ML20236Y532

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Ack Receipt of Informing NRC of Steps Taken to Correct Violations Noted in Insp Rept 50-346/98-06 Issued on 980609.Corrective Actions Will Be Examined During Future Inspections
ML20236Y532
Person / Time
Site: Davis Besse Cleveland Electric icon.png
Issue date: 08/07/1998
From: Grobe J
NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION III)
To: Jeffery Wood
CENTERIOR ENERGY
References
50-346-98-06, 50-346-98-6, NUDOCS 9808120285
Download: ML20236Y532 (2)


See also: IR 05000346/1998006

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August 7, 1998

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Mr. John K. Wood

Vice President - Nuclear

Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station

Centerior Service Company

5501 North State Route 2

Oak Harbor, OH 43449

SUBJECT:

NOTICE OF VIOLATION (NRC INSPECTION REPORT NO. 50-346/98006(DRS))

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Dear Mr. Wood:

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This will acknowledge receipt of your letter dated July 24,1998, in response to our letter

dated June 9,1998, transmitting a violation of NRC requirements for the Davis-Besse Nuclear

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Power Station. The violation pertained to the untimely identification of an event which took place

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during maintenance work on the steam generator. We have reviewed your corrective actions and

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have no further questions at this time. These corrective actions will be examined during future

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Inspections.

Sincerely,

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Original /s/ J. A. Grobe

John A. Grobe, Director

Division of Reactor Safety

Docket No.: 50-346

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License No.: NPF-3

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cc:

J. Stetz, Senior Vice President - Nuclear

J. Lash, Plant Manager

J. Freels, Manager, Regulatory Affairs

M. O'Reilly, First Energy

S?. ate Liaison Officer, State of Ohio

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R. Owen, Ohio Department of Health

C. Glazer, State of Ohio Public

Utilities Commission

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Docket Number 50-346

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License Number NPF-3

Serial Number 1-1168

July 24, 1998

United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Document Control Desk

Washington, D.C. 20555-0001

Subject: Response to Inspection Report Number 50-346/98006 (DRS)

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Toledo Edison has received Inspection Repon Number IR 50-346/98006 (Toledo Edison Log

Number 1-3967) and the enclosed Notice of Violation issued on June 9,1998. The violation

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pertains to the untimely identification of an event which took place during maintenance work on

a steam generator. Toledo Edison provides the attached response to the subject violation. The

submission date of this reply was extended from July 9,1998 to July 24,1998, based on

discussions with the Region 111 Projects Branch Chief for the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station

(DBNPS) following the Alert on June 24,1998, at the DBNPS; and based on discussions with

the DBNPS Senior Resident inspector and the Region 111 Engineering Specialists Branch 1 Chief

on July 20,1998.

Should you have any questions or require additional information, please contact

Mr. James L. Freels, Manager - Regulatory Affairs, at (419) 321-8466.

Ve truly yours,

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cc: A. B. Beach, Regional Administrator, NRC Region 111

A. G. Ilansen, DB-1 NRC/NRR Project Manager

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S. J. Campbell, DB-1 Senior NRC Resident inspector

Utility Radiological Safety Board

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Docket Number 50-346

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License Number NPF-3

Serial Number 1-1168

Attachment

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Renly to a Notice of Violation (50-346/98007-01)

Alleced Violation

During an NRC inspection conducted from April 22 - May 7,1998, a violation of NRC

requirements was identified. In accordance with NUREG-1600, " General Statement of Policy

and Procedure for NRC Enforcement Actions," the violation is listed below:

10 CFR 50, Appendix B, Criterion XVI, " Corrective Action" requires that measures be

established to assure that conditions adverse to quality, such as failures, malfunctions,

- deficiencies, deviations, defective material and equipment, and nonconformances are prompt,1y

identified and corrected.

