Headquarters Daily Report OCTOBER 20, 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 OCTOBER 20, 1995 Licensee/Facility: Notification: Northeast Utilities MR Number: 1-95-0132 Millstone 2 3 Date: 10/20/95 Waterford,Connecticut Dockets: 50-336,50-423 PWR/CE,PWR/W-4-LP Subject: SIGNIFICANT PERSONNEL CHANGES AT MILLSTONE Discussion: The licensee formally announced three significant personnel changes at the Millstone Station, effective November 1, 1995. Gary Bouchard, the Unit 2 Director, will fill a vacant Station Services Director position, reporting to Donald Miller, Senior Vice President. Mr. Bouchard will be tasked with carrying out the critical Reengineering and Improving Station Performance initiatives at Millstone. Pete Richardson was promoted to Unit 2 Director. Mr. Richardson was the Unit 3 Operations Manager since January, 1995. Previously, he was the Director of Training at the Seabrook Station, where he worked for 17 years. Mr. Richardson previously held a senior reactor operator license at Millstone Unit 2, and had been a control room operator at Unit 1. Barry Pinkowitz, the Unit 3 Outage Manager, was permanently promoted to the Unit 3 Operations Manager position. He has been at Unit 3 since 1981, and holds a senior reactor operator license. Mr. Pinkowitz was instrumental in the success of the cycle 5 refueling outage at Unit 3, completed in 54 days. Contact: Roberto De La Esprie (203)447-3179 _ REGION III MORNING REPORT PAGE 2 OCTOBER 20, 1995 Licensee/Facility: Notification: MR Number: 3-95-0157 Us Army (Rock Island Illinois) Date: 10/19/95 Rock Island,Illinois Dockets: 03013027 License No: ML12-00722-06 Subject: EXPLOSION INVOLVING AMERICIUM-241 (AM-241) AND TRITIUM (H-3) Reportable Event Number: 29476 Discussion: An explosion of a self-propelled M109-A3 howitzer and a M584 ammunition carrier caused a release of Am-241 and H-3 from this equipment destroyed in an explosion during exercises at Fort Irwin, CA live fire range. The explosion occurred due to the cookoff of rounds which was caused by the improper placement of propellant bags. The explosion caused the release of 250 mircocuries of Am-241 contained in a chemical agent alarm, 18 curies of H-3 contained in two M140 alignment devices, 10 curies of H-3 contained in a M1A1 columnator, and .075 curies contained in a M1A2 gunners quadrant. No personnel injuries, contamination or exposures have been reported. The licensee actions will be to take wipe tests and bioassays after the Explosion Ordinance Defense (EOD) team has cleared the area for personnel entry. Regional Action: Region III will continue to monitor the licensees response to this event. The licensee will followup with a written report within 30 days. Contact: TOM KOZAK (708)829-9866 BOB HAYS (708)829-9819 _ REGION IV MORNING REPORT PAGE 3 OCTOBER 20, 1995 Licensee/Facility: Notification: Houston Lighting & Power Co. MR Number: 4-95-0129 South Texas 2 Date: 10/20/95 Wadsworth,Texas Senior Resident Inspector Dockets: 50-499 PWR/W-4-LP Subject: FUEL HANDLING EVENT DURING FUEL RELOAD Discussion: On October 18, 1995, at approximately 11:30 p.m. (CDT), the licensee was commencing reactor core reload. The first assembly was raised and was in the process of being transported to the upender when, after only traveling a few inches, the operator noted that the fuel assembly was leaning slightly off vertical. Fuel movement was stopped and it was noted that the bottom nozzle of the fuel assembly was resting on the top of an adjacent fuel rack. It was discovered that the safety sling which was designed to be rigged in parallel with the load cell had, in fact, been rigged in series between the load cell and the fuel handling machine hook. This setup was approximately 1.5 feet longer than normal and did not allow the bottom of the fuel assembly to fully clear the top of the spent fuel pool rack. The licensee took compensatory actions including closing the transfer canal gate to isolate the spent fuel pool from the reactor cavity. A spent fuel pool chemistry sample indicated that there had been no change in radionuclide concentrations in the fuel pool. The licensee manually raised the hoist approximately 1 inch and the assembly cleared the spent fuel rack. The assembly was lowered into an unused cell of the spent fuel rack and unlatched with no indications of any problems. A camera inspection of the fuel assembly did not reveal any marks or indications on the bottom of the fuel or bottom nozzle. The top nozzle was inspected when the fuel assembly was lowered into the rack with no indications noted. A subsequent detailed inspection of the fuel assembly was performed and observed by the resident inspectors. No further marks or indications were observed. The licensee surmised that the impact on the assembly appears to have been minimal. Since raising the fuel assembly only 1 inch was required to clear the top of the spent fuel racks, the lateral force on the top nozzle was considered minor. After review of all inspection activities, the licensee concluded that no damage to the fuel assembly had occurred and, after extensive review of the rigging procedure, rigging equipment, activity supervision, and management oversight, including implementation of preliminary corrective actions the licensee recommenced refueling activities, starting with the discussed assembly. Currently, 23 assemblies have been loaded into the reactor, and no problems or concerns have been identified. The residents are continuing to monitor to licensee's refueling efforts, and plan to periodically inspect the licensee's activities during the remainder of the refueling activities. REGION IV MORNING REPORT PAGE 4 OCTOBER 20, 1995 MR Number: 4-95-0129 (cont.) Regional Action: For information only. Contact: J. Pellet (817)869-8183 R. Kopriva (817)869-8104 _