PNO-IV-93-031, on 931027,pneumatic Seal Malfunctioned & Approx 16,000 Gallons of Refueling Water Spilled Into Refueling Cavity.Resident Inspectors Dispatched.State of Tx Notified

PNO-IV-93-031:on 931027,pneumatic Seal Malfunctioned & Approx 16,000 Gallons of Refueling Water Spilled Into Refueling Cavity.Resident Inspectors Dispatched.State of Tx Notified

ML20059D282
Person / Time
Site:	Comanche Peak
Issue date:	10/27/1993
From:	NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION IV)
To:
References
PNO-IV-93-031, PNO-IV-93-31, NUDOCS 9311020196
Download: ML20059D282 (2)

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October 27, 1993 PRELIMINARY NOTIFICATION OF EVENT OR UNUSUAL OCCURRENCE PN0-IV-93-031 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 IV staff on this date.

Facility Licensee Emergency Classification Texas Utilities Electric Co. Notification of Unusual Event Comanche Peak 1 Alert Glen Rose, Texas Site Area Emergency 1 Dockets: 50-445 General Emergency X Not Applicable l l

Subject:

REACTOR COOLANT SPILL INSIDE CONTAINMENT ,

Comanche Peak Steam Electric Station (CPSES), Unit 1, was in the 20th day of a planned 56-day refueling outage with the core fully offloaded to the spent fuel pool and the reactor vessel drained down to below the steam generator nozzles to facilitate eddy current testing of two generators and other outage work. The refueling upender area inside containment was flooded up to approximately 23 feet above the level of the reactor vessel flange. A removable gate, equipped with a pneumatic seal, provided the boundary between the refueling water in the upender area and the ,

refueling cavity. '

At approximately 9:50 a.m. (CDT) the pneumatic seal malfunctioned and approximately 16,000 gallons of refueling water spilled into the refueling cavity. The water then flowed into the vessel, through the coolant loops and out the open steam generator manways on Steam Generators 1 and 4, to the containment floor and sump. At 5 p.m. the water in the vessel was still above the steam generator manways and continued to drain. There has been no contaminated water released outside of containment. The seal malfunctioned when auxiliary, nonlicensed operators were in the process of switching from service air to a nitrogen bottle. At no time was the fuel stored in the spent fuel pool affected by ,

this event. I i

Two steam generators were undergoing eddy current testing at the time, 1 but no personnel were inside the generators. There were personnel in the steam generator compartments at the time, but no injuries or personnel contaminations occurred from this event. Several minor shoe contaminations did occur. It appears that eddy current testing equipment was damaged. I The licensee is processing the radioactive liquid waste via normal plant systems. The current contamination level of the reactor building floor is approximately 80,000 dpm/100 square centimeters, and decontamination efforts are in progress.

/ l The licensee has formed a task team to evaluate the incident, determine D 1 16 010059 ,

9311020196 931027 PDR I&E PND-IV-93-031 PDR

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a the root cause, and recommend corrective actions to management. ,

Region IV has dispatched an inspector to the site to augdent the resident  !

~ staff in.following up cn this event and assessing the licensee's-actions.  ;

The state of Texas will be informed.

Region IV has informed.NRR and the ED0's office. j This information has been confirmed with a licensee representative as of '

5:45 p.m., October 26, 1993.

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Contact:

L. A. Yandell i n (817)860-8182 l 4

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