ML20136C262
| ML20136C262 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 02/01/1997 |
| From: | Zwolinski J NRC |
| To: | AFFILIATION NOT ASSIGNED |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20136C225 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 9703120018 | |
| Download: ML20136C262 (5) | |
Text
_
From:
<JAZWOL9aol.com>
To:
udi.internet3("internet.jaz")
Date:
2/1/97 2:06pm subject:
Fwd: MAINE YANKEE Forward to Jean Lee as statement made by plant spokesperson is extremely naive and simplistic......Z Forwarded message:
From:
PMBLANCH9IX.NETCOM.COM (PAUL BLANCH)
Date: 97-01-28 08:16:38 EST l
Problems mount at Maine Yankee =20
=20 l
By P= eter Pochna and Edward D. Murphy =20 i
3 I
S= taff Writers 1
3 4
=A9 Cop = yright 1997 Guy Gannett Communications The Maine Yankee nuclear power plant will remain shut down for at least a month longer than expected because of continuing problems with its electr= ical system, plant officials announced Monday.
9703120010 970306 PDR ORG NRRA R
- m. -
..m er-
They also announced that a problem with radiation leaking from cracked-fu= el rods is worse than expected. Plant operators predicted'they would find ab= out six leaky rods, but instead found 75 and repairs will cost about $6 million.
In addition, plant officials have told federal regulators that three motorized valves that are essential parts of-the plant's backup cooling system don't work correctly.
Plant engineers discovered Thursday that under certain conditions of extremely high heat, the valves would not open. Since the plant has been = shut down for repairs ~since Dec.
5, the problem does not pose an immediate hazard.
Maureen Brown, a plant spokeswoman, said the valve problem did not pose-a threat to the public when the plant was running, because the conditions needed to cause the malfunction were very i
unlikely to occur.
But Kris' Christine of Alna,.who closely monitors the plant's operation, s= aid the valve problem is alarming.
I'm really concerned for the safety of my family, Christine said.
Events at the plant get more alarming every week.
Even the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's senior resident inspector at Mai= ne Yankee admits he's worried about tha plant's continuing problems.
Jimi Yarokun said the NRC tends to treat'each problem independently, but = at Maine Yankee, it's become impossible to ignore the pattern of the.
last fe= w years.
Frankly, I am very' concerned-about the rash of problems that are occurr= ing here, Yerokun said. When you'see one (problem) after the other, it becomes a reason for concern. This is not usual, to have four, five, six problems you're dealing with. It's'not a good feeling.
Ray Shadis, a member of' Friends of the Coast, a group opposed to nuclear power plants, said Maine Yankee should be shut down for another review of=
the plant and its operations. He noted-that Maine Yankee has continued to find problems beyond those exposed by an independent review conducted last year.
What the prudent course of action would be is a thorough, top-to-bottom inspection of the plant, Shadis said, adding that a complete review mig = ht take at least a year with Maine Yankee off-line.
Cables are crossed
The 24-year-old plant in Wiscasset will not produce power before mid-Marc = h, Brown-said. The plant had planned to resume power production in mid-Febru= ary, but the inspection of miles of-electric cables is 4'
taking longer than expected.
A huge industrial facility has miles and miles of cable,
l Brown said.
The work involved in tracking those cables carefully is time-consuming.=
,a i
Operators shut down the plant in December after workers found that cables controlling a steam valve were crossed and routed j
improperly. The inspect = ion of the wiring has expanded, with i
more than 120 temporary contractors helping Maine Yank = ee
+~
workers search for places where cables may cross.
1 i
so far, workers have turned up six cases of cables strung too l
4 close toget= her, Brown said, with most of them involving equipment added to the-plant _ sinc = e it was built.
The cables are supposed to be_ separated so both primary and o
backup lines aren't knocked out in the event of a fire, Brown said.
An extra month without the plant operating will cost the-utilities that o= wn it about $15 million because they must pay for replacement energy.
We knew this would be a tough year for us, said Mark Ishkanian, a spokesman for Central Maine Power Co., which owns 38 percent of Maine Yan= kee.
