ML20080D560

Status Rept Re Diesel Generator Crankshaft Failure.Cracks Discovered on Crankshafts of Other Two Diesels.Location & Orientation of Crankshaft Failures Appear to Be Similar. Certificate of Svc Encl.Related Correspondence

ML20080D560
Person / Time
Site:	Shoreham File:Long Island Lighting Company icon.png
Issue date:	08/25/1983
From:	Mark Miller KIRKPATRICK & LOCKHART, SUFFOLK COUNTY, NY
To:
References
ISSUANCES-OL, NUDOCS 8308300498
Download: ML20080D560 (11)

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DOCKETED 1 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA USWC {

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION l BEFORE THE ATOMIC SAFETY AND LICENSINGTOOAg 29 P1 :14 l rTrN I" EElit *

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LONG ISLAND LIGHTING COMPANY )

Docket No. 50-322 0.L.

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(Shoreham Nuclear Power Station, )

Unit 1) )

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SUFFOLK COUNTY STATUS REPORT REGARDING SHOREHAM DIESEL GENERATOR CRANKSHAFT FAILURES Suffolk County's status report is filed today in accordance with the Board's Arqust 16, 1983 Memorandum and Order Deferring Piling of Testimony and Commencement of Hearing on Diesel Generators. The Board's Order directed the parties tot submit a status report to the Board detailing the progress which has been made [as of August 25, 1983] in determining the cause (s) of the crankshaft failure

[of die'sel no. 102], the parties' positions as to whether this failure is related to either aspect of the County's diesel generator contention, and the parties' proposals.for future actions and scheduling in the case.

Order, at 4-5.

Since the parties last reported to the Board on August 15

. .and 16, 1983, cracks have been discovered on the crankshafts of the other two Shoreham diesels. It is the County's understanding that, in addition to the severed, or sheared, main engine shaft on l

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diesel no. 102, diesel no. 101 has about a 1-1/2 inch long crack on the generator side of the crankshaft web at the number 7 cylinder and diesel no. 103 has a 2 inch long, 3/8 inch deep crack on the governor sEde of the crankshaft web at the number 6 cylinder. The location and orientation of the three crankshaft failures appear to be similar, with the crankshaft on diesel no. 102 having been severed on the generator side of the crankshaft web at the number 7 cylinder.

On August 23, 1983, Suffolk County was informed that

"[t]he investigation of the cause or causes of the failure of the crankshaft of emergency diesel generator 102 will be conducted in accordance with a master plan that describes steps to be taken during the investigation of and recovery from the crankshaft failure." This information was conveyed to the County in a letter from counsel for LILCO, a copy of which is attached. The August 23 letter also advised the County that: -

-- LILCO's " master plan" is currently being reviewed by the " Joint Test Group;"

-- Diesel no' 102 will be moved from the diesel room to the turbine building where it will be disassembled to permit removal of the crankshaft, which will then be sent offsite for failure analysis; i:

-- Under the " master plan," the existing crankshaft on diesel no. 102 will be replaced with a new crankshaft, with replacement of the crankshaft and reassembly of the engine to take place in the turbine building; I

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-- The cracks discovered in diesel nos. 101 and 103 will be analyzed by LILCO and " factor [ed]" into the " master plan;"

-- Under the best of circumstances, Shoreham will not be ready to , load fuel "unhil sometime in the first quarter of 1984;"

"[P]recise estimates" of the time it will take to complete the investigation a'nd repair of diesel no. 102 "must necessarily await receipt of further information that will be obtained as a result of the investigation of the failure;" and

-- Litigation of the cylinder head issue at "any time in the near future" might interfere with "LILCO's efforts to investigate and remedy the crankshaft situation," and "it would seem to make sense to wait until more information is available before proceeding with any diesel generator litigation."

The County received a copy of LILCO's " master plan" while this report was being typed on August 25. Obviously, the County has had no opportunity to review the plan and, for that reason, this status report does not comment upon the program

, outlined by LILCO in t'he plan.

