ML20134E249

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Forwards Cy LER as Requested
ML20134E249
Person / Time
Site: Haddam Neck File:Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Co icon.png
Issue date: 09/13/1996
From: Blanch P
AFFILIATION NOT ASSIGNED
To: Rosemary
NRC
Shared Package
ML20134D719 List:
References
NUDOCS 9611010066
Download: ML20134E249 (6)
v • d • e


Text

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J From: PAUL M. BLANCH <PMBLANCH@ix.netcom.com>

To: ROSEMARY <Stopnukes9aol.com>

Date: 9/13/96 8:14am

Subject:

CY LER RM Here is the LER you requested.

50.72(b)(2)(iii)(B) requires a one hour verbai report to the NRC. Note the sleezy words "THE LICENSEE BELIEVES THAT lHE N.C RESIDENT INSPECTOR WAS NOTIFIED OF THIS EVENT ON 9/1/96." Was he contacted or not? There are also 4

what I believe to be a material false statement made in this report. CY DOES 4 have reactor vessel level indication. Nothing has changed at NU. They are still lying and distorting information.

Note that they also avoid addressing the possible consequences of this Loss of Coolant Event (LOCA). The other question is that with a loss of at least one of their principal safety barriers, did they fail to declare an Emergency and notify the NRC Operations Center?

Note that I am copying the NRC (Nothing Really Changes) and expect them to take some action about this misleading information.

+__________________________________+ +_______________________+

l POWER REACTOR l l EVENT NUMBER: 30992 l

+__________________________________+

+_______________________+

+________________________________________________+_________________________

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FACILITY: HADDAM NECK REGION: 1 l NOTIFICATION DATE: 09/11/96 UNIT: [1] [ ] [ ] STATE: CT l NOTIFICATION TIME: 15:04

[ET]!

RX TYPE: [1] W-4-LP l EVENT DATE: 09/01/96

+------------------------------------------------+ EVENT TIME:

09:00[EDT]!

NRC NOTIFIED BY: RICHARD DeBERNARD0 lLAST UPDATE DATE: 09/11/96 HQ OPS OFFICER: RUDY KARSCH

+_____________________________+

+_____________________________________-----------+ NOTIFICATIONS l EMERGENCY CLASS: NOT APPLICABLE

+_____________________________+

10 CFR SECTION: l FRANK COSTELLO RDO AINB 50.72(b)(2)(iii)(B) POT RHR IN0P j l

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l l 9611010066 961024 PDR ORG NRRA PDR

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+_____+__________+_______+________+______________+__+________+_____________

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UNIT l SCRAM CODEjRX CRITjlNIT PWRl INIT RX MODE lCURR PWRj CURR RX MODE

+_____+__________+_______+________+_________________+________+_____________

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I l N N 0 COLD SHUTDOWN l 0 COLD SHUTDOWN l l  ;

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+_____+_____________________________________________+._____________________

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EVENT TEXT

+__________________________________________________________________________

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NITROGEN INTRODUCED INTO THE REACTOR VESSEL DISPLACED INVENTORY INTO THE PRESSURIZER.

i i l l THE LICENSEE DETERMINED AT I440 EDT TODAY THAT, IN THE ABSENCE OF PROMPT i l

OPERATOR ACTION, THIS EVENT COULD HAVE AFFECTED RESIDUAL HEAT REMOVAL. A LEAKING VALVE (BA-V-355) ALLOWED NITR0 GEN FROM THE VOLUME CONTROL TANK TO i

LEAK INTO THE REACTOR VESSEL. A NITROGEN BUBBLE FORMED IN THE VESSEL HEAD DISPLACING INVENTORY INTO THE PRESSURIZER. THE LICENSEE'S CALCULATIONS l

, INDICATE THAT THE BUBBLE DISPLACED APPR0XIMATELY 6000 GALLONS OF WATER. THE l

OPERATORS BECAME AWARE OF THE PROBLEM BY MONITORING AN INCREASE IN l

CONSUMPTION OF NITR0 GEN. THE INVENTORY DISPLACEMENT DID NOT UNC0VER THE HOT LEGS. HOWEVER, HADDAM NECK DOES NOT HAVE CORE EXIT THERM 0 COUPLES OR REACTOR VESSEL LEVEL INDICATION. THE OPERATOR ACTION TO CORRECT THE i l PROBLEM WAS TO STOP THE LEAK, TO VENT THE NITROGEN, AND TO REPLACE COOLANT.

THE LICENSEE BELIEVES THAT THE NRC RESIDENT INSPECTOR WAS NOTIFIED OF THIS

EVENT ON 9/I/96.

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+__________________________________________________________________________

____+ 1 Paul M. Blanch Energy Consultant 135 Hyde Rd.

West Hartford CT 06117 -

Voice 860-236-0326 Fax 860-232-9350 CC: JZ <JAZWOL9aol .com>  ;

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From: PAUL M. BLANCH <PMBLANCH@ix.netcom.com>

To: BRUCE KENYON <KENY0BD@gwsmtp.nu.com>

Date: 9/13/96 9:38am

Subject:

Hartford Advocate Bruce:

Here is the story from this weeks' Hartford Advocate. I will get the -

document we discussed to you early next week. I will probably give - it to Lary Levy and he will send it by courier to you.

