ML20236S936

Forwards Monthly Status Rept for Oct 1987 Re Turbine Bldg Fire That Occurred During Rept Period.Monthly Repts Will Continue Until Plant Startup

ML20236S936
Person / Time
Site:	Fort Saint Vrain
Issue date:	11/17/1987
From:	Martin R NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION IV)
To:	Murley T Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
References
NUDOCS 8711300192
Download: ML20236S936 (4)

Text

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Nmf 171987 h

MEMORANDUM FOR: T. E. Murley, Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

(, FROM: ' Robert D. ' Martin, Regional Administrator, Region-IV l

SUBJECT:

- PERIODIC STATUS. REPORTS ON SELECTED FACIt.ITIES.

l Enclosed is the. monthly status report for Fort St. Vrain. This report .

7 addresses the turbine building fire that occurred during this report period..

, We will continue a monthly report until the plant is ready to begin startup. )

. At .that time,. the reporting frequency' will be reevaluated.

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Robert D. Martin Regional Administrator

Attachment:

As stated-I cc:'

W. Russell. RA, RI J. Grace, RA, RII A. Davis, RA, RIII J. Martin, RA, RV' . j J. Taylor, DEDRO, ED0

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'J. Keppler, 0SP I

Public. Service Company of Colorado

. ATTN

Robert 0. Williams, Jr. .

Vice President, Nuclear Operations'

-2420 W.-26th Avenue, Suite 15c Denver, Colorado 80211 Fort St. Vrain Nuclear Station Manager, Nuclear Production Division 16805 WCR 191 Plattevil'ie Colorado 80651-Fort St. Vrain Nuclear Station kkU$pbh $ 000 67

.P. Tomlinson, Manager, Quality F PDR Assurance Division (sameaddress)

Colorado Radiation Control Program Director $ $ 8I '

Colorado Public Utilities Commission DRP/PE DRP/B D:DR RA YU' RMullikin/cjg TFWesterman LJCal an RD artin p /d/87  :(/ q/87 11 f /16/87 3 /[l/87 i

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. Memo for T. E. -Murley l

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J. Calvo, NRR DMB(IE01)

-K. Heitner, NRR . RRI

.T. Martin, ED0 DRSS J. Partlow, NRR G. Sandborn

.L. Callan, RIV.' DRS ,

'A. Beach,.RIV. RIV File T. Westerman, RIV R. Mullikin, RIV ,

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ATTACHMENT Fort St. Vrain Status Report for the period October 1-31, 1987

1. Plant Status On October 31, 1987, Fort St. Vrain was in cold shutdown.

2. Facilities Operations Summary On October 2,1987, the reactor was at 27 percent power and the plant was being prepared to place the turbine on line. The reactor operator (RO),

at 11:50 p.m. (MDT), placed the Loop 2 Main Steam Bypass Control in " auto" to close the Loop 2 Main Steam Bypass Valve (HV-2292) and observed a drop in hydraulic pressure. An equipment operator (E0) was dispatched to investigate the observed pressure drop. At 11:59 p.m., the E0 found a hydraulic leak and a small fire in the area of HV-2292. The fire was extinguished, but while the E0 was reporting the situation to the control room, the fire reignited. At 12:15 a.m. on October 3, the fire was extinguished by the site fire brigade. An ALERT was declared at 12:32 a.m.

Equipment damaged in the fire included instruments, hydraulic operators, snubbers, hangers, manual valves, safety valves, electrically operated valves, pneumatically operated valves, fire detectors, the microwave telephone link to the corporate office, cable trays, conduits, cables, and structural materials. As a result of the fire, the licensee has initiated a program to repair and/or replace damaged equipment.

Tne thermal relief valve designed to compensate for hydraulic oil thermal expansion, which is associated with HV-2292 was disassembled by the licensee and found to be de' graded to the point where it could not reseat. The orifice designed to reduce hydraulic oil flow was also missing. The licensee concluded that the missing orifice plus the failure of the relief valve to reseat accounted for the abnormal oil expulsion which occurred during the valve stroking of HV-2292. The excess hydraulic oil, which exceeded the drain capacity, overflowed onto the hot reheat relief valve surfaces and initiated the fire.

Control Room Smoke Ingress During the fire, smoke entered the control room from around the doors.

The licensee stated that the concentration of smoke was an eye irritant.

Since there were three masks for seven men, the breathing air system was used sporadically. Because of the smoke in the control room, the licensee i concluded that the pressure differential control sensing line does not l provide adequate differential pressure control between the turbine building and the control room.

Circulator "C" Trip s

At 6:22 a.m. on October 3 the Circulator "C" tripped on fixed high speed.

The cause is still under investigation, but the licensee has postulated l

that due to the fire, a steam spike caused by the loss of Main Steam i

Bypass oversped Circulator "C".

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NRC Augmented Inspection Team (AIT)

The AIT, comprised of Region IV and NRR personnel, conducted an onsite I inspection during the period October' 3-6, 1987, to assess the cause and effect of the turbine building fire. The results of this inspection are documented in NRC Inspection Report 50-267/87-26. J l

Meeting

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On October 30, 1987, the licensee met with NRC personnel at NRC headquarters to present their preliminary report on the impact of the October 2,1987 fire. An NRC team inspection is planned for the week of November 16, 1987, to assess the licensee's progress and plans for i restart. .1 S

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