ML20137E284

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Transcript of 820614 Statement Re Faults in Electrical Const at Site.Info Partially Deleted
ML20137E284
Person / Time
Site: Comanche Peak  Luminant icon.png
Issue date: 06/14/1982
From:
AFFILIATION NOT ASSIGNED
To:
Shared Package
ML20136F037 List:
References
FOIA-85-59 NUDOCS 8601170219
Download: ML20137E284 (7)
v • d • e


Text

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g 1 (The following statement _was submitted in

, 2 written form by ) F l "%%

  • 3 " STATEMENT OF k 0 4

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l 5 g 8 " Prior to incarceration, I was working at the i D .I o

c 9 Comanche Peak nuclear power plant construction s i te

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10 under the name of f[-

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_M "I was arrested at the si te on 1

13 The very fact that a fugitive could obtain employr '

h . I4 at the-site caused questions to be asked about their

% E 15 security measures, especially when it was learned that  ;

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a my job gave me access to all areas of the cons truction I7 job, even the most confidential.

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C 18 "I can personally attest to and will be E i 19

{ supported by documented records of several faults in .

7 20

, the electrical phase of construction at Comanche Peak 1

as of i 22

"Having been employed as a journeyman i 23 d

g electrician by Brown & Root, Inc. during the latter part 24 of 1979 until at Comanche Peak, I l g- worked in the e le c t ri, cal ' termination crewdoing the P

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a ., . 3y 1 actual phsyical termination of the wiring and later on l

l 2 the ' checkout crew.' i

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[ 3 "This latter crew checks the wiring done 4 by the termination crew as to accuracy and proper

. 5 termination technique.

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6 "I was required to turn in a written and G

g 7 signed report on each cable checked by me. Some, if 8 not all of these faults can be verified and located a

a 9 through these reports.

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.h 10 "These faults include improper lug sizing 5 l ,~'

5 11 a nd a ct. u_.a. ]. _ phys i ca. .l. . al te r at. i_on.. o f lug s , splicing of ca b;

  • s ,2 7 . g d 12 patching of dam. aged cables, improper pin setting on j - ~ _ . _ - - .. ..

[ l  : 13 ' c. ano n ' type plu.gs, - faulty grounding, wiring not proper 1.

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F 14 p r o t.e.c t e d fr_o.m... a.b..r a s i o n , wire t. ens. ion too high, and

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g {= 15 improper protection of cables during thermal welding.

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" Lugs are a wiring device that attach.to f I7 the ends of wires or cab le s as an aid to termination 18 and.come in a' variety of styles and sizes. The ' ring I9

{ ~ type' used at Comanche Peak has a hole in its tongue 20 to accept screws from terminal blocks.

21 "These holes can be of varying size d e p'e n d e n -

22 upon what diameter or stud size screw the terminal block 23 .

is engineered for.

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' ' 24. I l " A s tud size sii is smaller in diameter in i

J 25 lIboth the threaded portion and th.e head of-the screw ,

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ALD' SON REPORTING COMPANY. INC. ~j

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, 1 than a stud size 8 or.10. The, lugs.for these, in order

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2 to fit the different terminal blocks and screw size

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i 3 and at the same time maintain the amperage capacity 4 they are rated for, are manuf actured with a different

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. 5 shaped tongue.

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$ 6 "For example, #12 copper wire has an amperagt k7  ;-

rating of 20 amps, and a lug designed to accept the wire mus t have the same or larger ampacity.

ld 8 d 9 "The rating of a lug is determined by the si:

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$ 10 and shape of the tongue. It must have a specific area E.

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[ -, d 12 its amapacity will be lessened.

~ f E YD .k 13 " A lug with its tongue designed for a #10 E

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g 14 screw has a hole in its tongue that is-larger than the VJ G -

j {c 15 hole in one designed for a #6 or #8 screw. The tongue j

. 16 is also wider and thinner. '

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u 17 "If a lug designed for a #10 screw is used a

{ 18 on a terminal' block designed for use with '!8 screws, E

I9 j -its. ampaci t'y is lessened because a #8 screw having a 20 smaller head size only applies pressure to the inner j 21 ring of the lug tongue causing a ' balling' effect.

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"It causes the outer edges of the tongue to

.-- 23 j curl outward, also less area under the screw head is )

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in contact with the terminal block because of its larger h

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G87A, I "There are many instances where.this has e 1

2. happened at Comanche Peak. 'Some of these are:

3 "1. Auxiliary B ui'l di ng Reactor #1---Lug

! 4 ' designed for an approximate screw size of 3/8" was

, 5 used oh a te rmina~1 'b lo ck d e s,i.g n e d for #10 screws.

X 6 "This was done with the aid of a steel washer f7 without the use of contact aid to prevent electrolysis 3 between the two dissimilar metals.

