The licensee indicated the
Reactor Core Isolation Cooling (
RCIC) has been made inoperable by a degraded flow instrument. The deficiency will prevent
RCIC from achieving its design flow of 410 gpm. The degraded condition limits the flow to 360 gpm. This condition put the licensee into
LCO 3.5.3.A. To exit the LCO an
I&C tech will need to perform a venting operation on the flow transmitter.
The licensee will notify the NRC Resident Inspector.
- * * UPDATE AT 1252 EDT ON 5/4/06 FROM GENE DORMAN TO S. SANDIN * * *
The licensee provided the following additional information:
EVENT NOTIFICATION RETRACTION
At 0607 on 05/04/2006 the James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant notified the NRC Operations Center that, 'Reactor Core Isolation Cooling (RCIC) System has been made inoperable by a degraded flow instrument. The deficiency will prevent RCIC from achieving its design flow rate of 410 gpm. Estimated flow rate in the current condition is 360 gpm.' This notification was made pursuant to 10 CFR 50.72(b)(3)(ii)(A) 'Any event or condition that results in: (A) The conditions of the nuclear power plant, including its principal safety barriers, being seriously degraded;'
Subsequent review of this event determined that the degradation of the RCIC System did not result in any of the plant's principal safety barriers (i.e., fuel cladding, reactor coolant pressure boundary, or the primary containment integrity) being degraded therefore, criterion 10 CFR 50.72(b)(3)(ii)(A) is not applicable to the event. Additionally the guidance contained in Regulatory Issue Summary (RIS) 2001-14, 'Position on Reportability Requirements for Reactor Core Isolation Cooling System Failure' was reviewed and it was confirmed that the RCIC System is not credited in the UFSAR for mitigating the consequences of a rod ejection accident, so the 10 CFR 50.72(b)(3)(v)(D) accident mitigation criterion does not apply. Consequently this notification is being retracted.
The licensee informed the NRC Resident Inspector. Notified R1DO (Bellamy).
