Information Notice 2003-20, Derating Whiting Cranes Purchased Before 1980

Derating Whiting Cranes Purchased Before 1980

ML032960205
Person / Time
Issue date:	10/22/2003
From:	Beckner W D, Miller C L NRC/NMSS/IMNS, NRC/NRR/DIPM
To:
Foster J W, NRR/IROB, 415-3647
References
IN-03-020
Download: ML032960205 (7)

UNITED STATESNUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSIONOFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATIONOFFICE OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL SAFETY AND SAFEGUARDSWASHINGTON, D.C. 20555October 22, 2003NRC INFORMATION NOTICE 2003-20:DERATING WHITING CRANES PURCHASEDBEFORE 1980

Addressees

All holders of operating licenses for nuclear power reactors, except those who havepermanently ceased operations and have certified that fuel has been permanently removed from the reactor vessel; applicable decommissioning reactors, fuel facilities, and independent spent fuel storage installations.

Purpose

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing this information notice (IN) to notifylicensees of a recent report from Whiting Corporation concerning the derating of Whiting cranes sold before 198 It is expected that recipients will review the information for applicability to their facilities and consider actions, as appropriate, to address this proble However, suggestions contained in this IN are not NRC requirements; therefore, no specific action or written response is required.

Description of Circumstances

On January 29, 2003, Whiting Corporation submitted a 10 CFR Part 21 report (EventNotification No. 39545 and Part 21 No. 2003-002-00) to the NR The concern described in this report was specific to the Whiting #25 Hoist Unit (Gear Case). When the crane is lifting a load at or near its nominal rating, the stress in one or possibly two internal support bolts in this assembly may be significantly over the design allowable stres These bolts connect the gear case housing to an open frame that supports bearings and other components in the gear trai If a bolt failed, the open frame might deform, affecting gear alignmen Whiting identified this problem during an engineering analysis, and Whiting Corporation was not aware of any crane failures due to this concern.The exact extent of the overstressed condition can only be determined by analyzing each hoist;however, based on its findings, Whiting Corporation stated that a 50 percent reduction in rated hoist capacity of the affected cranes would allow continued use of the cranes without compromising design safety factor Whiting indicated that this limitation should be enforced until the overstressed bolts have been replaced or analysis shows that an overstressed condition does not exist. On February 12, 2003, Whiting Corporation submitted a followup Part 21 report to the NRCrelated to the above notificatio As a result of the ongoing investigation and resolution of the January 29, 2003, notification, Whiting identified five cranes that utilize a different hoist configuration that was also subject to a similar overstress conditio This condition applied to special hoist arrangements using a Whiting #10 Hoist Unit, rather than the previously identified Whiting #25 Hoist Uni The cranes are installed at the following nuclear power plants: Indian Point, Cooper, Columbia Generating Station, Vermont Yankee, and Millston Whiting Corporation stated that these hoist units are to be limited to 20 percent of rated capacity to avoid compromising design factors and that this limitation should be enforced until the units are upgraded.DiscussionThe identified conditions involve calculated stresses in the support bolts that exceed designlimits specified in applicable design standard No actual failures have occurre Failure of the components subject to the overstress condition would not directly result in failure of the crane to retain its loa However, the failure of a support bolt may result in deformation of the frame housing the gear train bearing The deformation would allow misalignment and potential overstress of gear teeth to develo The gear teeth transmit torque from the hoist motor and holding brake to the load dru Therefore, this concern is a facility and personnel safety issue.This Part 21 report is applicable to a wide variety of cranes purchased prior to 1980, includingreactor building cranes, turbine building cranes, fuel handling cranes, spent fuel cranes, intake structure cranes, auxiliary building cranes, refueling cranes, cask handling cranes, fuel gantry cranes, radwaste handling cranes, screenwell cranes, heater bay cranes, and pumphouse crane Other cranes may also be impacted.During the Part 21 evaluation process, Whiting Corporation failed to identify a decommissioningreactor facility (Fermi 1) that utilized one of the affected hoist unit This particular Part 21 report is applicable to decommissioning reactors as well as operating reactors because decommissioning facilities continue to utilize cranes for fuel handling, radioactive waste handling, and related activities for handling contaminated or activated structures, systems, and components in support of decommissioning.The Part 21 report requests crane owners to contact Whiting Corporation at e-mail addressWhiting-Nuclear@WhitingCorp.com and provide the following information: customer name,contact person, e-mail address, telephone number, crane serial number, and date of next scheduled outag The above Part 21 reports may be obtained from NRC's home page at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/event-status/part21/. This IN requires no specific action or written respons If you have any questions about thisnotice, contact one of the persons listed below or the appropriate project manager./RA//RA/William D. Beckner, ChiefCharles L. Miller, Director Reactor Operations BranchDivision of Industrial and Division of Inspection Program Management Medical Nuclear Safety Office of Nuclear Reactor RegulationOffice of Nuclear Material Safety and SafeguardsTechnical Contacts:Steven Jones, NRRJack Foster, NRR301-415-2712(301) 415-3647 E-mail: srj@nrc.gov E-mail: jwf@nrc.gov William C. Huffman, NMSS301-415-1141 E-mail: wch@nrc.gov

