ML20136D825

Memorandum & Order Granting Util 850917 Request for Extension of 851130 Deadline for Environ Qualification of Electrical Equipment,Until Planned Feb 1986 Refueling Outage.Served on 851120

ML20136D825
Person / Time
Site:	Cook
Issue date:	11/20/1985
From:	Chilk S NRC OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY (SECY)
To:	INDIANA MICHIGAN POWER CO. (FORMERLY INDIANA & MICHIG
References
CON-#485-259 OL, NUDOCS 8511210375
Download: ML20136D825 (4)

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA '85 N07 20 P1 :25 NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION ii: :, a :. .

COMMISSIONERS:

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Nunzio J. Palladino, Chairman Thomas M. Roberts James K. Asselstine Frederick M. Bernthal SERVED NOV 2 0 mi Lando W. Zech, Jr.

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INDIANA AND MICHIGAN ELECTRIC )

COMPANY Docket No. 50-316 - d b (Donald C. Cook Nuclear Plant, ,

Unit 2)

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MEMORANDUM AND ORDER By letter dated September 17, 1985, as supplemented September 30 and October 21, 1985, the Indiana and Michigan Electric Company ("IMEC")

requests that the Commission grant an extension from the November 30, 1985 deadline for environmental qualification of electrical equipment at the Donald C. Cook Nuclear Plant, Unit 2. The request covers three items of equi? ment for which an extension is sought until a planned February 1986 plant outage. The Comission has reviewed in detail the licensee's submittal and the staff's analysis and recommendation as set forth in SECY-85-339. Based on this review the Commission finds that the licensee has demonstrated the exceptional na.ture of its case such that an extension will be granted.

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2 The Commission most recently addressed the environmental qualifica-tion issue in Generic Letter 85-15, issued August 6, 1985. In that letter the Commission stated that extensions from the November 30 deadline established in 10 CFR 50.49(g) would be granted "only in rare circumstances." The Commission further stated that extension requests "must clearly identify the exceptional nature of the case, e.g., why, through events entirely beyond its control, the licensee will not be in compliance on November 30; the date when compliance will be achieved; and a justification for continued operation until compliance will be achieved." The Commission also set forth an enforcement policy regarding failure to meet the deadline.

The record relating to IMEC's extension request indicates the utility has made good faith effort to comply with the November 30 deadline both as to its general equipment qualification program and with regard to the particular items still in question. The three items remaining are types of cables (resistance temperature detector cables, steam generator level cables, and radiation monitoring cables) that are located below the level above which water would rise in the containment in the event of a worse case accident and are not properly qualified for submergence. The utility had hoped to correct these qualification deficiencies by relocating the cables above the flood level or by protecting them with ficod tubing. Because this work can be done most safely and efficiently when the plant is not in operation, the licensee had planned to complete this action in a refueling outage that was scheduled to occur prior to November 30. However, three unplanned outages in July and August 1985 due to steam generator leaks pushed that

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3 refueling outage back to February 1986. As a result, the licensee's intention to qualify the equipment within the deadline has been

's frustrated. Under these circumstances, the Commission finds that an extension is warranted.

The Comission therefore grants the request of IMEC for an extension on Donald C. Cook Unit 2. The staff has reviewed the justifications for continued operation and finds they support safe operation until the February 1986 refueling outage. The deadline for equipment qualification is hereby extended until that outage, but no later than February 28, 1986. -

Comissioner Asselstine disapproved this order. His separate views '

are attached.

It is so ORDERED.

! r the Commission

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% SAMUELM . CHILK gg Secretary oi{ the Commission Dated at Washington, D.C.

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- SEPARATE VIEWS OF COMMISSIONER ASSELSTINE I would not have granted the extension requested by the D.C. Cook licensee. It does not appear to me that this licensee had an adequate environmental qualification program in place so that it could identify and resolve issues in a timely fashion. Since licensee's program was not adequate to identify issues early, failure to meet the November 30, 1985 was not beyond licensee's control.

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