ML20116N413
| ML20116N413 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Palisades, Point Beach  |
| Issue date: | 07/02/1996 |
| From: | Levin C SENATE |
| To: | Shirley Ann Jackson, The Chairman NRC COMMISSION (OCM) |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20116N395 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 9608220105 | |
| Download: ML20116N413 (2) | |
Text
k Snited states Etnatt WASHINGTON, DC 20510-2202
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July 2,1996 Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson Chairman Nuclear Regulatory Commission 11555 Rockville Pike Rockville, MD 20852 3
Dear Chairman Jackson:
i As I am certain you are aware, the recent minor incident involving the VSC-24 dry cask i
at the Point Beach power plant has raised some concern about the safety of that storage method. I understand that a similar type of cask is in use at the Palisades power plant, and would like to be assured that the NRC believes them to be safe.
I would appreciate it if the Commission could address the issues raised by Ms. Mary Sinclair, PhD. in the attached letter, and respond both to Dr. Sinclair and me.
Thank you for your assistance.
Sincerely, v
i Carl Levin 4
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Memo to From Mary Sinclair, PhD.
Co-Chair, Don't Waste Michigan Date June 26, '96 IIere are background news items on the hydrogen gas burning " incident that occurred at Point Beach when thethird VSC-24 cask was being loaded with high level nuclear waste.
Point Beach is also on Lake Michigan in This VSC-24 cask is the same type as those used for the first time at Wisconsin.
Palisades.
The " incident" was really an explosion since the force of it enough to lift a 3 ton shield lid 6 inches and tilt it on its side.
was great was caused by a chemical reaction between the coatings of the metal basket The NRC says it (which is carbon steel, not stainless) and the boric acid water of the spent fuel pool.
The workers at bubbles rising through the spentboth plant sites told the NRC inspectors that they saw gas fuel water when the fuel was first placed in the metal basket.
But The casks were being purged continuously atno one stopped to inve this.
that site did not build up as it did at Point Beach Palisades so the hydrogen at If. as the workers state. a reaction was takine olace coatines that are there to orevent corrosion have already been altered and in the casks. then the.
comoromised in the 13 casks loaded at Palisades.
Enclosed are 1) a recent story from the Herald-Palladium near Palisades that gives NRC's most recent views on what actions they are taking--things that should have been done through facts generated during a the casks were loaded.
This the public was denied.
public hearing before from Wisconsin newspapers on this event.
- 2) The early news stories from the vendor of the VSC-24 stating that3) A letter to Denis Reid of the NRC Consumers Power Co. had ordered 10 casks for Palisades--and 2 metal baskets could be inspected in mid-J une.
more This provided an opportunity to focus questions on the types of coatin these metal baskets, and the implications of the accident gs used for Palisades casks.
at Point release which I sent4) My letter to Denis Reid asking those questions. Beach for the
- 5) A press to about 20 reporters and editors. 6) Enclosure about early concerns about corrosion NRC's and these casks.
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5711 Summerset Dr.
j Midland, MI 48640 June 17,1996 Mr. Denis Reid U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Quality Assurance Section Source Containment and Devices Branch Division of Industrial and Medical Nuclear Safety, NMSS Mail Stop T8-F5 Washington, D.
C. 20555-0001 Re: The hydrogen fire accident at the Point Beach n-olant while loading a VSC-24 cask and its imolications for the intecrity of the fuel in the 13 casks already loaded in the same tvoc of cask at Palisades n-olant in Michigan. and for the 10 new casks now ordered for this site.
Dear Mr. Reid:
In a Mar. 13, '96 letter, Mr. George Dixon of Sierra Nuclear Corp.
notified you that SNC is supplying 10 VSC-Concrete Storage Systems for storage of spent fuel at the Palisades n-plant which will be added to the 13 already loaded at that site.
As you know, there was a serious hydrogen fire accident at the' Point Beach n-plant on May 28, '96.
