Information Notice 1991-09, Counterfeiting of Crane Valves

Counterfeiting of Crane Valves

ML072500391
Person / Time
Site:	Palo Verde, River Bend, Diablo Canyon, South Texas, San Onofre, Comanche Peak
Issue date:	09/25/2007
Revision:	0
From:	Case M J NRC/NRR/ADRA/DPR
To:
References
IN-91-009, Rev. 1
Download: ML072500391 (5)

UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION WASHINGTON, September 25, 2007

NRC INFORMATION NOTICE 1991-09, REV. 1: COUNTERFEITING OF CRANE VALVES

ADDRESSEES

All holders of operating licenses or construction permits for nuclear power reactor

PURPOSE

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is re-issuing this information notice (IN) to correct IN 1991-09, "Counterfeiting of Crane Valves," which was issued on February 5, 1991, to alert licensees to potential problems with counterfeit valve This revision supersedes the original IN in its entiret It is expected that recipients will review this information for applicability to their facilities and consider action, as appropriate, to avoid similar problem However, suggestions contained in this IN do not constitute NRC requirements; therefore, no specific action or written response is require

DESCRIPTION OF CIRCUMSTANCES

As a result of information obtained from officials of the U.S. Customs office, and as documented in the Settlement Agreements resulting from a civil suit brought by the Crane Company and settled out of court in October 1987, it was determined that counterfeit Crane Company (Crane)

valves were sold to an Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) chemical plant near Houston, Texa The NRC was informed that ARCO ordered eight 4-inch, 1500-psi, pressure-sealed Crane valves from the Baytown Supply Co. (Baytown). Baytown ordered the valves from International Valve Service, Inc. (International), and International ordered the valves from Southern California Valve Maintenance Company (SCV).

SCV had the valves manufactured in Taiwan. Upon arrival in the United States, the valves bore the mark "SCV". The valves were sent to the Amesse Welding Service (Amesse) where the name "Crane" was apparently welded to each valve bod The valves failed pressure testing performed by ARCO before installatio During the testing, ARCO found newspapers printed with Chinese characters in the valve An expert on Crane valves examined the valves and identified them as counterfei Six of the valves were repaired and used by ARC The remaining two valves that could not be repaired were returned to SC ML072500391 IN 1991-09, Rev. 1 The NRC verified that the following nuclear power plants did not have SCV, Baytown, or International on their approved vendor lists: Comanche Peak, River Bend, South Texas Project, Waterford, Palo Verde, and Diablo Canyo These power plants were selected because they were located close to one of the three companies listed above and may have done business with the Southern California Edison did have a contract with SCV to maintain and repair valves at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, but has concluded that its established internal work assignment and control procedures provided adequate assurance of the work performed by SC The NRC does not have any direct evidence that SCV, Baytown, or International provided counterfeit valves to the U.S. nuclear power industry or violated any NRC regulation

DISCUSSION

The NRC determined that the SCV list of customers who purchased Crane valves, appended as Attachment 1, contained numerous vendors that are also on the list of purchasers/suppliers of CMA International (CMA) of Vancouver, Washingto CMA is the subject of IN No. 88-48,

"Licensee Report of Defective Refurbished Valves." The inclusion of a company on the SCV customer list does not mean that the company knowingly or unknowingly supplied counterfeit or fraudulent product It should also be noted that SCV was listed as a possible customer of CMA, through whom licensees may have purchased valves supplied by CMA, as noted in Attachment 1 to Supplement 2 of IN No. 88-4 Licensees may wish to review the list of SCV customers in Attachment 1 to confirm the acceptability of procured equipmen A valve can go through two or more distributors before reaching the end-user facilit A nuclear power plant could buy a commercial-grade valve from a valve distributor for the purpose of dedicating the valve for safety-related us The establishment and verification of procedures to trace procured equipment and material to the original equipment manufacturer is often an important prerequisite to meaningful inspection and testing which may be employed in the dedication proces Inadequate licensee verification of traceability of procured equipment may result in counterfeit or fraudulent equipment being installe This IN requires no specific action or written respons If you have any questions about this matter, please contact the technical contact listed below or the appropriate NRR project manage IN 1991-09, Rev. 1

CONTACT

This IN requires no specific action or written respons Please direct any questions about this matter to the technical contact listed below or the appropriate NRR project manage /RA by TQuay for/ Michael J. Case, Director Division of Policy and Rulemaking Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Technical Contact:

Samir Darbali, NRR/DPR 301-415-1360 e-mail: sxd7@nrc.gov Note: NRC generic communications may be found on the NRC public Web site, http://www.nrc.gov, under Electronic Reading Room/Document Collection

Attachment:

List of Customers Who Purchased Crane Valves from Southern California Valve Maintenance

IN 1991-09, Rev. 1

CONTACT

This IN requires no specific action or written respons Please direct any questions about this matter to the technical contact listed below or the appropriate NRR project manage /RA by TQuay for/ Michael J. Case, Director Division of Policy and Rulemaking Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Technical Contact:

Samir Darbali, NRR/DPR 301-415-1360 e-mail: sxd7@nrc.gov Note: NRC generic communications may be found on the NRC public Web site, http://www.nrc.gov, under Electronic Reading Room/Document Collection

Attachment:

List of Customers Who Purchased Crane Valves from Southern California Valve Maintenance

Distribution: IN Reading File

ADAMS Accession Number: ML072500391 OFFICE PGCB:DPR TECH EDITOR EQVB:DE OGC NAME SDarbali LCulp PPrescott* for DThatcher Beth Mizuno* DATE 9/11/07 9/12/07 9/14/07 9/13/07 OFFICE LA:PGCB:DPR PGCB:DPR BC:PGCB:DPR D:DPR NAME CHawes DBeaulieu MMurphy TQuay for MCase DATE 9/13/07 9/17/07 9/24/07 9/25/07 *With comments that have been incorporated OFFICIAL RECORD COPY ATTACHMENT 1 IN 1991-09, Rev. 1 CUSTOMERS WHO PURCHASED CRANE VALVES FROM SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA VALVE MAINTENANCE

AMFAC Neilson AMANS, Palmeroy, Bay Valve P.E. OHair B&M Trading Piping Specialities BHF PITT, Norman B&L Valve R&D Valve Bel Kal Republic Supply Berg Dorf Roper Detroit Burney Valve Santa Maria Oil Field Calatex S. Central Valve Crown Industrial Supply Specialties Flickenger Valve Services Grant Supply Wallace, James G. Weslo Cor Illinois Valve ARA Valve Industrial Valve Demenno/Kerdoon International Valve Floor Drilling L.A. Valve Pro Nielson Valve Jackson/Marcus Petro Valve Laundry Specialties Phoenix Valve M&N Valve Union Oil McCoy, Fred Western Valve Moody Olstad

The inclusion of a company on this list does not mean that the company knowingly or unknowingly supplied counterfeit or fraudulent products.