At 0836 the control room received a Unit 1B CV/SI pump room fire alarm. An operator reported smoke in the 1B
SI pump room at 0840. An unusual event was declared at 0854 due to HU6, fire in the protected area not extinguished within 15 minutes. Sounds of arcing can be heard but flames have not been located. It is suspected that an
RWST heater has failed in a pipe tunnel above the 1B
SI pump room. The breaker for the
RWST heater has been deenergized. The
RWST heater pump has been deenergized. Offsite fire department assistance has been requested.
The licensee is ventilating the area in order to perform a more thorough inspection of the area and determine the cause of the fire. Both Units1 and 2 remain at 100% reactor power.
The NRC Resident Inspector, State and local officials have been notified by the licensee.
The NRC has entered the Monitoring Mode at 1036.
The NRC Operations Center notified the following organizations: HHS/FDA (V. Howard-King), USDA (Brown), EPA/NRC (Rawls) and DOE (Silva).
- * * UPDATE FROM MARCHIONDA TO KNOKE AT 12:49 EST ON 02/24/06 * * *
At 11:09 CST on 02/24/06, Byron terminated an Unusual Event that was declared at 08:54 CST today in accordance with HU6 due to a fire in the Protected Area not extinguished within 15 minutes. The RWST [Refueling Water Storage Tank] heater has been confirmed as the source of the smoke that caused the fire alarm. The heater has been deenergized and the area is being ventilated.
The NRC exited the Monitoring Response Mode at 12:52 EST.
The NRC Resident Inspector and State officials have been notified by the licensee. NRC made notifications to R3DO(Hills),
IRD Managers (Leach, Blount, Wilson),
NRR EO (Jung),
NRR ET (Dyer), HQ PAO (Brenner), R4DO(Pick),
DHS (Carledge),
FEMA (Liggett), HHS/FDA( Miller), USDA (Byzustek), EPA/NRC (Rawls, Ribordy), and
DOE (Silva).