Regarding the specific status report items set forth by the Board in its August.16 Order, Suffolk County states the -

following:

1. With respect to the cause or causes of the three crankshaft failures, it is the County's understanding that LILCO's investigation into.the cause(s) of the failures is 4

continuing. The County is not involved in this investigation, but understands that the NRC Resident Inspector is' monitoring the

investigation on a daily basis. Thus far, to the County's knowledge, neither LILCO nor the Staff has reached any conclusions regarding the cause (s) of the failures.

2. With respect to whether the crankshaft failures are related to either the cylinder head cracking or the vibration aspect of the County's diesel generator contention, it remains the County's view that the precise nexus of the crankshaft failures to either aspect of the contention is unclear at this time. The County understands, however, that the cylinder heads on all three diesels were replaced with new cylinder heads prior to the initial crankshaft failure (the severed, or sheared, main engine shaft on diesel nc. 102), which occurred during cylinder head replacement testing. Moreover, the County has been advised by its consultants that crankshaft failures such as those that occurred on the three Shoreham diesels could have been caused by water leakage into the diesel cylinders. Crankshaft failures can also be caused by vibration, and, as the Board is aware, the failure to diesel no. 102 involved or was accompanied by significant vibration. Thus. there may be a connection between the crankshaft failures and the cylinder head' cracking and/or vibration aspects of the County's contention. However, until the cause or causes of the crankshaft failures are determined, no precise conclusions can be drawn. Determining the cause (s) 'of the failures will apparently require the dismantling of the Shoreham diesels to permit removal of the failed crankshafts. Once removal is completed, the shafts will be sent offsite for analyses. By LILCO's own estimate, it will be at least a month before even a

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preliminary failure analysis will be available for the failed crankshaft on diesel no. 102. No time estimates have been provided to the County with respect to investigation of the crankshaft failures on' diesel nos. 101 and 103.

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3. With respect to " future actions and scheduling in the case," it appears clear that full resolution of the crank-shaft problems will take considerable time. In light of the additional crankshaft failures that have been reported to the Board, the County believes that the entire process is likely to take, at a minimum, several months. Thus, in the County's view, the schedule regarding the cylinder head cracking contention should remain deferred until more facts are known. The County agrees with LILCO's assessment in its August 23 letter that "it would seem to make sense to wait until more information is available before proceeding with any diesel generator litigation."

It is the County's understanding that the Staff concurs in this assessment.

Respectfully submitted David H. Gilmartin Patricia A. Dempsey Suffolk County Department of Law Veterans Memorial Highway Hauppauge, New York 11788 Herbert H. Brown Lawrence Coe Lanpher Alan R. Dynner Michael S. Miller KIRKPATRICK, LOCKHART, HILL, CHRISTOPHER & PHILLIPS 1900 M Street, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20036 August 25, 1983 Attorneys for Suffolk County

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7 , g ATTACHMENT Huwrox 6e WILLIAns 707 rast h8ases Statet 8.o.Bos1535

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5 h Alan.Roy Dynnere Esq.

V Kirkpatrick, Lockhart, Hill, Ch'ristopher & Phillips l 1900 ?? Str eet, N.W.

8th Floor Washington, D.C. 20036

Dear Alan:

The purpose of this letter is to respond to your letter of August 16, which I received on August 19 when I returned to Richmond.

[c I do not agree with the assertion in your letter that

'zatters relating -to the crankshaf t f ailure are clearly relevarit to the County's diesel generator contentions.' As stated in LILCO's supplemental report on the diesel generators, dated August 16, LILCO does not believe that the crankshaf t failure is related to issues that have been previously raised by the County and admitted by the Board in this proceeding. If i you bel.ieve the crankshaft failure is related to these issucs, please explain, if you can, precisely how they are related.

Perhaps, an af fidavit by one or more or your consultants

[ explaining why the issues are related, if.that is their view,

[ would be more appropriate. I would be glad to reconsider the.

matter once I have had an opportunity to review any information you might send me.

