POOL Radioactivity in the spent fuel pool is principally activated corrosion products from stored fuel and core components.
Minimum Average Maximum Fuel Storage Pool (a)
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-1 pCi/cc 1.5 x 10 1.2 x 10 1.3 x 10 Fuel Pool Iodine
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1.0 x 10 1.0 x 10~
pCi/cc 2.0 x 10 IV.
PRINCIPAL MAINTENANCE PERFORMED A.
An adjustable split vedge support was fabricated and installed under the outside equipment lock of the containment sphere. The top see-tion of the support was machined to the outside radius of the lock and is provided with two adjusting bolts. This support was installed to provide adequate bearing surface for movement of the spent fuel shipping cask through the equipment lock,
- Based on APHA turbidity units and 500 ml of filtered sample.
" A counter efficiency based on a gamma energy of 0.662 Mev and one gamma
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photon per disintegration. Decay scheme is assumed to convert count rate to microcuries. All count rates were taken at two hours after sampling.
(b) Based on efficiency of Iodine-131, two hours after sampling.
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i B.
The overspeed-trip on the emergency diesel generator was adjusted l
to 15% overspeed. Settings of the trip point are 69.4 cycles which cor-respond to a speed of 2,082 rpm.
C. : Maintenance was performed to repair water leaks in the hydraulic system associated with three control rod drives.
The control rod drives in positione D-3, A h and E-6 were re-placed with rebuilt spares. Investigation revealed that the coating on
. the 0-ring seals had cracked allowing drive cooling water to leak at the flanges. The new 0-rings that were installed with the rebuilt drives were fabricated by a different vendor (the same vendor that supplied the original 0-rings when the Plant vent into initial operation). These three drives were rebuilt as part of the overall preventive maintenance progra=,
D.
The No 1 recirculating pump cartridge seal failed and was replaced.
Temperature lbnitations could not be met for proper pump operations so the spare seal was installed.
Examination of tne failed seal disclosed that the upper seal had failed due to some foreign object which had become lodged between the ro-tating face and the carbon face, causing uneven wear. This allowed water-to pass under the seal, causing the U-cup to move up and down on the shaft sleeve with resulting cutting of the chaft sleeve. This cartridge seal is being rebuilt at the present time.
E.
The No 1 condensate pump motor was removed from the pu=p during the refueling outage. Investigation revealed a defective thrust bearing was the cause of excessive vibration of the motor. The bearing whs re-placed and the motor reinstalled on the pump.
V.
CHANGES, TESTS AND EXPONENTS PERFORMED PURSUANT TO 10 CFR 50.59(a)
This section describes the changes made to the facility witnin the six-month period without prior Commission approval pursuant to Section 50.59(a) of Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, to the extent that such changes constitute changes in the facility, as described in the Final Hazards Summary Report (FHSR). It also included tests and experiments carried out at the Plant without prior Commission approval pursuant to Section 50.59(a).
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Each change, test or experiment is described as authorized only
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after a finding by Consumers Power Company that it did not involve a change in the Technical Specifications incorporated in;0perating License DPR-6 (effective May 1, 196h) or an unreviewed safety question.
A.
FACILITY CHANGES 1.
The radvaste strainer flush'and fill line piping was changed for. use o' demineralized water instead of service water. Since numerous dirty wa:ct.e receiver tanks are processed through the demineralizer, utili-zation of demineralized water vill minimize the amount-of dissolved solids 1
.in the batch.-
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A 2-inch root valve in the steam supply line to the turbine
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condenser air ejectors was removed. Steam leaks constantly developed in this valve and were the cause of one unit eutage. The valve was always
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operated $n the open position and was never used for any operation in the closed posluion.
l 3.
The control rod drive pump control circuit was modified so that i
the pump standby circuit'is inoperative. The strap was removed from between Teminals 1 and 2 on the control switch for each pump motor. This change is to prevent unwanted starting of the second pump on momentary low-pressure signals from the control rod drive system.
h.
