Press Release-IV-03-021, NRC to Conduct Special Inspection at South Texas Project Unit 1

Press Release-IV-03-021: NRC to Conduct Special Inspection at South Texas Project Unit 1

ML031250603
Person / Time
Site:	South Texas
Issue date:	05/05/2003
From:	Victor Dricks Office of Public Affairs Region IV
To:
Category:Press Release
References
Press Release-IV-03-021
Download: ML031250603 (2)

Text

NRC NEWS U. S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Region IV 611 Ryan Plaza Drive - Suite 400 Arlington, TX 76011-4005 No. IV-03-021 May 5, 2003

Contact:

Victor Dricks E-Mail: opa4@nrc.gov Phone: 817-860-8128 NRC TO CONDUCT SPECIAL INSPECTION AT SOUTH TEXAS PROJECT UNIT 1 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has begun a Special Inspection into potential leakage in the bottom of the reactor vessel at the South Texas Project nuclear power plant, Unit

1. The facility, which has two operating reactors, is located near Bay City, Texas.

STP Nuclear Operating Company officials notified the NRC on April 13 that they identified potential leak indications at the bottom of Unit 1s reactor vessel during a visual inspection. Small deposits of boron crystals were identified at two bottom mounted instrumentation penetrations, indicating a possible leak of reactor coolant. The water that circulates through a pressurized water reactor to cool the nuclear fuel contains a low concentration of boric acid. This borated water can potentially leak through flanges, pump and valve seals, and other parts of the reactor cooling system and cause corrosion. STP Unit 1 has been shut down since March 25 for a refueling outage.

The NRCs Special Inspection team, comprised of metallurgical and engineering specialists, will monitor the utilitys investigation and evaluation of the potential leaks. The inspection is being conducted to better understand the circumstances surrounding the boron crystal deposits and to evaluate the licensees corrective action plans.

Following completion of the inspection, the NRC will hold a meeting in the plant vicinity to discuss the inspection findings. The meeting will be open to public observation.

The inspection report, issued about four weeks after the inspection, will be available on the agency's web site and through its Electronic Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov as an

Agencywide Document Access and Management System (ADAMS) document. Help in using ADAMS is available through the NRC Public Document Room at 301/415-4737 or 800/397-4209.