They were loading the same type of cask as has been used at Palisades.
The explosion was of sufficient force to lift a 3 ton shield lid high enough to leave it tilted at an angle 3 inches above normal. (NRC 1.N. 96-34, May 31, '96)
Since that accident, some grave and important issues have been raised about the coatings being used in the metal baskets of these VSC-24 casks.
The NRC has stated that it believes the hydrogen that was ignite.d in that accident was formed from the chemical reaction between the zinc coatings in the metal basket and the boric acid in the spent fuel pool water.
This is a simple chemical reaction that should havec been readily identified and avoided.
Yet it seems to be an accident entirely unanticipated.
A spokesperson for Region 3 of the NRC stated for the press that, "It's a new phenomenon and we have not had experiences like this."
(Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, May 29, '96)
Dr. Gilbert Emmert, Chairman of the Nuclear Engineering Dept. of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, theorized the hydrogen could have come from the water inside the cask, but said it was
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i Page Three "small companies that have technical expertise, but whose quality assurance programs might not have the maturity and rigor needed for nuclear-related projects."
(In fact, as a result of the first major inspection conducted by Consumers Power Co. and the NRC of the fabrication of the MSB casks in the summer of 1994, 194 deficiencies were found.)
At the same meeting on July 25, '95, Karl Haas, director of licensing at Consumers Power Co. Palisades plant, stated that their
" fabricators... wanted to produce a quality product" but their quality assurance programs were "i mmat u re."
He added that neither the vendor nor the utility provided the necessary level of oversight of product quality.
C. Haughney also stated that the multi-tiered nature of cask procurement makes the project more complicated than utilities expect
.."some details can slip through the cracks." (Reg. Update, NEl, Aug.7, '95)
(All of this seems similar to Valujet's problems--now in the news--
resulting from subcontracting its maintenance and service programs for its ai rc r a f:)
Mindful of this history of concern in the NRC about the VSC design and possible corrosion problems, and the current heightened interest in the coatings used, my questions to you are as follows:
- 1. Were coatings used inside the metal baskets of the thirteen casks that are now loaded at the Palisades site?
- 2. Was the type of coating used in these casks at Palisades the same type as was used at Point Beach?
If not, what kind of coatings, if any, were used for these metal baskets?
- 3. Were these coatings used as a primer and covered with any other kind of coating? If so, what type?
What records have been made of inspection of the chemistry of the reaction of these. coatings with the boric acid water, with other coatings and adhesives for tiie tiles that were used in the casks?
- 4. Since the hydrogen fire at Point Beach, has Consumers Power Co.
made any effort to determine the source of the bubbles that were seen rising from inside the container as shown in the video taken during the loading of the first 13 casks?
If so, what are the utility's conclusions?
e Page Five (p. 4-11)
This report also states that temperatures of 300 to 400 degrees Centigrade can be expected for "the extended storage of spent fuel for periods up to 100 years following discharge from the reactor."
How has your Quality Assurance De pt. of NMSS been able to confirm the ability of these coatings and the spent fuel in the MSB to remain intact throughout these types of changes?
l
- 12. The Mar. 13 letter from SNC states that mid June, '96 would be an appropriate time for inspection of the first two units.
Has that inspection taken place, and when will the inspection report be issued?
At the July 25, '95 meeting, Charles Haughney offered some additional advice to utility representatives--and to all of us.
He.said,
" Expect delays related to dry cask storage.
Assume that if anything can to wrong, it will go wrong.
Murphy's phantom is hugging every cask, whether it is being loaded or it's sitting on a pad."
Thank you for a prompt response to my questicas.
I appreciate the time and attention given to these requests.
Yours sincerely Mary P. (inclair, PhD.
Co-chair, Don't W aste Michigan l
cc.
