Headquarters Daily report JUNE 22, 1994 *************************************************************************** REPORT NEGATIVE NO INPUT ATTACHED INPUT RECEIVED RECEIVED HEADQUARTERS X REGION I X REGION II X REGION III X REGION IV X *************************************************************************** PRIORITY ATTENTION REQUIRED MORNING REPORT - REGION II JUNE 22, 1994 Licensee/Facility: Notification: MR Number: 2-94-0049 University Of Virginia Date: 06/22/94 Charlottesville,Virginia Dockets: 05000062 License No: R-66 Subject: 0PERATION OF THE REACTOR WITH A NON-TECH SPEC REQUIRED SCRAM BEING INOPERABLE Reportable Event Number: N/A Discussion: On June 21, 1994, the licensee notified the NRC Region II that the Reactor Supervisor, who is a Senior Reactor Operator (SRO), had failed to follow a step in a procedure dealing with the operation of their Mineral Irradiation Facility (MIF). This oversight lead to the non-availability of the only automatic reactor shutdown associated with the MIF. Consequently, the University of Virginia Reactor (UVAR) was operated with this scram being inoperable for three days. This scram is not one of the reactor safety scrams and is not listed as being required for operation of the reactor by the Technical Specification. The MIF scram was bypassed late on Monday, June 13, 1994, to permit a scheduled surveillance check of the low pool water scram circuits. The next morning, June 14, the SRO completed the reactor startup checklist, as well as the MIF operations checklist. The step in the MIF checklist requiring the operator to "insure that the experiment scram is not bypassed when starting the reactor" was not completed by visually checking the position of the bypass switch. Instead, the operator took a short-cut and considered a lit annunciator light at the console to indicate that the switch was in the on-line position. The problem was noted on Friday, June 17, and the reactor was shutdown. Following an investigation by the licensee, the Reactor Supervisor was removed from licensed activities and another individual has been named as Reactor Supervisor. Licensee management interviewed all reactor operators and reviewed the requirements of the checklists. A training session was also held to review the event and instruct all facility personnel on the importance of following procedures. The licensee plans to restart the reactor today, June 22, 1994. Regional Action: This event will be reviewed during the next regularly scheduled inspection at the facility. Contact: C. BASSETT (404)331-5570