ML20212D002

Affidavit of Wj Lazarus.* Addresses Operability,Reliability & Adequacy of Coverage for Sirens That Are Part of Plant Emergency Alert & Notification Sys Located in Town of East Kingston,Nh.Certificate of Svc Encl

ML20212D002
Person / Time
Site:	Seabrook
Issue date:	02/26/1987
From:	Lazarus W NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION I)
To:
Shared Package
ML20212C911	List: ML20212C907 ML20212D002
References
0L-1, L-1, NUDOCS 8703040040
Download: ML20212D002 (10)

Text

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UNITED STA.TEF OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Dr. TORE THE ATOMIC SAFETY A!!D LICENSING EOARD In the P"atter of )

) Docket Nos. 50-443 OL-01 PilDLIC SERVICE COMPANY OT ) 50-444 OL-01 FEW HAMPSITIRE, el al. ) On-site Emergency Planning

) and Safety Issues (Scabrook Station, Units 1 and 2 )

AFFIDAVIT OF WILLIAPf J. LAZARUS I, William J. Lazarus, do depose and say:

1. I am the Chief, Emer[rency Pre redness Section, United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Region I. Prior to this assignment, I h6ve served ne a Project Inspector, Fenior Resident Inspector, Project Engineer, and Senior Emergency Preparedness Specitlist within !!RC, Region I. Prior to joining the NRC in 1975. I served ten years in the U. S. Navy as a commissioned !!ne officer in the submarine service. i hold a Dachelor of Science Degree in EngineerinF from the U. S. Naval Academy.

2. The purposo of this affidavit is to address the operability, I

reliabi!!ty and the adecuacy of coverage for thoso sirens that are part of the Seabrook emergency alert and notification system that are located in ,

the town of East Kingston, New llampshire.

0703040040 070226 PDH ADOCK 05000443 g PDH

3. On February 11, 1987, I. was informed of a contention filed by the Seacoast Anti-Pollution League, (SAPL), Contention 38, regarding the, operability i and reliability of the alert and notification cirens for the Seabrook emergency planning zone (EPZ), following malfunctions which )

came to light as a result of a recent test of the sirens in the town of East I:ingston, Few Hampshire.

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4. In the course of conducting an inspection at Feabrook on February 12 cnd 13,1987, on mattere related to emergency preparedness, but unreinted to SAPL Contention 3P, I met with Seabrook personnel to determino the cause of the malfunctions of the I:ast Kingston sirens and the corrective actions that Seabrook v'es [aking to prevent recurrence of the malfurictions.

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5. Based on my review of the incident, it is my underutanding thrit:

- A test of the four sirens in East Kingston, New Ilampshire was conducted on January 31, 1087, at the request of the town of j East Kingston. The test was conducted in order for the town j to determine the aden,uacy of sound coverage of the 4 East I:frgston strens, in case the town over needed to activate their strens , separately frora the completd Seabrook alert and notification system, in case of a non-nuclear criergency. It was recognized at the time that the four strens in East Kingston i

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would probably not be . sufficient to alert all of East Kingston since part of East Kingston depended 'upon neighboring sirens.,

t The test was conducted by the town of East Kingston, and was not intended to be a test of the entire Seabrook alert and notification system.

Decause of the nature of the test, it was conducted by this tew n without an approved Scabrook test procedure. As a result, the location of the observers staticned to listen for the sirens wes not controlled in a mennor to ensure that they were located in an area intended tofte covered solely by the East Kingston sirens in the event of activation of the complete alert and notification syste'm. Part of the town of East Kingston is covered by sirens in neighboring towns. It was never the intent to cover all of Eest Kingston with the 4 sirens located within its borders.

f *arcover, the sirens were apparently not activated long enough for the test to be valid. Specifically, a complete rotation of a stren requires approximately 30 seconds, and during the test strens were activated for approximately 15 seconds. Consequently, strens were not activated long enough tu cover all the intended arca and could very well have been pointed away from the observer durin[r the test.

Severe, but not unexpected weather conditions existed just prior to the siren testing. A heavy wet snow with driving, tyind and subsequently falling temperatures had occurred the night before the test. The sirens were installed with the sirens fecing north, allowing the snow and ice to build up on the siren grates and throats. The snow also accumulated on the plates attached to the bases of the activation antannae (these plates terve as a " ground plane" which is necessary for the efficient transmission of the radio activation signal).

During the test with activation being triggered by the state antenna, 3 out of 4 sirens fal)ed to activate; from the East i

Kingston antenna, 1 of 4 failed to activate. After removal of the snow from the activation antennae, activation was .tormal from both activation points. Then activated, a lower than expected acoustic level from the strens was noted by the observers; however, the exact decibel level is unknown. As there is no volume control on the sirens , they apparently functioned as designed; however, due to snow and ice build-up the acoustic level to the observers in the field was not as unticipated.

6. Because of these problems, Seabrook has indicated that they have taken or will be taking the following actions:

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Any tests conducted in the future will be conducted in accordance with a procedure which ' has been reviewed for .

adequacy to assure the validity of the test results.

Specifically, the purpose of this procedure, the location of the observers, and the planned duration for sounding the sirens, will be specified.

The sirens have been reoriented so as to be pointed in a southerly direction when not in use, as this is out of the prevailing winds for this area, thereby substantially lessening the likelihood of snow or ice being forced into the siren cones er building up on the grates in aj manner which could attenuate the sound from the sirens.

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The sirens are being coated with an application of an anti-icing product which wf!! further lessen the likelihood of ice building-up during storms.

The activation antennae have. been modified by replacement of the flat horizontal plate " ground planes" with one consisting of radial wires, which will climinate the problem of snow or ice build-up on the " ground plane" plates. The modified antennae have been tested satisfactorily. :

7. The above corrective action is pinnned for all strens and hetivation entennae within the Senbrook alert and notification system.

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Eased upon the ' initial unrer.tajntf P.i pf the ' test of the East' Kingstor*fj[. ; . - , l strens arid tha correct.tvo action taken as a result of the test, the staff d#..f. '":~ 'i e

?. .a ' . .a ieritrir.g no furt.her corr.ective action at this tisie. -

W 4t.ove statements are true and enrrect to the best of my knowledge -

anj belief.

!"' - . _Af u

William J. Lazarus .

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. .g Sub ,ce-ibed and worn tu berure see ,

thisfith day of F A ,, 1987

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'SNPC UNITED ST-ATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 87 FEB 30 P1 :41 BEFORE TITE ATOMIC SAFETY AND LICENSING BOARD ( ,m, g ;t BP ih.-

In the Matter of )

) Docket Nos.50-443 OL-01 PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY OF ) 50-444 OL-01 NEW IIAMPSHIRE, et al. ) On-site Emergency Planning

) and Safety Issues (Seabrook Station, Units 1 and 2 )

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that copies of "NRC STAFF RESPONSE TO SAPL'S LATI:-FILED CONTENTION AND MOTION TO REOPEN THE RECORD" and " AFFIDAVIT OF WILLIAM J. LAZARUS" in the above-captioned proceeding have been served on the following by deposit in the United States mail, first class or, as indicateft by an asterisk, by deposit in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's infernal mail system, this 26th day of February,1987.

Sheldon J. Wolfe, Esq. , Chairman

• Dr. Emmeth A. Luebke Administrative Judge Administrative Judge Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Atomic Safety and Licensing Board U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555 Washington, DC 20555 Dr. Jerry Harbour Ms. Carol Sneider, Esq.

Administrative Judge Assistant Attorney General Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Office of the Attorney General U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission One Ashburton Place,19th Floor Washington, DC 20555 Boston, MA 02108 Beverly liollingworth Richard A. Hampe Esq.

209 Winnacunnet Road New Ilampshire Civil Defense Agency IInmpton, NH 03842 107 Pleasant Street Concord, NH 03301 Sandra Gavutis, Chairman Calvin A' Canney, City Manager Board of Selectmen City Hall RFD 1 Box 1154 126 Daniel Street Kensington, NH 03827 Portsmouth, NH 03801 e

l Stephen E. Merrill . Paul McEachern, Esq -

Attorney General Matthew T. Brock, Esq.

George Dana Bisbee Shaines & McEachern ,

Assistant Attorney General 25 Maplewood Avenue Office of the Attorney General P.O. Box 360 l 25 Capitol Street Portsmouth, NH 03801 Concord, Pl! 03301 Roberta C. Pevear Angie Machiros, Chairman State Representative Board of Selectmen Town of Hampton Falls 25 High Road Drinkwater Road Newbury, MA 09150 Hampton Falls, NH 03844 Allen Lampert Mr. Robert J. Harrison Civil Defense Director President and Chief Executive Officer Town of Brentwood Public Service Co. of New Hampshire 20 Franklin Street P.O. Box 330 Exeter, NH 03833 Manchester, MH 03105 Charles P. Graham, Esq. Robert A. Backus, Esq.

McKay, Murphy and Graham Backus, Pfeyer & Solomon 100 Main Street 116 Lowell Street Amesbury, MA 01913 j Manchester, FII 03106 Diane Curran, Esq. Philip Ahren, Esq.

Harmon & Weiss Assistant Attorney General 2001 S Street, NW Office of the Attorney General Suite 430 State llouse Station #6 Washington, DC 20009 Augusta, PfE 04333 Edward A. Thomas Thomas G. Dignan Jr. , Esq.

Federal Emergency Management Agency Ropes & Gray 442 J.W. McCormack (POCH) 225 Franklin Street Boston, MA 02109 Boston, MA 02110 II.J. Flynn, Esq. William Armstrong Assistant General Counsel Civil Defense Director Federal Emcrgency Management Agency Town of Exeter 500 C Street, SV 10 Front Street Washington, DC 20472 Exeter, NII 03833 Atomic Safety and Licensing Atomic Safety and Licensing Appeal Panel

• Doard' l U.S. Nuc! car Regulatory Commission U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555 Washington, DC 20555

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Jane Doughty . Docketing and Service Section*

Seacoast Anti-Pollution League Office of the Secretary 5 Market Street U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commiasjon Portsmouth, NH 03801 Washington, DC 20555 i

IVaynard L. . Young, Chairman William S. Lord Board of Selectmen Board of Selectmen 10 Central Road Town Hall - Friend Street South Hampton, NH 03787 Ameabury, MA 01913 Mich6el Santosuosso, Cliairman Peter J. Matthewa, Mayor Board of Selectmen City Hall South Hampton, NH 03287 Newburyport, MN 09150 Mr. Robert Carrigg, Chairman Judith 11. Misner, Esq.

Board of Selectmen Silverglate, Gertner, Baker Town Office Fine and Good Atlantic Avenue 88 Broad Street North flampton, NH 03862 Boston, PfA 02110 R. K. Gad III, Et,q. Mrs. Anne E. Goodman, Chairman Ropes a Gray Board of Selectmen 225 Franklin Street ,13-15 Newmarket Road Hoston, MN 02110 8 Durham, NH 03824 Gary W. Holmes, Esq.

Holmes & Ellia 47 Winnacunnet Road flampton, Mll 03842

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Robert G. Perlis Counsel for NRC Staff a

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!!a md upon ti.e initial u,n ertaintim of the test of the East Kingston

• f r us dnd the cor,ective action ttkJu as a result 6 a p'irir 9 e o f urt.hne cor rectl'fe n ti of the test, the staff is on at this titre.

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s t.i t ene ri ts a re troe aai cor rer,t

.eI belies'. to thi host of e.y knowledge

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