Dr. Shirley Jackson, Chairperson, NRC William McCormick, Chairman of the Board of CPCo Michael Morris, President and CEO of CPCo Attorney General Frank Kelley of Michigan Mich. Public Service Commission Chairman John Strand Senator Carl Levin Senator Spencer Abraham Congressman Dave Camp Congressman Fred Upton Governor John Engler James M. Taylor, Dir. Operations, NRC Carl Paperiello, Director of NMSS, NRC Senator Russell Feingold, WI Senator Herbert Kohl, WI
PRESS RELEA'SE June 26, 1996 Don't Waste Michigan P. O. Box 1002 Monroe, MI 48161 HYDROGEN FIRE AT WISCONSIN N-PLANT DRY STORAGE RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT ADEQUACY OF CASKS LOADED AT PALISADES Questions are being raised about the types of coatings that are being used in the 10'new metal. baskets that Consumers Power 'Co.
has ordered. recently from. the vendor of the VSC-24 used for the storage of high level nuclear waste at the Palisades n-plant.
The vendor, Sierra Nuclear Corp., has stated 'that the first. 2 casks were available for inspection by the NRC in mid-June.
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Don't Waste Michigan is raising these questions because the hydrogen fire which took place at the Point Beach n-plant in Wisconsin on may 28 is believed to have been caused by the reaction of the inner coatings of 'the metal basket with the spent fuel pool water in which spent fuel was immersed, according to Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) inspectors' findings Workers were preparing to weld shut the lid on the metal basket.
Only after this is done, is the spent fuel pool water drained from the metal' basket and replaced with helium.
The explosion wt.s of sufficient force to raise a 3 ton shield lid high enough to leave it tilted at. an angle 3 inches above normal.
Workers observed gas bubbles coming from the spent fuel pool water at both the Palisades and Point Beach pl nt in the process of loading similar type casks, the VSC-24, at both locations.
The origin or significance of these gas bubbles was not checked at either location, according to NRC findings.
"This information tells us that some reaction has taken place involving the. coatings in the 13 casks already loaded at the Palisades site.
This could alter the usefulness of the coatings 'in preventing corrosion in the casks already loaded," said Mary Sinclair, a co-chair of Don't ~ Waste Michigan.
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~/2 - /oO 7 GND/96/048/QAD March I3.1996 Mr. Denis Reid U.S. Nuc! car Regulatory Commission Quality Assurance Section Source Containment and Devices Branch Division ofindustrial and Medical Nuclear Safety. NMSS Mail Stop T8 F5 Washington. D.C. 20555-0001
SUBJECT:
Schedules of Fabrication Activities for The VSC -24. Multi-Assembly Scaled Baskets (MSB's)
Dear Mr. Reid:
As we have previously discussed. in support of a current contract with Consumers Power SNC is supplying 10. VSC - 24 Concrete Storage Systems for the storage of Spent Fuel at the Palisades Nuclear Plant.
SNC iias issued a subcontract to March Metalfab inc.. for the supply of Multi-assembly Scaled Baskets (MSB's).
4 Enclosed is a copy of MMI's current fabrication schedule for those 10 units, which will 4
aid in your planning of a nspection during the fabrication cycle. In reviewing the schedule. it appears that early to mi June h6. would be a period at which you could observe some portion of all major manufactur activity. At that time the Grst two units are scheduled for completion and shipment.
Should additional information be required. please contact me at your convenience.
Reg rds.
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Vice President Quali Assurance / Control 10001a-f YYYO YbbO7 h
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CASKS' conanued trem page1 A bydrogen, was not recognized at ci-ther fac!Iity," Canlano said.
Strasma added, "There's no.
question that the casks used at Pa!-
isades did produce hydrogen when they were filled with the spent fue!
, pool water.13ut the procedures they used, including ventilating the area, avoided the pecblem. It tray be that is madequate precedure."
~At Palisades, the area under the-casks being welded shut was venti-
!ated because the plant had experi-enced problems with moisture interfericg with the welding proc-ess, Strasma said.