Contrary to the aoove, a condition adverse to quality was not promptly identified a nd corrected,

in that on April 15,1998, a Potential Condition Adverse to Quality Report (PCAQR) was not

initiated after an unauthorized wire brush, used to clean steam generator B primny manway stud

holes, failed resulting in the uncontrolled introduction of carbon steel wire bristies into the

primary coolant system. Further, on April 18,1998, and April 19,1998, a PCAQR was not

initiated when wire bristles were identified by video camera to be present on the steam generator

tube sheet and bottom bowl. In addition, on April 25,1998, eddy current examinations identified

a wire bristle wedged inside a steam generator tube. Although a PCAQR was initiated to address

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the effect of the metal on the fuel, control rod drive mechanisms, pump seals and other primary

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system components, until prompted by the inspector, no actions were initiated to address the

noncompliance with the applicable maintenance procedure which authorized only stainless steel

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or nylon brushes.

This is a Severity Level IV violation (Supplement 1).

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Response to Alleced Violation 50-346/98006-01

Reason for Violation

When the carbon steel brush failed during use on April 14,1998, it was not realized by the

worker that the wrong type of brush had been used. A carbon steel brush has the same general

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appearance as a stainless steel brush, and unless a side-by-side comparison is performed, the

material of the brush is not obvious. At one point in time, carbon steel brushes were exclusively

used to clean the carbon steel stud holes of the steam generators et Davis-Besse. A change was

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made to the applicable procedure to only use stainless steel or nylon brushes because they are

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more durable. It appears that all carbon steel brushes were not removed from the steam generator

tool boxes after their use was discontinued.

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Docket Number 50-346

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License Number NPF-3

Serial Number 1-1168

Attachment

Page 2

It is common knowledge of the Framatome Technology, Inc. (FTI) personnel involved in this

work that carbon steel brushes may fail in the manner observed and should not be used. The

steam generator B manway and diaphragm were still in place at the time of the brush failure,

which prevented any wire bristles from entering the steam generator at that time. The worker

believed the failed brush that was taken from the steam generator tool box was of the proper

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material. Another brush, this one stainless steel, was retrieved from the same tool box, and work

was continued after cleaning up the bristles from the failed brush. Since steam generator B was

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not open at the time of the brush failure, no concerns about foreign material entering the steam

generator existed. No procedural violation was known to have existed at this time. Per the FTl

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Quality Assurance (QA) Plan in place for the eleventh refueling outage, no documentation of the

failed tool was required.

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It is believed that the wire bristles were transponed into steam generator B via the filter hose that

was positioned under the stud hole to collect the debris generated during cleaning. The same

filter hose was used to draw any debris out of the stud hole. Once the manway and diaphragm

were removed, a shield door was installed, and the same filter hose was connected to the shield

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door to ventilate the steam generator. If any of the wire bristles remained in the filter hose after

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the brush failed, they could have entered the steam generator once the hose was connected to the

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shield door. Any loose wire bristles remaining on the work platform could also have been

introduced into steam generator B during installation of the remotely-operated eddy current

equipment.

When the wire bristles were identified by video camera to be present on the steam generator B

tube sheet on April 18,1998, they were entered into the FTI Open Systems Log for Steam

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Generator Activities as required by the FTI QA Plan to document the as found condition. This

entry ensured the wire bristles would be removed prior to closcout of the steam generator in

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accordance with the FTI Field Procedure for Steam Generator Closcout. No further actions were

required at this time in accordance with the FTl QA Plan. Toledo Edison personnel were

infonned of the presence of the wire bristles in steam generator B on April 21,1998. A plan was

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developed to obtain a sample of these wire bristles from the steam generator to identify how long

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the bristles had been in the reactor coolant system, while maintaining personnel dose as low as

reasonable achievable. On April 23,1998, a sar.iple of the wire bristles was obtained and

delivered to Radiation Protection personnel. On April 25,1998, after determination that the wire

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bristles had not been in the steam generator during reactor operation, meaning they were

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introduced dur' g the current refueling outage, Potential Condition Adverse to Quality Report

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(PCAQR) 1998-0781 was initiated by Toledo Edison personnel to ensure all bristles were

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removed from the steam generator. The m erial of the wire bristles was not known at this time.

