Headquarters Daily report APRIL 03, 1995 *************************************************************************** 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 - HEADQUARTERS APRIL 3, 1995 MR Number: H-95-0086 NRR DAILY REPORT ITEM GENERIC COMMUNICATIONS BRANCH/EVENTS ASSESSMENT BRANCH DIVISION OF OPERATING REACTOR SUPPORT OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION Subject: N/A NRC Generic Letter 89-04, Supp. 1: "Guidance on Developing Acceptable Inservice Testing Programs," to be issued April 4, 1995. The NRC is issuing this generic letter to notify addressees that it is issuing NUREG-1482, "Guidelines for Inservice Testing Programs at Nuclear Power Plants." Technical contact: Patricia Campbell, NRR (301)-415-1311 PRIORITY ATTENTION REQUIRED MORNING REPORT - REGION II APRIL 3, 1995 Licensee/Facility: Notification: Babcock & Wilcox Co. MR Number: 2-95-0039 Babcock & Wilcox Co. Date: 04/03/95 Lynchburg,Virginia Dockets: 07000027 License No: SNM-42 URANIUM FUEL FABRICATION Subject: RESTART OF HIGH LEVEL DISSOLUTION OPERATION Reportable Event Number: N/A Discussion: This is an update to MR 2-95-0033 and EN 28569 dated March 21, 1995, regarding an accumulation of U-235 in the duct work of the Uranium Recovery facility that exceeded the license limit. The licensee had shut down the high level dissolution operations until an internal investigation was completed, root causes were determined, and adequate corrective actions implemented. As specified in the CAL issued March 21, the licensee discussed the results of the investigation with Region II and ONMSS on March 28, including root causes and immediate and long-term corrective actions. The licensee identified the root causes of the event to be an inadequate understanding of the various process parameters leading to accumulations of U-235 in the ventilation duct work and failure to establish controls adequate to mitigate such accumulations. On March 29, the licensee documented their findings and corrective actions in a letter to the NRC. Based on the results of the investigation and the onsite review of the implementation of the interim corrective actions by Region II, including confirmation of the immediate corrective actions, Region II and ONMSS had no objection to the restart. The licensee re-started the high level dissolution operations at 11:00 pm on April 2. The senior resident inspector observed the re-start. The licensee is proceeding slowly to ensure proper actions. Regional Action: The senior resident inspector will continue to monitor the licensee's activities Contact: Edward McAlpine (404)331-5547 PRIORITY ATTENTION REQUIRED MORNING REPORT - REGION III APRIL 3, 1995 Licensee/Facility: Notification: Midstates Steel MR Number: 3-95-0047 Midstates Steel Date: 03/30/95 Corydon,Indiana TELEPHONE CALL TO REGION III License No: NON-LICENSEE Subject: CONTAMINATED SCRAP METAL Reportable Event Number: N/A Discussion: The State of Indiana notified the Region III office that a rail car containing approximately two tons of scrap metal was rejected from a metal smelting facility in Illinois after the material set off a radiation alarm at that facility. The shipment of scrap metal was rejected and returned to Midstates Steel in Indiana. Representatives from the Indiana State Board of Health conducted radiation surveys of the scrap metal and found a maximum level of 20 microroentgens/hour (5.6 nanocoulomb/kilogram/hour (nC/kg/h)) near the scrap pile and an average concentration of cobalt-60 of 4.2 picocuries/gram. Regional Action: The Region provided the Indiana Board of Health a contact at U.S. EPA's Region V office. Contact: DARREL G. WIEDEMAN (708)829-9808 B.J. HOLT (708)829-9836 PRIORITY ATTENTION REQUIRED MORNING REPORT - REGION III APRIL 3, 1995 Licensee/Facility: Notification: Monroe Power Plant MR Number: 3-95-0048 Monroe Power Plant Date: 03/31/95 Monroe,Michigan PHONE BY MI DEPT OF PUBLIC HEALTH Dockets: 03004802 License No: 21-02335-02 Subject: RADIATION PORTAL MONITOR ALARM AT WASTE LANDFILL IN CARLTON, WI Reportable Event Number: N/A Discussion: The Michigan Department of Public Health (MDPH) received notification, on 3/31/95, of a normal trash waste shipment which produced an alarm of the radiation portal monitor at a waste landfill in Carlton, MI. A 30 cubic yard capacity dumpster showed 0.5 mr/hr at the surface along a 4 foot section of the container. The waste site refused the shipment and returned it to the shipper, Monroe Power Plant (MPP) in Monroe, MI. MPP is licensed for fixed industrial level and density gauges. They inventoried their gauges and found none were missing. Detroit Edison, MPP's owner, sent two radiation safety personnel to the plant with equipment capable of identifying the radioactive isotope involved. Preliminary analyses indicate that the radioactive material is thorium in zircon sand, used in sandblasting at the plant. Naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) is under the State of Michigan's jurisdiction. The MDPH also sent inspectors to the site. Regional