ML20083R190

Ao:On 711031,fuel Assembly Jc 359 Found Misoriented,As Result of Investigation of 720506 Incident Where Operator Unable to Position Sipper Head on Control Head 26-07.Visual Insp of Assembly Conducted

ML20083R190
Person / Time
Site:	Oyster Creek
Issue date:	05/24/1972
From:	Finfrock I JERSEY CENTRAL POWER & LIGHT CO.
To:	Giambusso A US ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION (AEC)
Shared Package
ML20083R192	List: ML20083R190
References
NUDOCS 8303310518
Download: ML20083R190 (2)

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b U llcMf Jersey Central Power & Light Company M ADI5oN AVENUE AT PUNCH DoWL Ro AD e MORRISToWN. N.J. 07960 * $39 6111 May 24, 1972 e- '

Mr. A. Giambusso Deputy Director for Reactor Projects fyf%@s Directorate of Licensing United States Atomic Energy Commission i

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Washington, D. C. 20545 MM/301972>-;%

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Dear Mr. Giambusso- OI,

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%. M4ctice, _ '.-

Subject:

Docket No. 50-219 \ '

. - , i's Oyster Creek Station i; il Fuel Assembly Loading Error The purpose of this letter is to report to you that the Oyster Creek core was operated through cycle IB with one fuel bundle misoriented. This event was an abnormal occurrence as defined by Technical Specification 1.15.F.

During refueling operations in the fall of 1971, fuel /

assembly JC 359 was inserted into core location 25-08 in an improper manner. The fuel assembly _was oriented in such a way that it was rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise from its proper position.

The loading error remained undetected and the reactor '

was operated at a power level of 1840 MWt for approximately six i months. During sipping operations on May 6, 1972, the operator

~was unable to position the sipper head on control cell 26-07 (adjacent to core location 25-08). Investigation into this -

problem reveale.d that fuel assembly JC 359 was misoriented.

A check of the videotape of the reactor core taken on October

' .f 31, 1971 cor. firmed that the loading error was made during the- j poison curtain outage. Records show that the error occurred at l 0331 hours0.00383 days <br />0.0919 hours <br />5.472884e-4 weeks <br />1.259455e-4 months <br /> on October 31, 1971.

1 l During refueling operations, several redundant checks i are performed to assure proper core loading. The specific controls are:

l 1. The operator on the fuel grapple is aware of the proper orientation and location of fuel assemblies.

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2. The Shift Foreman on the refueling bridge must verify 6D .

&pf that the fuel assembly move is performed properly. V PDR c _ . _

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• Mr..A. Giambusso Page II May 24, 1972

3. An engineer was assigned ~to the refueling bridge to verify that the moves were performed properly.

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4. Following core alterations, the final core arrangement was verified using .the underwater television camera.

At least four engineers observed the core verification.

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The performance of control rod 26-07 was compared with all other control rods during cycle 1B and found to perform within the 1 , Technical Specification limits. The misoriented. fuel assembly had no apparent affect on the control rod performance.

The improper orientation of a fuel assembly has been i t evaluated for this situation and is discussed in Paragraph 4.9.4.2 of l Section III of the Oyster Creek FD&SAR (Amendment No. 3). This ,

analysis indicates that in the event of a 90-degree misorientation,

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the peak heat flux would be far below the fuel damage limit.

. In the future, procedures, including diagrams, will be . ..

prepared to permit the following to be accomplished after completion of refueling activities

1. The station television camera system will be used as before to verify the location of each fuel assembly in the core. .

2. A second video picture will be. taken of-the core permitting an entire contrc,1 cell t.o appear in 'the picture at one time. This will be used to indepen-

, dently verify the proper fuel _ assembly orientation.

We are enclosing twenty-five copies of this report.

Very truly yours, i

f6?? ) ,1 .t r u f

! IvanR. Fin /ock,Jr.

. . Manager, Nu'elear Generating Stations IRF/pk Enclosures cc: Mr. J. P. O'Reilly, Director Regulatory Operations, Region I

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