ML20151L447
| ML20151L447 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 06/23/1994 |
| From: | Paul R, Ulie J NRC OFFICE OF INVESTIGATIONS (OI) |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20150F728 | List:
|
| References | |
| FOIA-97-180 NUDOCS 9708070006 | |
| Download: ML20151L447 (3) | |
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< f l- REPORT OF INTERVIEW l l WITH !
KEITH A. PETTY '
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On June 22, 1994, Keith A. PETTY, Principal Electrical Engineer, Stone ;
- & Webster (S&W) Engineering Corporation, 245 Summer Street, Boston, '
Massachusetts, was interviewed by NRC:01 Investigators Richard C. Paul !
j and Joseph M. Ulie'at S&W, Boston, Massachusetts.
i Mr. PETTY stated the following:
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He has been employed at S&W for 21 years. He was involved in the following I nuclear power plant projects which utilized Dow Corning 3-6548-Silicone RTV '
- Foam in the fire penetration seals: North Anna 1 & 2 (1975-79), Millstone 3 1 i
(1985-86), Shoreham (1976-78), River Bend, and Beaver Valley (dates of em-ployment not determined). PETTY identified the Shoreham and Millstone 3 projects as those with the most involvement utilizing the Dow Corning sili-l cone foam as fire penetration seals. i PETTY said he wrote the specification for the fire penetration seals at l Shoreham. He said the applicator of the foam at Shoreham, BISCO, utilized a 1
- low-density silicone foam for the fire penetration seals which they (BISCO) !
labeled SF-20. PETTY refused to state or " speculate" whether the material ;
in the BISCO seals was Dow Corning 3-6548, but went on to explain that a fire i
penetration seal consists of the seal material plus installation procedures
! and installation variables such as temperature control, flow rate of the j material, and installer skills.
i i In regards to witnessing fire qualification testing of fire penetration i seals, PETTY responded that he has witnessed testing for both the Shoreham and Millstone projects. PETTY went into an explanation of how they (S&W),
as the architect / engineer, developed configurations which would be required j to be tested. PETTY said for each project a matrix would be developed of penetrations / openings of all kinds. Each opening would be assigned a unique
( number and "a typical detail." When the bid was awarded for the penetration !
j seals, S&W would match the openings with configurations that had already been j 1 tested.by.the seal applicator. From this analysis a list of configurations l, that needed to be qualified by testing was developed. PETTY said he would l rely on the test reports provided by the installers and would look to see if
.j the report was written by a testing laboratory. PETTY commented that he had no reason to doubt the accuracy of a test report.
PETTY said he witnessed testing of fire penetration seals for the Shoreham !
and Millstone 3 project. Both sets of tests were conducted at the Portland Cement Association in Skokie, Illinois. PETTY said some tests were success-ful, some were not. For Shoreham, PETTY said the fire performance criteria was IEEE 634 and ANI requirements. PETTY refused to give an answer on what thickness of Dow Corning 3-6548 was needed for a three hour rating. PETTY i
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said the seal performance was dependent on equipment going through the pene-tration and other factors in addition to the seal material. PETTY said he was aware that BISCO had 9 and 12 inch fire penetration seals that did not utilize damming material, although he could not recall witnessing the qualification testing of these seals.
In regards to the testing of the Dow Corning 3-6548 fire penetration seals by Transco at Portland Cement Association (PCA) in March / April ~1985, PETTY said he witnessed these tests. PETTY did not recall how many tests were run or what the details of this testing was. PETTY was shown documentation provided to NRC:01 by Transco on the tests. PETTY said the documentation was incom-plete from a technical standpoint, and he could not rely on the information.
PETTY was asked why S&W decided to use Dow Corning 3-6548 for the fire pene-tration seals at Millstone when Transco had recommended a different product.
PETTY said he doesn't know exactly why. The Transco documentation. listed that five tests were conducted on 10" and 12" fire penetration seals; three tests run on seals that were not dammed failed, while the two dammed seals passed.
When asked to comment and explain the circumstances and events taking place in regards to these tests, PETTY commented that he needed to review PCA's test reports to make specific comments on the tests. PETTY did say that he could recall there were failures initially, and a second set of tests were run after redesign of the seals. PETTY said it would not have been unusual to increase the thickness of the silicone foam in the redesign, and damming may have been added.
PETTY commented that he was surprised by the failures in the initial tests for Millstone. He explained that the tests were not for R&D (research and development) and they (S&W) felt they know what the outcome of a test is go-ing to be, based on previous experience, before running a test. After the failures, PETTY said he requested that a Dow Corning representative witness the installation of the Dow Corning 3-6548 silicone foam before proceeding with the second set of tests. PETTY said he would not have gone ahead with the second set of tests if he had not received assurances from the Dow Corning rep on the adequacy of the installation of the silicone foam. PETTY said no failed configuration was installed in the plant.
PETTY said he had a conversation with the Dow Corning chief chemist, because the Millstone test failures were unexpected. Dow Corning told him (PETTY) that Dow Corning had shipped material that had been stored longer than normal, and this may have had some effect on the silicone foam. PETTY was told by the chemist that Dow Corning had changed their procedures in relation to the stor-age of foam material, and Dow Corning would look into the effects storage time had on the silicone foam.
PETTY was shown a Dow Corning memorandum dated Novem!;er 12, 1984, regarding the modification of the formulation of Dow Corning 3-6548. PETTY said he has never seen this memorandum and is unaware of the Dow Corning formulation change.
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This Report of Interview with PETTY was drafted on June 23-24, 1994, Richard C. Paul b ;
Senior Investigator Office of Investigations-Field Office, Region III W
W1 % Y ' ( .Y4 (Jo eph M. Ulie, Investigator fice of Investigations Field Office, Region III l
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