PNO-III-07-010, Unusual Event Declared at Fermi Due to Unexpected Piping Hole and Indentations
| ML072851131 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Fermi  |
| Issue date: | 10/12/2007 |
| From: | NRC/RGN-III |
| To: | |
| References | |
| PNO-III-07-010 | |
| Download: ML072851131 (1) | |
October 12, 2007 PRELIMINARY NOTIFICATION OF EVENT OR UNUSUAL OCCURRENCE - PNO-III-07-010 This preliminary notification constitutes EARLY notice of events of POSSIBLE safety or public interest significance. The information is as initially received without verification or evaluation, and is basically all that is known by the Region III staff on this date.
Facility Fermi Unit 2 Detroit Edison Company Newport, Michigan Docket: 50-341 License: NPF-43 Licensee Emergency Classification X Notification of Unusual Event Alert Site Area Emergency General Emergency Not Applicable
SUBJECT:
UNUSUAL EVENT DECLARED AT FERMI DUE TO UNEXPECTED PIPING HOLE AND INDENTATIONS DESCRIPTION:
On October 11, 2007, during a refueling outage, personnel at Fermi Unit 2 discovered a small unexpected hole and several indentations on steamline pipes. The small hole went all the way through the pipe; the indentations were of varying depths.
The plant was in a shutdown condition for refueling. Appropriate safety systems have been available. The plant has been and remains in a safe condition.
Under certain conditions, which are not present, these pipes are used to relieve reactor pressure. Even if they had to be used to relieve reactor pressure, there would have been no radiation released to the environment.
The utility is conducting an investigation into the cause of the damage to the pipes. Tampering was considered as one of the potential causes of the holes and indentations. This led the utility to declare an Unusual Event.
Based on interviews and reviews of maintenance activities, the utilitys preliminary conclusion is that the damage occurred during the removal of pipe insulation.
The NRC has been reviewing the licensees activities around the clock from the Region III Incident Response Center and through NRC resident and regional inspectors on-site.
The NRC continues to evaluate the utilitys findings and conclusions.
The State of Michigan, as well as appropriate local and federal agencies and officials have been informed.
The event was reported to the NRC Operations Center at 1:19 p.m. EDT on October 11, 2007.
This information is current as of 1:00 p.m. on Friday, October 12, 2007.
CONTACTS:
Eric Duncan Christine Lipa 630/829-9757 630/829-9619