Attachment:

List of Recently Issued NRC Information Notices This IN requires no specific action or written respons If you have any questions about thisnotice, contact one of the persons listed below or the appropriate project manager./RA//RA/William D. Beckner, ChiefCharles L. Miller, Director Reactor Operations BranchDivision of Industrial and Division of Inspection Program Management Medical Nuclear Safety Office of Nuclear Reactor RegulationOffice of Nuclear Material Safety and SafeguardsTechnical Contacts:Steven Jones, NRRJack Foster, NRR301-415-2712(301) 415-3647 E-mail: srj@nrc.gov E-mail: jwf@nrc.gov William C. Huffman, NMSS301-415-1141 E-mail: wch@nrc.gov

Attachment:

List of Recently Issued NRC Information NoticesDISTRIBUTION:ADAMS IN FileDOCUMENT NAME: C:\ORPCheckout\FileNET\ML032960205.wpdADAMS ACCESSION NUMBER: ML032960205*See Previous ConcurrenceOFFICEIROB:DIPMTech EditorDSSA:SPLBBC:DSSA:SPLBDWM:DCBNAMEJWFosterPKleene*SRJonesJNHannonWCHuffmanDATE09/09/2003 08/07/200308/18/200308/21/200308/25/2003OFFICESC:DWM:DCBTA:FCSS:DOSC:SFPO:SFLSBC:IMNS:MSIBDD:IMNSNAMESWMooreJDavisJMonningerTEssig (RTorres for)CMiller (JHickey for)DATE08/29/200310/16/200310/16/200310/20/200310/21/2003OFFICESC:IROB:DIPMBC:IROB:DIPMNAMETReisWDBecknerDATE10/22/200310/22/2003OFFICIAL RECORD COPY

______________________________________________________________________________________OL = Operating License CP = Construction PermitAttachment 1 LIST OF RECENTLY ISSUEDNRC INFORMATION NOTICES_____________________________________________________________________________________InformationDate of Notice N SubjectIssuanceIssued to_____________________________________________________________________________________2003-19Unanalyzed Condition ofReactor Coolant Pump Seal Leakoff Line During Postulated Fire Scenarios or Station Blackout10/06/2003All holders of operating licensesor construction permits for pressurized water reactors (PWRs).2003-18General Electric Type SBMControl Switches With Defective Cam Followers 09/26/2003All holders of operating licensesfor nuclear power reactors, except those who have permanently ceased operations and have certified that fuel has been permanently removed from the reactor vessel.2003-17Reduced Service Life ofAutomatic Switch Company (ASCO) Solenoid Valves With Buna-N Material09/29/2003All holders of operating licensesfor nuclear power reactors.2003-16Icing Conditions BetweenBottom of Dry Storage System and Storage Pad10/06/2003All 10 CFR Part 72 licensees andcertificate holders.2003-15Importance of FollowupActivities in Resolving Maintenance Issues09/05/2003All holders of operating licensesfor nuclear power reactors except those who have permanently ceased operation and have certified that fuel has been permanently removed from the reactor vessel.Note:NRC generic communications may be received in electronic format shortly after they areissued by subscribing to the NRC listserver as follows:To subscribe send an e-mail to <listproc@nrc.gov >, no subject, and the followingcommand in the message portion:subscribe gc-nrr firstname lastname