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In addition, McKee said Pali-sades also rinsed the casks prior to immersing them ln the spent A:el pool and loading, la order. to re-move any loose auterials that could go into the pool That may have also helped Pa!!sades avoid the gas ignition experienced !n.Wis-consin, he said.
"In eliminating those loose materials,.yoti. reduce the amount of mate.'ials Llat can more'quickly come in contact 9,ith the acidic en-the gas vironment". and. create ical reac-buildup through a chem tion, McKee said.
McKee said while it was known that gas would be produced during the procedurus, "we have not had any expectation of hyerogen pro-duction that would cause any prob -
lem. At this point we havei not seen hydrogen levels at the same r.s those that occurred at Point Beach!
It has not.been an issue at Pa!!-
sadec.'t Added McKee: " Palisades per.
forms the process the right way; the other folks did not. They did not follow the same procedures. Our program !s excellent. We want to make sure the phenomenon at this~
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point in not an issue" The NRC has issued a directive to the three nuclear plants that are using or plan to use dry cask store age programs noting "they.need to take appropriate precautions to prevent accumulations of combusti-ble gas. Also, prior to any loading, they shotdd provide us with two weeks notice," Strasma said.
Along with Point Beach and Pali-sades, the Arunsas. Nuclear plant in Russellville. Ark., osted by I,>
tergy, a!so has plans to use the dry cask storage pengnm for short-term spent fuel storage, Stralma said.
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XRC raises 11eW ISSUES l
about casks I
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i at Palisades 1
There are currently 13 loaded Agency studies casus at the Paiisades plant. The 4
plant did not plan to load any addi-gas ignition tional ensks this year, McKee said.
1 But longterm plans at the plant did under Cask.at call for 12 more to be loaded.by the Wisconsin N-olant Y**'2*-
i At Point Beach, a three. ton cask l
i By ANDREW LERSTEN lid was lifted sixlnehes when hy;
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' H P South Haven Bureau drogen gas was Stnited bv a weld-tng toren. The tiRC believes the i
COVERT - Conditions that led gas was created by a chemical re-l to the ignition of hydrogen gas at a action between a zinc-based coating Wisconsin nucicar plant last month on the concrete and steel casks and j
l as a cask contauung spent nuclear boric acid contained in the spent l
fuel was being sealed apparent!Y fact poc! of the nuclear plant, also were present dunng cask-seal
- where the spent radioactive fuel ing operations at the Palisades nu-was loaded into the casks.
The Incident has raised "more J T
p, a a to le i
Regulatory Commission authori westions about unknown chemical processes inside the casks over 4
g time, and may (cad to changes In But it seems because Palisades the design of the dry casks used in ventituted the area under the casks Wisconstn and at Palisades, said during the welding stages of its i
l caskloading process, as well as NRC Spokesman Jan Strasma.
some other different procedures, a "At the exit meeting of the team i
gas buildup was prevented and the at Point Beach, the director of the gas ignition problem experienced at NRC's ouice of nuclear material l
the Point Beach plant May 28 was safety said he did not expect the avoided, said NRC and Palisades casks to be used further until gen-ofuciais this week, eration of hydrogeri can be elimi-j The casks were leaded between nated or other control measures May 1933 and May 1993, Palisades can be put in place l' Strasma said.
1 oilicials said.
"(The entire cask program) is on Pending a more thorough analy hold, until there is more under-i as of the Point Beach incident. Pal standing of cenditions that may be j isades has pcstponed plans to present."
l unload a cask at the plant this NRC inspcctions of videotapes month, said Palisades spokesman showing the welding procedures of Dennis McKee. The cask was casks at Point Beach and at Pati-schedaled to be unloaded due to sades revealed " visible bubbles ris-the discovery of velding daws in it, ing" from the casks, said NItC ap. hough the plant mrantains the Inspector Roy Caniano. "The signif-D.f. 0"*[..,[
,,),. [.,,, icsnee of these bubbles, apparently