ML13225A147

Email D. Hills to T. Lupold, Doel 3 (Belgium) - Flaw Indications in the Reactor Pressure Vessel

ML13225A147
Person / Time
Site:	Quad Cities
Issue date:	08/16/2012
From:	Dave Hills NRC/RGN-III/DRS/EB1
To:	Timothy Lupold Piping and NDE Branch
References
FOIA/PA-2013-0139
Download: ML13225A147 (4)

Text

76" Lupold, Timothy From: Hills, David \

Sent: Thursday, August 16,2012 9:13 AM To: Lupold, Timothy

Subject:

RE: DOEL 3 (BELGIUM) - FLAW INDICATIONS IN THE REACTOR PRESSURE VESSEL Thanks Tim I Maybe then Bob will have more for us during next week's materials engineering counterparts call.

- Dave From: Lupold,nTmothy Sent: Thursday, August 16, 2012 8:00 AM To: Hills, David

Subject:

RE: DOEL 3 (BELGIUM) - FLAW INDICATIONS IN THE REACTOR PRESSURE VESSEL Bob Hardies is in Belgium today for a meeting to discuss the issue. We don't know if the indications are real or not at this point. The issue is more related to who supplied the forgings, assuming these are real indications. Will know more once Bob returns from the meeting. About the only information we have at this point is information from the web. I've attached an email with a link to a French website. You may have to wait a bit for it to translate from French to English.

From: Hills, David Sent: Monday, August 13, 2012 4:32 PM To: Rosenberg, Stacey; Lupold, Timothy Cc: Bilik, Tom; Bozga, John; Holmberg, Mel; Jones, Donald; Meghani, Vijay; Neurauter, James; Sanchez Santiago, Elba; Shaikh, Atif

Subject:

FW: DOEL 3 (BELGIUM) - FLAW INDICATIONS IN THE REACTOR PRESSURE VESSEL FYI - See below regarding applicability to Quad Cities. Who in NRR has technical lead on this issue? Any additional details available?

- Dave From: Ring, Mark ,I Sent: Monday, August 13, 2012 2:13 PM To: Hills, David

Subject:

FW: DOEL 3 (BELGIUM) - FLAW INDICATIONS IN THE REACTOR PRESSURE VESSEL

Dave, I asked the Quad RIO to look into what the licensee knew and was doing on the Belgium NDE results indicating cracking in the vessel. Here's the reply I received from Jim McGhee. Please let me know if you need more or if you find out any more from NRC NDE folks. Thanks.

-Mark From: McGhee, James Sent: Monday, August 13, 2012 1:45 PM To: Ring, Mark Cc: Draper, Jason; Elliott, Roy; Orlikowski, Robert; Cushman, Brian

Subject:

FW: DOEL 3 (BELGIUM) - FLAW INDICATIONS IN THE REACTOR PRESSURE VESSEL The UFSAR quote below is from Section 5.3.1.2. It goes on to say I el

Chicago Bridge and Iron (CB&I), which completed fabrication of the Unit 2 RPV prior to its shipment to the plant site, provided a certification comparable to the ASME Code N-I A form. The following footnote was included in that certification: [5.3-3]

"This unstamped vessel was built as a 'State Special' based on agreements between the State of Illinois and Commonwealth Edison Company. A portion of the vessel was fabricated by Rotterdam Dockyard Company. This vessel was not stamped because Rotterdam Dockyard Company does not hold an ASME certificate of authorization. Procedures equivalent to the requirements of the ASME Code were used."

From: McGhee, James Sent: Monday, August 13, 2012 1:38 PM To: Ring, Mark Cc: Cushman, Brian; Draper, Jason; Elliott, Roy; 'LUIS GASCO LEONARTE'; Orlikowskl, Robert

Subject:

RE: DOEL 3 (BELGIUM) - FLAW INDICATIONS IN THE REACTOR PRESSURE VESSEL According to the licensee the affected unit is Unit 2. The following discussion comes from the Section 5.3.2 of the USFSAR:

The Quad Cities Unit I RPV was fabricated entirely in the United States by Babcock &

Wilcox (B&W). The Unit 2 RPV was fabricated by several different vendors, including one in Holland, as noted in the following paragraphs. [5.3-2]

Fabrication work on the Unit 2 bottom head assembly and lower shell course was performed by the Rotterdam Dockyard Company (RDM) in Rotterdam, Holland. These two pieces were seam-welded together and returned to the United States as a fully completed subassembly including control rod drive (CRD) stub tubes, shroud support skirt, and vessel support skirt.