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Later that same day, eddy current examinations identified a tube in steam generator B was

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obstructed, and FTl personnel initiated Nonconformance Report (NCR)98-200 as required by

the FTI QA Plan. The tube obstruction was pushed into the lower bowl of the steam generator,

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where it was discovered that this obstruction was a wire bristle similar to those discovered on the

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Docket Number 50-346

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License Number NPF-3

Serial Number 1-1168

Attachment

Page 3

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upper steam generator tube sheet. Another wire bristle was also found in the lower bowl of the B

steam generator and removed. The material of the wire bristle was then evaluated to determine

the effects of any potentially undiscovered bristles on the Reactor Coolant System. When it was

determined that the wire bristle was made of carbon steel, the origination of the wire bristles was

traced to the wire brush that had failed during cleaning of the steam generator stud holes. At this

time it was not recognized that the use of a carbon steel brush constituted a procedural violation.

The fact that a procedural violation had occurred in the use of a carbon steel brush on April 14,

1998, was not realized until FTI personnel were interviewed by Toledo Edison personnel and the

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NRC inspector on May 6,1998.

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Corrective Stens Taken and Results Achieved

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When the wire bristles were identified by video camera to be present on steam generator B tube

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sheet on April 18,1998, they were entered into the FTI Open Systems Log for Steam Generator

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Activities. After determining the wire bristles had been introduced during the current refueling

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outage, PCAQR 1998-0781 was initiated on April 25,1998. Upon discovery of a wire bristle

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inside a steam generator B tube and determination that the wire bristle was from a carbon steel

wire brush, all steam generator tool boxes were inspected. The four carbon steel brushes

discovered in the manway tool box were discarded based on the common knowledge that carbon

steel brushes should not be used due to their likelihood of failure. All steam generator activities

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involving the use of wire brushes had been completed by this time, so no fmther actions were

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necessary to ensure carbon steel brushes were not used.

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A thorough video inspection of steam generator B was performed to locate all potential wire

bristles in addition to the 100 percent eddy current examination cf the steam generator. All

identified wire bristles were removed from the upper bowl of steam generator B. The one wire

bristle discovered in the tubes of steam generator 11 was removed, and the lower bowl was

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thoroughly vacuumed to remove all wire bristles. These actions were completed on

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May 2,1998.

On May 6,1998, after learning that a procedural violation had occurred in the use of a carbon

steel wire brush, NCR 98-218 was initiated by FTl personnel. This NCR was also tracked along

with NCR 98-0200 under PCAQR 98-0781, which was revised to address the procedural

noncompliance.

Corrective Ste as Taken to Avoid Further Violations

The FTI procedure used for steam generator manway removal and installation will be clarified to

specifically delineate that only stainless steel or nylon brushes shall be used for stud hole

maintenance. Additionally, the procedure will be revised to reflect that if a brush to be used for

this task is not marked, or there is no reasonable assurance a brush is of the proper material, the

brush will be discarded. This procedure will be revised prior to the next refueling outage, which

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Docket Number 50-346

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License Number NPF-3

Serial Number 1-1168

Attaciunent

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is currently scheduled for April,2000. Training on the revised procedure and proper brush

material will be performed during the next refueling outage for the workers specifically involved

in steam generator work. This training will reinforce that the use of the proper brush material is

a procedural requirement.

Based upon the described sequence of events, Toledo Edison believes that reasonable corrective

actions were taken in accordance with governing procedures, based upon the circumstances and

information available. Therefore, no corrective steps are necessary in relation to the corrective

action process at the DBNPS.

Date When Full Compliance will be Achieved

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Full compliance was achieved on May 6,1998, when NCR 98-218 was initiated by FTI

personnel to document the procedural noncompliance of using a wire brush of the wrong material

to clean the steam generator stud holes. This NCR and NCR 98-200, which was initiated on

April 25,1998, to document the concern of the wire bristles inside the steam generator, are being

tracked by PCAQR 1998-0781, which was also initiated on April 25,1998.

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