Will We Pay the Price?

With four nukes down, NU's new chief hints at a rate hike By Michael Kuczkowski Bruce Kenyon, the new president of Northeast Utilities-D5 nuclear subsidiary, had a lot to do on his first day at work last week. There = was, of course, plenty to learn about the top-to-bottom inspection of the - three dormant Millstone nuclear power plants. And there was a near-miss at - the Connecticut Yankee facility in Haddam Neck. Workers at Connecticut Yankee, which is also shut down, discovered a nitrogen bubble in the - plant-D5s water cooling lines. Had the bubble worked its way down into the - outlet valves, the pumps that normally circulate water into the core of the - reactor would have pulled the nitrogen in instead, displacing the water from - around the radioactive fuel rods and potentially causing a meltdown. -

Luckily, the bubble was vented from the system before the plant was in any serious trouble.

What NU and Kenyon did not want to do on his first day was alarm the public. However, when Kenyon was asked at an afternoon press conference whether or not consumers would see an increase in their - electric bills next year as a result of the Millstone shutdown, he may have - raised some eyebrows. Instead of giving a firm no, Kenyon responded with a - non- answer.

-D2What Mr. Kenyon said was, that-D5s just something that has - to be determined,-D3 says Rich Gallagher, a spokesman for NU-D5s nuclear = unit.

-D2And he mentioned that the Department of Public Utilities Control would be involved.-D3 Kenyon-D5s statement was not intended to suddenly open a debate - about who will pay for NU-05s mistakes, insists Gallagher. At the same - time, that does not mean that consumers-D5 power bills won-D5t rise as a result of - the shutdowns. -D2The commitment is that any costs associated with substandard -

performance at the plants will not be passed on to ratepayers,-D3 Gallagher says. -

But while crews are busy correcting thousands of deficiencies that have been

- identified at the Millstone plants, they are also making plant modifications - unrelated to the forced shutdowns that they say will help the plants run better - and more safely. Those latter costs-Dinot the former-D1may be the basis for - some future rate increase.

Just two months ago, it seemed that this issue was settled. On July -

1, Connecticut Light and Power agreed to forego a general rate increase -

until December 1997 as part of a complicated agreement that also settled -

all outstanding court actions between the state and the utility through =

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March 31.

However, there is a line item on consumers-D5 electric bills, called -

the general utilization adjustment clause, that allows NU to recover the -

costs of buying electric power from other sources when its nuclear plants unexpectedly shut down. In a normal year, Connecticut Light and -

Power, NU-05s Connecticut subsidiary, would have applied to the DPUC to -

adjust that line item this month.

However, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission-D5s extensive reinspection of the troubled plants led NU to ask for a 45-day - extension on filing its paperwork. The case may take months longer than usual and - is expected to be at least as complicated as a general rate increase - case. -D2There-D5s nothing normal here,-D3 concedes DPUC spokeswoman Beryl Lyons. ,

As a result, the DPUC has hired a pair of private consulting firms - to do a complete audit of the management of NU-D5s nuclear program. The consultants will draw up an extensive cost analysis to determine how - much NU mismanagement is to blame for the utility-D5s current problems. =

-D2The bottom line will be, to whatever degree [NU managers) are deemed to -

have been imprudent in their management, those costs will not be passed on -

to ratepayers,-D3 Lyons says. i By almost all accounts =01 including NU D5s-D1 management failures are - at j the root of the problems that led the NRC to put the Millstone plants = on its i watch list of problem plants. But this is the first time that NU will - be forced to spend shareholders-D5 money to pay for its management missteps.

It is hard to believe that NU can survive such a costly shutdown without passing costs on to consumers. Historically, the utility has -

averaged profits of some $200 million annually. This year, replacement power

- from other utility companies is costing between $25 million and $40 -

million per month. If the shutdowns are extended for a year, the replacement

- power costs-Dinot to mention the expense of repairing the power plants to - '

the NRC-D5s safety standards-Dla1 ready puts NU in the red.

The cost issue will only become more critical the longer the plants -

lie dormant. Currently, NU is saying that Millstone 3-D1the first plant -

targeted to come back online-Dlmay be producing power again by January. In - 4 addition, the utility is considering mothballing its Connecticut Yankee plant J

- because the costs of maintaining the plant are so high. Some industry -

observers say it may take another year to fire up Millstone 3. They also say Millstone - t 1, the oldest of the Millstone plants, may be shut down for good as well. l The high costs of maintaining the power plants, they say, is now the i root of the problem for the nuclear industry, which is now competing - with I relatively low cost oil- and gas-burning plants. -D2It-D5s impossible = for l these things to be in compliance with all the safety requirements and be economically competitive,-D3 says Paul Blanch, an NU whistleblower - and energy consultant.

Kenyon, for his part, has his hands full. He has already announced i plans to bring in a new management team and it is likely that several -

NU vice presidents will be asked to leave in the coming months. Given = the economics of the equation, they might be wise to cash in their chips - early.

Connecticut consumers can only hope that Kenyon will remember NU-D5s pledge to take financial responsibility for the problems caused by = past  !

mismanagement.

t Paul M. Blanch 1

Energy Consultant 135 Hyde Rd.

West Hartford CT 06117 Voice 860-236-0326 Fax 860-232-9350 l

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