Summarized below is info:mation we intend to include in LILCO's August 25 status report to the Board concerning the diesel generator crankshaft matter. Please let us know in advance of August 25 if you have any comments. By copy of this letter we are asking. Mr. Bordenick to do the same.

As you know, on August 12, in the course of testing following the installation of new cylinder heads,. emergency diesel-generator 102 was noted to experience unusual vibration and load fluctuations. .The operators reduced load and then L

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Huxrox & WILLIAxs l I removed the engine from service. The engine was allowed to

! cool overnight and was examined on Saturday morning, August 13.

1 Inspection revealed a failure in the crankshaft in the vicinity l of the number 7 cylinder. Further investigation of the failure l indicated that the crankshaft had experienced a crack that completely severed the shaf'. t LILCO is now conducting an

investigation to determine.the cause or causes of this failure.

i The investigation of the cause or causes of the. failure l of the crankshaf t of. emergency diesel generator 102 will be ,

j conducted in accordance. with a master plan .that describes steps )

to be taken during the investigation of and recovery from the j crankshaft failure.. The plan is currently being reviewed by

, the Joint Test Group and should be approved tomorrow. We will J telecopy it.to you once it is approved. As the plan reflects, J

LILCO will use the resources of appropriate LILCO j organizations, Stone & Webster Engineering Corporation, l Transamerica Delaval and appropriate contractors to carry out the steps set out in the diesel generator saster plan. In

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i addition as the plan also reflects, Failure Analysis Associates, a highly qualified and experienced organization in the field of failure analysis, has been engaged to aid in the investigation of the cause or causes of the cranksnaft failure.

The master plan calls for moving the emergency diesel generator 102 from the diesel room to the turbine building

! wnere a clean area with controlled access will be established.

1 TDI personnel will then disassemble the engine to permit removal of the failed crankshaft. Once removal in completed, I the shaft will be sent to appropriate facilities offsite for additional failure analyses.

l The master plan currently calls for replacement of the existing 13" x 11" crankshaf t with a new 13" x 12" crankshaf t.

This replacement will also take place ~in the turbine building where the engine will be reassembled. Once reassembly is complete, it will be returned to the diesel room where it will be installed and reconnected to the diesel auxiliary equipment.

As will be described more fully in the master plan, appropriate testing of the diesel will then be conducted.-

At the same time the diesel generator.102 is being moved from the diesel generator room to the turbine building, LILCO is conducting inspections'of crankshafts in diesel l generators 101 and 103. As reported in LILCO's August 22

. schedule report to the Board, indications have been found on diesel generator 103. That indication has been determined to be a 2 inch crack. Also, I was informed this afternoon that diesel generator 101 has an indication similar.co the one found l on diesel generator 103. LILCO is currently analyzing these 1 indications and will take steps to factor this information into  ;

program outlined in the master plan.  !

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HUNTox & WILLI AMR At the present time, it is LILCO's judgment that under the best of circumstanceg, Shoreham will not be ready to load (

fuel. until some time in the first quarter of 1984. More precise estimates of the time it will take to complete the investigation and to repair emergency diesel generator.102 must necessarily await' receipt of further information that will be At 1

obtained as a result of the investigation of the failure.

present, .LILCO expe. cts that the cranksbaf t will be removed f rom the engine approximately two weeks from today and that preliminary f ailure analysis results will be available two weeks later. Given this schedule, LILCD does not believe it would be productive to litigate the cylinder head issue in the next month or so.

We have just received today the County's notice of intention to file a new diesel generator contention on the crankshaft issue. We, of course, will review th'.s filing to determine whether any response is necessary. In any event, it would seem to make sense to wait until more information is available before proceeding with any diesel generator litigation. Moreover, litigation of the-cylinder head issue any time in the near future might interfere with LILCO's ,

cf forts to investigate and remedy the crankshaf t situation l because key personnel at LILCO, Stone & Webster and Delaval would be involved in testimony on the cylinder heads at the same time they would be involved in the crankshaf t efforts.

