Headquarters Daily Report SEPTEMBER 28, 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 - HEADQUARTERS SEP. 28, 1995 MR Number: H-95-0126 NRR DAILY REPORT ITEM GENERIC COMMUNICATIONS NRC Information Notice 95-42, "Commission Decision on the Resolution of Generic Issue 23, `Reactor Coolant Pump Seal Failure'," dated September 22, 1995. The NRC issued this information notice to notify addressees of the Commission's decision on Generic Issue (GI) 23, "Reactor Coolant Pump Seal Failure." This decision was documented in a staff requirements memorandum (SRM) from John C. Hoyle to James M. Taylor, dated March 31, 1995 (Accession Number 9504140300), written in response to SECY-94-225, "Issuance of Proposed Rulemaking Package on GI-23, `Reactor Coolant Pump Seal Failure'." Technical contacts: Chu-yu Liang, NRR Syed K. