ML20236C123

Memorandum to Aslab.* Record on Issue of Environ Qualification of RG58 Cable Will Not Be Reopened Because Dimensional Differences Between RG58 & RG59 Cables of Little importance.RG59 Results Can Qualify.Served on 871019

ML20236C123
Person / Time
Site:	Seabrook
Issue date:	10/16/1987
From:	Harbour J, Luebke E, Wolfe S Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel
To:
References
CON-#487-4648 88-588-01-OLR, 88-588-1-OLR, ALAB-875, LBP-87-10, OL-1-R, NUDOCS 8710270024
Download: ML20236C123 (4)

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000KETED i UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ) I NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION . . .

1rl GCT 19 20:15 -

ATOMIC SAFETY AND LICENSING BOARD I

Before Administrative Judges:

Sheldon J. . Wolfe, Chainnan gj@i l'

'I Emeth A. Luebke l Jerry Harbour ',

J SERVED OCT 191987 l Docket Nos. 50-443-OL-1-R i In the Matter of 50-444-0L-1-R ]

PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY (On-Site Emergency Planning 0F NEW HAMPSHIRE, et al. and Safety Issues)

(ASLBPNo. 88-558-01-OLR)

(Seabrook Station, Units 1 and 2)

October 16, 1987 MEMORANDUM TO THE APPEAL BOARD 4

1. BACKGROUND On October 1, 1987, the Appeal Board issued a decisionI which affirmed in part and reversed and remanded in part this Board's partial initial decision of March 25, 1987.2 With respect to one component in issue arising out of New England Coalition on Nuclear Pollution's (NECNP) Contention I.B.2, the Appeal Board'noted that, while the cable vendor's letter in Applicants' environmental qualification files (EQF) reflected that the RG59 and RG58 cables have "similar construction I ALAB-875, 26 NRC ,

2 LBP-87-10, 25 NRC 177.

8710270024 871016 Y gDR ADOCK 05000443 So PDR

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details" with the consequence that the vendor was " confident" that the RG58 cable "would have been approved" had it been tested, it agreed with NECNP that the vendor's letter was insufficient to establish that the RG58 cable was environmentally qualified. The Appeal Board stated that it so agreed because NECNP Exhibit 4 and the Standard Handbook for Electrical Engineers evidence that while the RG58 and RG59 cables contain the same materials, there are significant differences in the dimensions of their conductors and their insulation. Concluding that there was no apparent basis for this Board's conclusion that the environmental qualification of the RG58 cable was " adequately documented" in the Applicants' EQF, the Appeal Board remanded this one aspect or component to us, and ordered that "If unable to point to anything in the existing record that establishes that the differences in the two cables are unimportant for present purposes, the Board is to reopen the record for further exploration of the question whether the RG59 cable test results can serve as the foundation for the ,

environmental qualification of the RG58 cable."

II. DISCUSSION I

It is our understanding that the dimensions of the copper conductors (#21AWGstrandedwireincableRG58,and#24AWGstranded wire in cable RG59) have little, if any, significance to environmental qualification of the cables, except that the dimensions reflect the different applications for which the cables are intended. We could find

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'no' requirements in' the environmental qualification acceptance criteria, or in the environmental qualification tests themselves, that depended )

upon the . diameter or cross-sectional area .of the conductors.

- Further, in addition to the undisputed similarity in materials and ,

construction of the two cables, different operating requirements of the cables, specifically the differing requirements for insulation resistance (IR), provide a basis for justifying the similarity of the two, cables whose primary insulation thickness differs by a factor of approximately 1.5. That is, cable RG59 with an insulation thickness of 61 mils (.061") is specified to have an IR operating requirement of '

10,000 Megohms 91000 -ft., and cable RG58 with an insulation thickness-of 40 mils (.040") is specified to have' an IR operating requirement of'

'1000 Megohms 9 1000 ft. [1 Megohm = 1 E +06 or 1,000,000 chms]. (NECNP

.i Ex. 4, EQF No. 113-19-01; Ref. 1 at 4-5 (of 10), Al-A2; Ref. 2 at 2, 1 10.) We conclude that the predicted performance of the smaller RG58  !

cable under conditions of environmental qualification testing would be proportional to the lower required operating resistance of its insulation.

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In accordance with acceptance criteria, cable RG59 was tested to 1 I

withstand an alternating current (ac) high-potential test at 80 volts 1

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(v) per mil of insulation thickness, at the end of the environmental  !

testing. (I,d. , Ref. 2, at 1, 2,10,13-15. ) Thus, the environmental qualification high-potential-withstand acceptance criteria and test results are specified-in resistance proportional to the insulation thickness, not in respect to the absolute thickness of the insulation.

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'l Because of this proportionality, cable RG58, had it been tested, could be expected to yield results similar to those obtained for cable RG59, ]

4 which were acceptable. j i

Accordingly, we have determined not to reopen the record on the issue of the environmental qualification of RG58 cable because, as discussed supra, the pertinent EQF shows that the dimensional differences between the RG58 and the RG59 cables are of such little .

importance that the test results for the RG59 cable can serve to qualify I

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~the untested RG58 cable.- j THE ATOMIC SAFETY AND-LICENSING BOARD q Jerry Harbour i ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE Enuneth A. Luebke i i

ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE M"d WHk '{

She' don J. Giblfe, Chairman ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE Dated at Bethesda, Maryland this_16th day of October, 1987. f l

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