Y d 9 "2. Switchgear Room. Several lugs designed' i

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E 10 for 1/4" screws were used on terminal blocks designed

\. I 11 for #10 screws.

v 12 "These two instances stand out in my mind t 13 but there a r.e many mo-re in particular concerning the

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4 I4 circulating water system and fire control; however f h I $

$,1 5 15 without reference materials I cannot be more specific.

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I6 "However, there is at least ofte instance I e .

I7 can recall -- in fact for which I am at least partially b 18 -

_ responsible.

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{ "This is the termination of a 1000 MCM 20 cable with the use of a 750 MCM lug that was drilled 21 to accept the larger cable size. It was done after 22 protest by both myself and another 'l e, 23

,; journeyman working as my partner on the termination crew.

6 24 ,

E i " Drilling 'the lug affected its ampacity in h'

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! two manners: one, it reduced'the amount of metal to su

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. . - 187 1 conduct electricity and it was a bolt type mechanical

2 lug,. meaning that the lug was secured to..the cable b'y I

i 3 means of a bolt'or set screw in its body.

4 " Drilling the lug body had the effect of

, 5 lessening the nun.ber of threads to not more than three A

f6 or four for the set screw to be screwed into.

f7 "This was in a Motor Control Center in the 8 Circ'ulating Water system. Any failure in the circulating n o o 9 water system which provides coolant water for the reactor s .

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g 10 could possibly cause very serious problems.

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+ E 11 "At least one cable in the Annunciator b $

(: 12 Logic Panels in the control room for Reactor il was i  != 13 spliced in the annunciator panel itself and covered iLi - *

% 5 14 over with other wires to hide it from sight.

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{= 15 "The cable was too large (it was assumed) c

' 16 to terminate on the fuse block to which it was designated.

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17 "Upon examination of the fuse block I found ha E 18 the cable terminated to the wrong side of it. Had'it bee:

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19 1 terminated on the correct size the original cable 20 would have fit.

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"The splice was made on the orders of 1 22 l Frank Platt, the General Foreman over termination.

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"Also in the Annunciator panels there were j

} 24 p , several '

Canon' type plugs in which the pins were not I 15 j

seated. properly. ,

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487 1 "This can cause the connector pins to be 2 p'ushed back into the body of the plug causing the pin v .

, 3 or pins to have poor contact.

i i 4 "The Annunciator Logic Panels give ' tlue alarm

, 5 if.any part of the sys tem malf unctions . Any malfunction X

6 in the annunciator system can cause no. alarm to be given

$ 7 in any emergency to which the plant may be subject.

8 " Portions of the grounding system for the

% 0 N d 9 cable trays in the Spreader Room were damaged either by i

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an employee collecting copper or deliberate vandalism.

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" Strands were cut from the cables in several Uh _

12 places. The conductors were never cut entirely in two NT =

$ 13 but the removal of a strand of no matter what length

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! 34 reduces th e capacity of the conductor.

E 15 "In.the Control Center for Reactor #1 1 16 i literally hundreds and possibly thousands' of wires were..,

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I7 brought out of their metal raceway and pulled sharply '

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I over their sharp, unprotected edges, making them C

j 19 particularly vulnerable to abrasion and vibration.

20 "Every portion of every system in the plant 21 could be adversely affected by this faulty procedure.

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"At leas t one cable in the Switchgear Room

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c was damaged while being pulled. I ts insulation was .

4 24

{ , nicked in several places and patched with heat shrink f 25 .

y tubing instead of being replaced.

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i "In at least two instances wires or cables V

2 were too short by only*a matter'of inches for proper l 3 termination. These were pulled very tigh tly and 4 terminated.

, '. 5 "They were pulled' tight enough tihat there 5

is the possibility'of their being pulled from their f6 j 7 lugs.

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8l "One of these is in the Spreader Room; d

d 9 another is in a Motor Control Center in the Cir cul a ting z'

kE $ E 10 Water System.

r D  !.11 " ' Cad welding ' or thermal welding of the

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12 grounding conductors on the cable t. rays was done after /

'I E y 1 13 many cables had already been pulled through them.

[ 14 "I could not inspect for damage, bot the only E

E 15 protection used on the cables was an asbestos blanket E

j 16 that protected only the cables in the immediate vicinity t- 17 of the weld.

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,, "I am necessarily vague on which particular

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I9 j cabinet or panel or even system to which I refer due to 20 time elapsed and the large number of sys tems on which l

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I worked.

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"With reference materials the location of i 23 t.'n e s e faults could be,much more closely identified as 24

-n l could others not mentioned specifically herein.

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" Signed.this 14th , day of June 1982 at iNo coueiN.Y. INC.

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