Action: Region III has notified NMSS, OSP and the Chicago Office of the Environmental Protection Agency. Region III will monitor the situation. Contact: JAMES LYNCH (708)829-9818 PRIORITY ATTENTION REQUIRED MORNING REPORT - REGION IV APRIL 3, 1995 Licensee/Facility: Notification: Entergy Operations, Inc. MR Number: 4-95-0043 Arkansas Nuclear 1 Date: 04/03/95 Russelville,Arkansas Resident Inspector Dockets: 50-313 PWR/B&W-L-LP Subject: UNIT STARTUP FROM TWELFTH REFUELING OUTAGE Reportable Event Number: N/A Discussion: On March 31, 1995 at 5:21 p.m. (CST), Unit 1 achieved criticality ending its twelfth refueling outage. The outage officially ended when the main generator synchronized to the grid at 6:36 p.m. (CST), on April 1, 1995. The scheduled 45-day outage lasted 46 days, 18 hours. Major outage activities completed during the outage included a 10-year inservice inspection of the reactor vessel and an inspection of 20 percent of the steam generator tubes. The licensee also replaced the Inconnel 600 steam generators tube plugs, two safety-related inverters, service water piping, Rosemont transmitters in containment, and the motor and seals on Reactor Coolant Pump B. Major secondary plant work included a high pressure turbine upgrade, changeout of the low pressure B turbine and replacement of the Moisture Separator Reheater C and D tube bundles. Regional Action: The resident inspectors and regional staff will monitor power operation. Contact: K. M. Kennedy (501)968-3290 J. F. Melfi (501)968-3290 C. A. VanDenburgh (817)860-8161 PRIORITY ATTENTION REQUIRED MORNING REPORT - REGION IV APRIL 3, 1995 Licensee/Facility: Notification: Southern California Edison & San MR Number: 4-95-0044 Diego Gas & Electric Co. Date: 04/03/95 San Onofre 3 Resident Inspector Phone Call San Clemente,California Dockets: 50-362 PWR/CE Subject: INCORRECT ADDRESSABLE CONSTANTS INSTALLED IN CORE PROTECTION CALCULATORS (CPCs) Reportable Event Number: N/A Discussion: On March 31, 1995, at approximately 12:30 p.m., while reviewing CPC addressable constants to be installed in Unit 2 (currently in Mode 5), the licensee noted that the values were different than expected. Since fuel management in Unit 2 is transitioning to be more similar to that in Unit 3, the licensee expected values similar to those in Unit 3. The licensee reviewed the Unit 3 installed values and found that they did not match those provided by Combustion Engineering. The incorrect constants affected only the rod shadowing factors and, as Unit 3 was operating at full power with all control element assemblies (CEAs) withdrawn, the incorrect constants did not have immediate safety implications. However, the licensee determined that the CPCs would be inoperable if the CEAs were inserted. The licensee requested and received a letter from Combustion Engineering confirming the correct constants. The licensee installed the correct constants, and verified the other CPC addressable constants, by approximately 3:30 p.m. The licensee is continuing to investigate how the error occurred. It appears that the licensee may have input the Unit 2 values from the last operating cycle into the Unit 3 CPCs. The licensee preliminarily determined that sufficient margin existed during the operating cycle in the CPCs to compensate for the identified error. Regional Action: The resident inspectors are monitoring the licensee's actions. Contact: H. Wong (510)975-0296 J. Sloan (714)492-2641 PRIORITY ATTENTION REQUIRED MORNING REPORT - REGION IV APRIL 3, 1995 Licensee/Facility: Notification: Southern California Edison & San MR Number: 4-95-0045 Diego Gas & Electric Co. Date: 04/03/95 San Onofre 2 3 Telephone Call from Resident Insp. San Clemente,California Dockets: 50-361,50-362 PWR/CE,PWR/CE Subject: STOP WORK ORDER ISSUED TO CE FUEL FABRICATION FACILITY Reportable Event Number: N/A Discussion: On March 29, 1995, the licensee issued a Stop Work Order to the CE fuel fabrication facility (Hematite, Missouri) due to impurities identified on fuel pellets manufactured for San Onofre Unit 3. Spots were identified on some pellets. Originally, CE believed that the spots were caused by a lubricant on a bearing in a grinding machine used in the fabrication process. Subsequently, the licensee became aware that CE had previously experienced spotting in several trays of pellets, and had not included this event in its review of the current problem. This cast doubt on whether the bearing lubrication was the cause of the current spotting. Because CE was reluctant to suspend production activities before determining the cause and impact of the impurities on the fuel assembly cladding, the licensee issued a Stop Work Order. The Order requires the evaluation to be completed by CE, and approved by licensee management, before production can resume. All the fuel pellets for Unit 3 have already been manufactured, but have not been assembled into fuel assemblies yet. Regional Action: The resident inspectors are monitoring the licensee's actions. Contact: H. Wong (510)975-0296 J. Sloan (714)492-2641