A 1-inch diameter bypass with a manual shutoff valve was in-l stalled around the high-pressure heater drain valve (CV-h004). This line was installed to provide increased flow capacity which is needed above 72 Mye (gross) Plant output.
5.
A 1/2-inch manual. shutoff valve was installed in the line be-tween the nitrogen bottle header pressure gauge on the reactor poison syste=
gas header and the poison system gas charger accumulator. The addition of this valve enables the operator to read true nitrogen header pressure when using the gas charger system by intermittently valving out the gas charger.
B.
TESTS No tests were performed this report period.
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. VI. PERIODIC TESTING PERFORMED AS REQUIRED BY THE TECHNICAL ~ SPECIFICATIONS The following tabulation shows the required frequency of testing, plus the testing date of the systems or functions, which may be periodically tested per Technical Specifications:
System or Function Frequency of Dates Undergoing Test Routine Tests Tested Control Rod Drives Continuous withdrawal and insertion Each major refueling and 11/17/68 of each drive over its stroke with at least once every six h/30/69 normal hydraulic system pressure.
months during periods of Minimum withdrawal time shall be 23 power operation.
seconds.
Withdrawal of each drive, stopping Each major refueling and 11/17/68 at each locking position to check at.least once every six 5/ 1/69 latching and unlatching operations months during periods of and the functioning of the position power operation.
indication system.
Scram of each drive from the fully Each major refueling and 11/17/68 withdrawn position. Maximum scram at least once every six h/30/69 time from system trip to 90% of months during periods of insertion shall not exceed 2.5 power operation.
seconds.
Insertion of each drive over its Each major refueling but 5/ 1/69 entire stroke with reduced not less frequently than hydraulic system pressure to once a year, determine that drive friction is normal.
Control Rod Interlocks Rod withdrawal blocked when any Each major refueling but h/30/69 two accumulators are at a pres-not less frequently than sure belov 700 psig.
once every 12 months.
Rod withdrawal blocked when two Each major refueling but h/30/69 of three power range channels read not less frequently than below 5% on 0% - 125% scales (or once every 12 months.
below 2% on their 0%
h0% scales)
When reactor power is above the minimum operating range of these
-channels.
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System or Function Frequency of Dates Undergo!ng Test Routine Tests Tested O
Control Rod Interlocks (Contd)
Rod withdrawal blocked when Each major refueling but h/30/69 scram f. ump tank is bypassed, not less frequently than once every 12 months.
Rod withdrawal-blocked when Each major refuelinb but 5/ 1/69 mode se2ector switch is in not less frequently than shutdown position.
once every 12 months.
Other Liquid poison system component Two months or less.
1/15/69 check.
3/ 5/69 h/30/69 Post-inciJant spray system At each major refueling h/29/69 automatic control operation.
shutdown but not less frequently than once a year.
Core spray system trip circuit.
Not less frequently than 5/ 1/69 once every 12 months.
Energency condenser trip circuits.
Not less frequently than 5/ 8/69 once every 12 months.
Containment Containment sphere access air Once every six months or h/23/69 locks and vent valves, leakage less.
rate.
Isolation valve operability and At least once every 12 h/20/69 leak tests.
months.
Isolation valve controls and Approximately quarterly.
12/ h/68 instrumentation tests.
3/ 1/69 h/30/69 Penetration inspection.
At least once every 12 h/29/69 months.
Integrated leak test.
Once every two years.
7/12/68 i
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The following it.strument checks and calibrations were performed at least once a month:
1.
Reactor safety system checks not requiring Plant shutdown.
- 2. - Air ejector.of gas monitor.
3.
Stack-gas monitor calibratior..
h.
Emergency condenser vent monitor.
5 Process monitor.
-6.
Area monitoring system.
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Robert L. Haueter Assistant Electric Production Superintendent - Nuclear Consumers Power Company Jackson, Michigan Date: June 11, 1969 p
Sworn and subscribed to before me this 11th day of June 1969 (SEAL)
Notary Public, Jackson County, Michigan 2-My' commission expires January 15, 1972 a
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