Headquarters Daily Report DECEMBER 04, 1995 *************************************************************************** REPORT NEGATIVE NO INPUT ATTACHED INPUT RECEIVED RECEIVED HEADQUARTERS û REGION I û REGION II û REGION III û REGION IV û PRIORITY ATTENTION REQUIRED MORNING REPORT - REGION I DEC. 04, 1995 Licensee/Facility: Notification: Northeast Utilities MR Number: 1-95-0145 Millstone 3 Date: 12/04/95 Waterford,Connecticut Dockets: 50-423 PWR/W-4-LP Subject: PLANT SHUTDOWN TO REPAIR A SMALL REACTOR COOLANT SYSTEM LEAK Discussion: On November 30, 1995, at approximately 8:30 a.m., the licensee notified the NRC Headquarters Operations Officer that it had initiated a plant shutdown to inspect and perform the necessary repairs on a leaking reactor coolant system (RCS) safety injection check valve in the "D" loop. The check valve had exhibited indications of body to bonnet leakage. During subsequent containment entries, the licensee identified a leaking weld on a 1 inch elbow flow tap in the "C" reactor coolant loop. Accordingly, at approximately 8:30 p.m. on the same day, the licensee decided to place the plant in cold shutdown to repair the RCS pressure boundary leakage. In addition, the licensee identified a leaking "D" reactor coolant pump seal, and indications of body to bonnet leakage on a RCS safety injection check valve in the "A" loop. The licensee expects the repairs to take approximately 15-17 days, and intends to issue a press release. Regional Action: The NRC resident inspectors are following the licensee's plans to address the leaking check valve, and the Region I technical division will review the additional problems identified inside containment. Contact: Roberto De La Esprie (203)447-3179 Paul Swetland (203)447-3179 _ REGION I MORNING REPORT PAGE 2 DECEMBER 4, 1995 Licensee/Facility: Notification: Duquesne Light Co. MR Number: 1-95-0146 Beaver Valley 1 2 Date: 12/04/95 Shippingport,Pennsylvania Dockets: 50-334,50-412 PWR/W-3-LP,PWR/W-3-LP Subject: EXPECTED LOCKOUT OF SECURITY GUARDS Discussion: On November 30, 1995, members of the security force at the Beaver Valley Power Station voted to reject a contract offer from Burns International Security Service and to authorize their representative to call a strike. The previous contract between Burns International and the security force expired on November 30 and has not been extended. The security force is represented by Local 502 of the United Plant Guard Workers of America (UPGWA). The UPGWA representative has not called for a strike. However, on December 1, Burns International issued an ultimatum to UPGWA to accept the previous offer, or they will be locked out starting at 1 pm on December 4. On December 3, the security force again voted to reject the contract offer, and so a lockout of unionized members of the security force is expected at 1 pm today. Nonunionized Burns employees were brought in and trained during the previous week to supplement the site security force supervisory staff to ensure continued implementation of the security plan. The Burns contingency personnel have been shadowing the UPGWA security personnel and are prepared to replace them should a lock out occur. Station staff other than security are represented by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and are not expected to be impacted by this contract dispute. Regional Action: The resident inspectors are currently on site monitoring licensee activities. Contact: Pete Eselgroth (610)337-5234 Richard Keimig (610)337-5255 Lawrence Rossbach (412)643-2000 _ REGION I MORNING REPORT PAGE 3 DECEMBER 4, 1995 Licensee/Facility: Notification: New York Power Authority MR Number: 1-95-0147 Indian Point 3 Date: 12/04/95 Buchanan,New York SRI CALL Dockets: 50-286 PWR/W-4-LP Subject: COMPONENT COOLING WATER RELIEF VALVE LEAKAGE INSIDE CONTAINMENT Discussion: On Sunday, December 3, 1995, at approximately 9:30 am, NYPA detected relief valve AC-819A on the component cooling water side of the 31 RHR heat exchanger, which is located inside containment, to be leaking. The leak had apparently started on Saturday afternoon (12/2) after a component cooling water pump auto-started and caused a pressure surge that momentarily lifted the relief valve. The relief valve did not properly reseat and the leak was not identified until Sunday morning. NYPA currently has established a task force to identify a permanent solution to the problem of the relief valve lifting upon the start of one or more component cooling water pumps. Corrective actions implemented less than two years ago to prevent this infrequent but recurring problem have not been fully successful. A separate investigation is also underway to evaluate why this leaking relief valve was not detected earlier by the operators. The valve discharged about 1,500 gallons over a period of 16 hours, requiring several additions of water to the component cooling water surge tank as well as pumping of the containment sump on more than one occasion. Preliminary interviews of the operators indicated that they expected the additions to the surge tank due to the removal of the heat load on the RHR heat exchanger (and the resulting shrinkage of the component cooling system water volume) during the ongoing plant startup; however, the frequent pumping of the containment sump was unexplained. NYPA has currently halted the reactor heatup at 230F pending the completion of RHR check valve testing and the results of the above investigations. Regional Action: The NRC resident inspectors are reviewing this evolution and will evaluate the findings of the NYPA investigations. Region I already has plans to observe the restart of Indian Point 3 on an around-the-clock basis beginning just prior to the plant going critical. The resident inspectors observed the plant evolutions directly leading up to exceeding cold shutdown on Saturday morning. Contact: Richard Barkley (610)337-5065 _