I trust that this information will be helpful to the County in determining what information should be presented to the Board on the 25th. ,

Sincerely,

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'd 221/765 cc: Bernard M. Bordenick, Esq.

l UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION BEFORE THE ATOMIC SAFETY AND LICENSING BOARD e )

In the Matter of )

. )

LONG ISLAND LIGHTING COMPANY ' )

) Docket No. 50-322 (O.L.)

(Shoreham Nuclear Power Station, )

Unit 1) )

)

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that copies of Suffolk County's " Status Report Regarding Shoreham Diesel Generator Crankshaft Failures" have been served to the following this 25 day of August, 1983 by U.S. Mail, first class, except as otherwise indicated.

• Lawrence J. Erenner, Esq. Ralph Shapiro, Esq.

Administrative Judge Cammer and Shapiro Atomic Safety and Licensing Board 9 East 40th Street U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission New York, New York 10016 Washington, D.C. 20555 Howard L. Blau, Esq.

• Dr. George A. Ferguson 217 Newbridge Road Administrative Judge Hicksville, New York 11801 Atomic Safety and Licensing Board

• School of Engineering **W. Taylor Reveley III, Esq.

Howard University Hunton & Williams 2300 6th Street, N.W. P.O. Box 1535 Washington, D.C. 20059~ 707 East Main Street Richmond, Virginia 23212

• Dr. Peter A. Morris Administrative Judge Atomic Safety and Licensing Board U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Mr. Jay Dunkleberger Washington, D.C. 20555 New York State Energy Office 9 Agency Building 2 Empire State Plaza Albany, New York 12223 Edward M.Barrett, Esq.

General Counesl Long Island Lighting Company 250 Old Country xuad Mineola, New York 11501

Mr. Brian McCaffrey Stephen B. Latham, Esq.

Long Island Lighting Company Twomey, Latham & Shea 175 East Old Country Road P.O. Box 398 Hicksville, New York 11801 33 West Second Street Riverhead, New York 11901 o

Marc W. Goldsmith Mr. Jeff Smith Energy Research Group, Inc. Shoreham Nuclear Power Station 400-1 Totten Pond Road P.O. Box 618 Waltham, Massachusetts 02154 North Country Road Wading River, New York 11792 i

Joel Blau, Esq. MHB Technical Associates New York Public Service Commission 1723 Hamilton Avenue The Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Suite K Building San Jose, California 95125 s Empire State Plaza Albany, New York 12223 Hon. Peter Cohalan Suffolk County Executive David J. Gilmartin, Esq. H.-Lee Dennison Suffolk County Attorney Building H. Lee Dennison Building Veterans Memorial Highway Veterans Memorial Highway Hauppauge, New York 11788 Hauppauge, New York 11788

Ezra I. Bialik, Esq.

Atomic Safety and Licensing Assistant Attorney General Board Panel Environmental Protection Bureau U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission New York State Department of Washington, D.C. 20555 Law i 2 World Trade Center i Docketing and Service Section New York, New York 10047 office of the Secretary U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Atomic Safety and Licensing i

Washington, D.C. 20555 Appeal' Board U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

• Bernard M. Bordenick, Esq. Commission David A. Repka, Esq. Washington, D.C. 20555 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C.. 20555 Jonathan D. Feinberg, Esq.

Staff Counsel, New York Stuart Diamond State Public Service Comm.

Environment / Energy Writer 3 Rockefeller Plaza

NEWSDAY Albany, New York 12223

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Long Island, New York 11747 r

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Daniel F. Brown, Esq. ,,

Stewart M. Glass, Esq.

Atomic Safety and Regional Counsel Licensing Board Panel Federal Emergency Management U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Agency Washington, D.C. 20555 '

26 Federal Plaza New York, New York 10278 James B. Dougherty, Esq.

3045 Porter Street, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20008 Michael S. Miller KIRKPATRICK, LOCKHART, HILL, CHRISTOPHER & PHILLIPS DATE: August 25, 1983 1900 M Street, N.W., Suite 800 Washington, D.C. 20036

• By Hand

• • Federal Express 1

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