ML20129D056

Discusses Request for Extensive Testing by NRC of SG at Hnp. Testing Should Be Performed for Safety Reasons

ML20129D056
Person / Time
Site:	Haddam Neck File:Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Co icon.png
Issue date:	09/10/1996
From:	Bassilakis R AFFILIATION NOT ASSIGNED
To:	Shirley Ann Jackson, The Chairman NRC COMMISSION (OCM)
Shared Package
ML20129C961	List: ML20129C957 ML20129D056
References
NUDOCS 9610240188
Download: ML20129D056 (3)

Text

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L_ Memorandum To: The Honorable Chairman Shirley han Jackson '

1

From

Rosemary Bassilakis Date: September 10, 199,6 -

Subject:

Carbon copy of letter to Mr. LaPlatney enclosed t a

a

' We are enclosing a copy of a letter that Citizens Awareness i.

Network recently sent to Mr. LaPlatney at the Eaddam Neck (RN) nuclear reactor as we want to keep you informed on the very 1

i important issue of steam generator integrity. We believe that

' without extensive testing of HN's steam generators, any economic analysis for the reactor would be a gross misrepresentation to the Board of Directors and the public.

3 j

In addition to the financial aspects of steam generator j

integrity, extensive testing should be done for safety reasons.

4 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) reports cracking of steam l generator tubes is surging in U.S. reactors. Cracking has been '

I identified by the NRC as having serious safety implications i because steam generator tubes constitute 50% of.the reagtor i coolant pressure boundary. In simple terms, a multiple tube  ;

j ru.pture in this system could result in a rapid loss of coolant j

accident.in the reactor beyond the control of the Emergency Core Cooling System with the significant risk of catastrophic failure.

And, because the steam generators are equipped with relief valves, a rupture of the primary coolant loop results in a release of radioactivity that bypasses the reactor's containment structure.

We would like for you to what you can to make sure extensive i

steam generator testing at the Huddam Neck reactor is done using the state-of-the-art plus point probe which can detect degradation in tubes where older probes could not.

i 9610240188 961023 PDR ADOCK 05000213 p PM

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.~ .. _ . - . . .

. . . . . .. . y Citizens Awareness Network 54 Old Turnpike road, Haddam, CT 064 38- - - - - -

connecticut en.oter

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( 860 )^3 f5- 8 431 September 9, 1996 Mr. Jere LaPlatney Maddam Neck Reactor 362 Injun Hollow Road East Hampton, CT 06424-3099

Dear Mr. LaPlatney:

Citizens Awareness Network is aware that you are currently preceding with an economic analysis of the Haddam Neck (HN)

Reactor to justify'its continued operation. We believe,>that an analysis of its steam generator (SG) integrity must be part of any economic analysis. To adequately evaluate the SG's integrity, it is imperative to do comprehensive testing during this refueling outage (RFO 19). Comprehensive testing of the SGs must include extensive usage of the state-of-the-art Plus-Point Gimbaled Rotating probe which can detect degradation of tubes that is not readily apparent with the older probes as was evidenced at Maine Yankee.

The HN reactor has Westinghouse Model 27 SGs, with Inconel 600 tubes. Westinghouse SGs are known for premature aging:

corroding, cracking and leaking. Thirteen utilities have filed law suit against this vendor.

Steam Genera' tor testing during RFO 18 placed SG #2 in Category C-3 status as was required since more than 10 percent of the total tubes tested were degraded (14.7% of tested tubes degraded).

7 dditionc tly, as of RFO 18, SG #2 and #4 had 64% and 70% l respectively of the allowable number of tubes plugged. .

As noted in the report titled "Haddam Neck Steam Generator

• l Examination Category C-3 Special Report" which was enclo, sed.with I a letter from F. R. Dacimo to the NRC on March 22, 199S, "since I first being detected at Haddam Neck in January 1986, Primary Water Stress Corrosion Cracking (PWSCC), continues to be the dominant reason for tubea requiring repair". Mr. Jack Strosnider, the Chief of Materials and Chemical Engineering Branch at NRR stated at the " Briefing by Staff On Steam Generator Issues" February 27, 1996, that "... stress corrosion cracking is a time-dependent phenomenon". He went on to say that PWSCC is catching up with plants and that it is not too dependent upon j secondary water chemistry control and therefore it could affect l plants regardless of how well their chemistry is controlled. At I the same meeting, Mr. Brian Sheron, the Director of the Division of Engineering of NRR said when speaking about time-dependant .

degradation, that "What we are seeing is that when a plant now I may go in and find a few indications on one outage, they'll go in I the next outage and maybe find tens or maybe a. couple hundred and 8

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LaPlatney .

9/9/96 )

then the next outage or two they are going to see tnousands".

1 Steam economicGenerator viability.status is relevant when consi'dering the reactor's Their replacement cost could be as high as 200 at Millstone Unit 2. was the case in the replacement of the SGs million dollars as In an April 1", 1993 memo, John Opeka advised the NRC the HN plant that SG preclude " current preliminary economic evaluations of replacement".

4 In addition SG status is relevant because extensive degradation of tubes would require 1) i i

An increased reactor outage and all the associated costs with the purchase of replacement energy;

2) Should the tubes need to be {

re-sleeved as at Maine Yankee, the cost of re-sleeving; 3)

Should the reactor's SGs reach the point where the allowable number of tube plugging has reached the technical specification maximum, the reactor will have to down power to accommodate the production. transfer and will have less revenue from energy loss in heat

)

i Without an extensive investigation with plus-point probe testing of HN's SG, any economic analysis for the reactor would be a gross misrepresentation to the Board of Directors and t e public.  ;

Sincer ,

i att Rosemary Bassilakis i Research Director i CC: Citizens Awareness Network '

Chairwomen Shirley Jackson HN Board of Directors Haddam Selectpeople i CT Representative Terry Concannon  ;

CT Senator Eileen Daily US Representative Sam Gedjenson US Senator Joe Lieberman US Senator Christopher Dodd ' '

Mark Guthrie, Reporter Middletown Press l

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