This just makes t a little tougher.
i It is too early;in the year to determine if the cost of Maine Yankee's' problems will be passed on to ratepayers.
Rods leak radiation The $6 million cost of the fuel-rod repair is primarily due to the need t= o replace eight entire fuel assemblies, each of which contains 175 fuel rod = s.
I
~ Maine Yankee predicted Jan. 3 that it would only need to remove a few individual fuel rods. But an analysis over the past three weeks has found=
the fuel-rod cracking is much more extensive than monitors
- indicated it would be.
Even so, Brown said there is no danger to the public.
2
There were no health or safety concerns, Brown said. The radiation = is within a closed-loop system.
n i
s i
The plant's' power comes from the fuel rods, which are metal tubes j
13 feet long and three-eighths of an inch in diameter. They contain uranium pelle=.ts, which generate heat that warms water
. surrounding them. The rods are tied into bundles th= at make up fuel assemblies', and the nuclear reactor contains 217 assemblies.
Monitors detected that radiation was leaking from the rods last-June. The. amount'of leakage increased over the year, but by the time the plant shut down in December, the leakage remained far
~
below federal limits.
Maine Yankee decided to repair the problem in January because the plant w= as already shut down for the electric-cable repairs.
The plant is removing four assemblies because they contain. leaky rods, an= d four other assemblies because of concern that they might soon develop lea = ks.
Brown said plant operators are still searching for the cause of the leaks.
i She said monitors did not accurately predict the number of leaky rods bec= ause the structure of the fuel assemblies was preventing radiation from leakin= g through some of the cracks.
Safety feature may fail The motorized valves that may not operate correctly are part of the plant =
's backup cooling system. They are sliding pieces of metal that run up and d= own on tracks, controlling the water flow through pipes that run to the fuel pool.
The problem Maine Yankee discovered is that high heat in the vicinity of = the valves would cause water pressing against the valves to expand. That extr= a pressure would prevent the valves
'from opening.
i Dave Lochbaum, a nuclear engineer with the Union of concerned Scientists = in Washington, D.C.,
said the valves are a critical safety system.
The system is there for only one purpose: to prevent a meltdown, Loch = baum said. The fact that it wouldn't have worked is bad.
But Brown said that even if the valves did malfunction while the plant wa= s having a core cooling accident, plant operators would be abic to find oth= er ways to cool the fuel.
There are many actions that could be taken to provide the relief, Bro = wn said.
She said the plant has already remedied the problem by keeping i
s
one of the valves permanently open. She said a relief valve will
-be added while the plant is shut down for a scheduled refueling at the end of the year. [ NOTE FROM PMB: OPERATI=
NG WITH ONE VALVE OPEN MAY ALSO VIOLATE REGULATIONS le. APX GDC 56]
Maine Yankee engineers examined the valves in reaction to a letter the NR=
C issued in September. The letter directed all nuclear-plant operators to examine their backup cooling systems.
The letter said recent NRC inspections at various plants had found seve= ral safety-significant issues that could affect all plants.
Richard Rasmussen, the NRC's resident inspector at Maine Yankee, said he plans to look into the problem this week. He said the plant will not be allowed to start up unless its solution adequately addresses the problem.
Public in..je is issue Christine, the Alna resident, said it's a concern that the plant operated =
for many years with the faulty valves. She said she is also concerned that an extensive NRC review of the plant last summer did not find the problem.
This is a very big thing for them to have overlooked,
Christine said.
Brown tried to put a positive spin on the latest problems at the plant, pointing out, for instance, that the inspection of the fuel rods was conducted ahead of schedule.
Maine Yankee is at a crossroads. It is positioning itself to l
become a superior performer in the industry, she said.
Getting there, we realize, has cost us some public support. But once th= e citizens of Maine have all the facts in front of themselves and once they give us time to make these repairs, they will once again have that high level of confidence in Maine Yankee.
Paul M. Blanch Energy Consultant 135 Hyde Rd.
West Hartford CT 06117 Tel: 860-236-0326 Fax: 860-232-9350