PNO-IV-97-030, on 970520,Wolf Creek Station Reactor Manually Tripped,When body-to-bonnet Steam Leak Developed on High Pressure Turbine Extraction Steam Line Isolation Valve.No Personnel Injured as Result of Steam Leak

PNO-IV-97-030:on 970520,Wolf Creek Station Reactor Manually Tripped,When body-to-bonnet Steam Leak Developed on High Pressure Turbine Extraction Steam Line Isolation Valve.No Personnel Injured as Result of Steam Leak

ML20141F554
Person / Time
Site:	Wolf Creek
Issue date:	05/21/1997
From:	Johnson W, Ringwald J NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION IV)
To:
References
PNO-IV-97-030, PNO-IV-97-30, NUDOCS 9705210355
Download: ML20141F554 (2)

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., 9 May 21,1997 PRELIMINARY NOTIFICATION OF EVENT OR UNUSUAL OCCURRENCE PNO-IV-97-030 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 Region IV staff in Arlington, Texas on this date.

Facility Licensee Emeraency Classification Wolf Creek Nuclear Oper. Corp. Notification of Unusual Event Wolf Creek 1 Alert Burlington, Kansas Site Area Emergency Dockets: 50-482 General Emergency X Not Applicable

Subject:

MANUAL REACTOR TRIP DUE TO EXTRACTION STEAM LINE VALVE LEAK On May 20,1997, at approximately 2:57 p.m. (CDT), the Wolf Creek Generating Station reactor was manually tripped when a body-to-bonnet steam leak developed on a high pressure turbine extraction steam line isolation valve. Following identification of the leak, the licensee began reducing power from 100 percent and at approximately 90 percent power decided to manually trip the reactor, which tripped the main turbine and isolated steam to the affected valve. All systems responded normally to the trip and the plant was stabilized in Mode 3 (Hot Shutdown) at normal operating temperature and pressure.

No personnel were injured as a result of the steam leak, and an initial assessment identified only minor damage to a light fixture and a Gaitronics speaker. During the period the valve was leaking, intermittent grounds appeared on nonsafety-related 125 VDC buses in the turbine building due to the high moisture, steam environment present in portions of the building.

In addition to the repair of the extraction steam line isolation valve, the licensee planned to perform additional outage-related maintenance activities, including feedwater regulating bypass valve inspections and repair of a leak on another high pressure feedwater heater. The licensee's current schedule indicates a tentative date of May 23 for plant startup.

There has been limited news media interest in this event. The licensee plans to issue a press release.

The state of Kansas will be informed.

9705210355 970521 PDR I&E PNO-IV-97-030 PDR m

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, 'O PNO-IV-97-031 1 1

Region IV received notification of this occurrence by telephone from the Senior Resident inspector at approximately 3:15 p.m. (CDT). Region IV has informed the EDO's office, NRR, l

'and PAO. This information has been discussed with the licensee and was current as of 9:30 a.m. (CDT) on May 21,1997. l

Contact:

J. F. Ringwald W. D. Johnson (316)364-8653 (817)860-8148 i

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