PNO-II-97-066, on 971230,RCS Leakage Requiring Forced Unit Cooldown Occurred.No Radioactive Release Outside of Reactor Containment Facilities Due to Leakage.Licensee Informed States on Nc & Sc

PNO-II-97-066:on 971230,RCS Leakage Requiring Forced Unit Cooldown Occurred.No Radioactive Release Outside of Reactor Containment Facilities Due to Leakage.Licensee Informed States on Nc & Sc

ML20198B923
Person / Time
Site:	Catawba
Issue date:	12/31/1997
From:	Lesser M NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION II)
To:
References
PNO-II-97-066, PNO-II-97-66, NUDOCS 9801070128
Download: ML20198B923 (1)

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December 31, 1997

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RRIfIMIM'18Y WOTIFICATION OF EVENT..OR UNUSUAL OCCVRRENCE PNO-II-97 066_ f Thio preliminary notification constitutes EARLY notice of events of POSSIBLE $

cofoty'or public interest significance. The information is as initially.

roccived'without verification or evaluation, and is basically all that is  ;

known by Region II staff in Atlanta, Georgia on this date.

3 Empility Licensee amergency Classification i Duko Power Co. X Notification of Unusual Event i Catawba 1 Alert York, South Carolina Site Area Emergency i Docketss;50-413 General Emergency  ;

Not Applicable  ;

Subject:

REACTOR COOLANT SYSTEM (RCS) LEAKAGE REQUIRING FORCED UNIT I COOLDOWN- l l

On December 30, 1997, a Notice of Unusual Event (NOUE) was declared at  ;

7:22 p.m., due to reactor coolant system leakage in excess of limits, 10 l gallon per minute (gpm), which required an initiation of RCS cooldown. i

The plant w&s preparing to restart from a refueling outage with reactor -,

coolant system temperature and pressure at 557 degrees Fahrenheit and 2235 psig, respectively. The Technical Support Center and the Operations

' Support Center were staffed for support at 7:30 p.m., and a unit cooldown ,

was initiated at 7:50 p.m. The leakage had been detected when reactor ,

i coolant drain tank level, temperature, and pressure each experienced-step r increases in control room-indication. Pressurizer level was maintained I

with one charging pump and the leak rate was estimated to be 30 gallons r

per minute (gpm). As the plant-was cooled and depressurized, the leakrate decreased to about 8 gpm. At approximately_12:20 a.m., on Dacember 31, operators closed two partially open reactor coolant loop i drain valves which terminated the leak. The NOUE was exited at 1:15 a.m.

Thore was no radioactive release outside of the reactor containment

- 1 facilities due to this leakage. ,

Tho' licensee informed the States of North Carolina and South Carolina. ,

LThu NRC resident inspectors received initial notification of this event

=at 15:20.p.m.,- (EST) on December 30, 1997. Two resident inspectors

-(including the ' SRI) were onsite at the time of the event and the SRI remained onsite until after the NOUE was terminated.

This information is current as of 2:00 p.m., (EST) on December-31 1997.  !

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Contact:

Mark S. Lesser-(404)S62-4560- f3 IlpREP555 \S g107 28 971231I mo dg47-oa m ,

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