Information Notice 2003-20, Derating Whiting Cranes Purchased Before 1980
ML032960205 | |
Person / Time | |
---|---|
Issue date: | 10/22/2003 |
From: | Beckner W, Chris Miller NRC/NMSS/IMNS, NRC/NRR/DIPM |
To: | |
Foster J, 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 1980. It is expected that recipients will review the information for applicability to
their facilities and consider actions, as appropriate, to address this problem. 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 NRC. 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 stress. These bolts connect the gear
case housing to an open frame that supports bearings and other components in the gear train.
If a bolt failed, the open frame might deform, affecting gear alignment. 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 factors. 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 notification. 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 condition. This condition applied to
special hoist arrangements using a Whiting #10 Hoist Unit, rather than the previously identified
Whiting #25 Hoist Unit. The cranes are installed at the following nuclear power plants: Indian
Point, Cooper, Columbia Generating Station, Vermont Yankee, and Millstone. 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 standards. No actual failures have occurred. Failure of the
components subject to the overstress condition would not directly result in failure of the crane to
retain its load. However, the failure of a support bolt may result in deformation of the frame
housing the gear train bearings. The deformation would allow misalignment and potential
overstress of gear teeth to develop. The gear teeth transmit torque from the hoist motor and
holding brake to the load drum. 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
cranes. 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 units. 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 outage. 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 response. 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
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:DIPMNAMETReisWDBecknerDATE10/22/200310/22/2003
______________________________________________________________________________________OL = Operating License
CP = Construction PermitAttachment 1 LIST OF RECENTLY ISSUEDNRC INFORMATION NOTICES
_____________________________________________________________________________________InformationDate of
Notice No. 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