According to the licensee, the component steel was fabricated in the US by Babcock & Wilcox. These were sent to RDM where they were "bent" to shape and welded together. Final assembly of the vessel was performed in the US. Without looking further, I can't determine ifthe beltline region was included in the RDM work.

As far as inspection, they only look at the seam welds. According to the ISI guys, the only other inspection they ever did after initial construction was a VT3 on the inner clad surface and that was stopped after it was determined to have no value.

They had the initial communication on the issue and are currently waiting for more specific information from the utility before determining what they need to do. The sites understanding is that the components in question at the Belgian facility were manufactured in total at the RDM facility as opposed to being assembled there as was Unit 2. I will follow up as more information comes available.

Jim From: Ring, Mark Sent: Monday, August 13, 2012 11:24 AM To: McGhee, James

Subject:

RE: DOEL 3 (BELGIUM) - FLAW INDICATIONS IN THE REACTOR PRESSURE VESSEL Good. Thanks.

2

From: McGhee, James Sent: Monday, August 13, 2012 11:06 AM To: Ring, Mark Cc: Cushman, Brian; Orlikowski, Robert; Draper, Jason; Elliott, Roy

Subject:

RE: DOEL 3 (BELGIUM) - FLAW INDICATIONS IN THE REACTOR PRESSURE VESSEL Checking to verify manufacture of Unit 1 RPV and any beltline inspections performed that could show this type defect.

Jim From: Ring, Mark Sent: Monday, August 13, 2012 9:40 AM To: Cushman, Brian; McGhee, James; Ray, Teresa Cc: LUIS GASCO LEONARTE; Draper, Jason; Elliott, Roy; Orlikowski, Robert

Subject:

FW: DOEL 3 (BELGIUM) - FLAW INDICATIONS IN THE REACTOR PRESSURE VESSEL FYI From: Lara, Julio Sent: Monday, August 13, 2012 9:30 AM To: Casto, Chuck; Pederson, Cynthia; Shear, Gary; Reynolds, Steven; OBrien, Kenneth; Skokowski, Richard Cc: Cameron, Jamnes; Daley, Robert; Dickson, Billy; Duncan, Eric; Giessner, John; Hills, David; Kunowski, Michael; Peterson, Hironori; Riemer, Kenneth; Ring, Mark; Skokowskl, Richard; Stone, AnnMarie

Subject:

FW: DOEL 3 (BELGIUM) - FLAW INDICATIONS IN THE REACTOR PRESSURE VESSEL From: Bernardo, Robert Sent: Monday, August 13, 2012 9:26 AM To: Taylor, Ryan Cc: Brand, Javier; Lara, Julio; Powers, Dale

Subject:

DOEL 3 (BELGIUM) - FLAW INDICATIONS IN THE REACTOR PRESSURE VESSEL Good morning, We wanted to pass this along to the regional OpE POC's, since there are POTENTIALLY US plants that might be affected (mostly region 2): We'll keep you informed as we get more information.

IRS 8244P - DOEL 3 (BELGIUM) - FLAW INDICATIONS IN THE REACTOR PRESSURE VESSEL Doel 3 is a PWR that commenced operation in 1982. In July, UT examinations to detect possible under-clad defects of the reactor vessel belt region instead found indications of fabrication flaws. This was the first time this type of testing had been performed on this portion of the vessel. The flaws appear to be laminar in nature, running parallel to the inside and outside surfaces being examined. The vessel rings containing the flaws were forged in the early 1980's at the Rotterdam Dockyards, which also forged reactor vessel rings for several plants in the U.S., including Catawba 1, McGuire 2, North Anna 1 & 2, Quad Cities 1, Sequoyah I & 2, Surry 1

& 2, and Watts Bar 1. Staff are in communication with the Belgian regulator to exchange information and review pending results from follow-up testing.

Bob Bernardo 3

Reactor Systems Engineer US Nuclear Regulatory Commission NRR/DIRS/IOEB O-7D17; MS O-7C02A 301-415-2621 Robert.Bernardo@nrc.gov 4