ML20092G728

Affidavit of T Devine Providing Record of Allegations Re Stresses on Concrete from Hilti Quick Bolts Which May Result in Failures of Bolts

ML20092G728
Person / Time
Site:	Diablo Canyon
Issue date:	05/22/1984
From:	Devine T GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT
To:
Shared Package
ML20092G713	List: ML20092G712 ML20092G728 ML20092G743 ML20092G761 ML20092G777 ML20092G778 ML20092G787 ML20092G791 ML20092G798
References
NUDOCS 8406250217
Download: ML20092G728 (5)

Text

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AFFIDAVIT -

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1. 21 N0:48 gy name is Thomas Devine. I am th,e Legal Directo.r o,f the t *,

Government. Accountability Project (GAP). I am submitti.ng this af-fidavit to provide a record of allegations received by GAP from anonymous whistleblowers over the last two weeks. The allegations concern stresses on the concrete from Hilti Quick Bolts which may result in f ailures of the bolts themselve's. The alleged conditions include--1) deep embedment; and 2; f ailure to consider the possible design affects when bolts are installed too close to the back of other bolts from opposite sides of concrete walls.

The particular examples are, on safety related work, specifically in the GE area, 85 foot level elevation in N Auxiliary

, Building just outside the containmen,t wall. They help support an anchor-type hanger in Component Cooling Water (CCW) system 14. The witnesses described these specific examples as illustrative of a generic condition. The problems have been reported on Quick Fix i

process sheets and recently on a Deficient Condition Notice (DCN) .

There still has not been ef fective corrective action, although one witness estimated that the problem should have been repor ted to the 10 NRC with in 24 hours2.777778e-4 days <br />0.00667 hours <br />3.968254e-5 weeks <br />9.132e-6 months <br /> under 10 CFR Part 21 due to it# s potential to cause f ailure in a safety-related system. The witness was deeply concerned with the potential for the bolts to shake right out of the wall during an earthquake, unless there is a full review and any necessary cor-rective action.

Beyond technical significance, if true the accounts below of the two major bolting issues demonstrate the incitectiveness of the 8406250217 840621 PDR ADOCK 05000275 O PDR ,

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D Quick Fix and Quality Control (QC) reporting systems to identify, disclose and correct all related deficient conditions. They also

. . i demonstratge'. .a pattern of management non-response to a significant f G

issue that has been raised repeatedly over the last year'. Both the i offects --

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a' n d ' the cause

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should be' corrected before Diablo Canyon goes commercial. -

The first ' alleged problem is that bolts were embedded a minimum of 10.5 inches into concrete that was only 12 inches thick.

Although the witnesses were not aware of specific calculations to demonstrate whether this condition were acceptable, I was' informed i i

that unacceptable residual stresses can result if bolts are embedded too deeply into the concrete. Allegedly an inspector on-site has requested relevant back-up data to see if the problem were considered but has not received any response. Mr. Stokes informed me that at most nuclear plants in his experience the concrete is 24 inches thick when embedment is that deep.

I was told that the origin of the problem was instructions on design orawings to achieve a minimum of 10.5 inches embecment. I Allegedly the deep embedment had been considered necessary to achieve the required strength for the structural loads--the hangers. The i

potential problem depends on whether the consequences from excessive '

embedment also were taken into account. As one witness said, "It doesn' t do much good to fix one problem by creating another that may be worse." ,

, The nature of management's response may be as significant as ,

l the bolting problem itself. Last June a QC inspector identified the

( issue to Pullman Power Products (PPP) engineers. Despite recog-i l

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nition of specific problems and individual corrective action--the use of "thru-bolts"--the generic condition was never addressed.

't Last June 28 a different inspector allegedly also ident-i ified a similar problem, but in this instance a Pull' man engineer N

disregarded the warning and responded that structural integrity woulo not be effected. ~

Unfortunately, the engineer was mistaken. During instal-lation, concrete cones directly beneath three relevant bolts suffered a structural failure: the concrete popped out. The allegers were concerned that the concrete f ailure could cause the b.olts to fail as  ;

well.

They also were concerned that the corrective action at the l time was inef fective. The " solution" was to " dry pack" the voids lef t when the concrete fell out. " Dry packing" means applying filler to the void that does not have any structural value. In other worcs, the corrective action was inef fective from a design perspective and was only applied to a few examples for a potentially generic condition.

In 1983 Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) engineers also were ,

alerted to this problem and instructed the relevant Pullman engineer to resolve it. As seen by the recent DCN, however, the problem wasn' t resolved. The new DCN allegedly was filed several weeks ago but  ;

Pullman management has not responded. The witnesses inquired ,

whether Pullman is violating the NRC 24 hour reporting requirements  ;

for significant conditions. They told me that for all practical  ;

purposes the embedment problem is the same as last year, and the l

quality of the bolting remains indeterminate af ter three attempts to i work within the system.

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Allegedly the DCN author raised an ancillary question ,

whether there was any design consideration for the structural ef fects j when Hi(ti-Quick Bolts are embedded too closely to each other from opposite sides of the concrete. In that circumstancs the zones of structural influence from the bolts might conflict, leading to the possibility of structural f ailure such as cracking and resulting voids on the concrete. As with the embedment problem, the witnesses 4

were concerned that this could cause failure of the bolts themselves, and compromise the hangers and the lines being supported.

The anonymous witnesses stated that in fact,there hate been instances when bolts from one side had been hit during the drilling and installation of bolts from the opposite side. Those tvoes of condi-tions were found as late as last f all. The occurrences suggested td the witnesses that design control had been inadequate to prevent the i

conflicts.

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The witnesses told me that both technical issues were identified on Quick Fix process sheets. In f act, the bolting embed-ment was verified by QC inspectors and placed on the back of Quick Fix sheets. But the relevant as-built drawings do not reflect this specific informat' ion. They only reference the 10.5 inch minimum requirement. As a result, specific information on the Quick Fix l

sheets was factored out of the as-built reviews.

The witnesses emphasized that the specific examples may be j generic because so many other instances of voids, cracks, buried drain pipe, fords lef t in concrete and dry packed knock outs are still being identified in the field.

i Several of the witnesses requested the opportunity to Page of Five Pages, V

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confidentially disclose Quick Fix problems with NRC Inspector Isa Yen, during his next visit.

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.f. I have read th.e above -5 page statement and swear under penalty of perjury, that th.is statement is true and a6 curate to the best of my belief. * '

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Thomas Devine Subscribed and sworn to before me this 22 th day of May, 1984.

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to, , 1, $J.l sl.% .

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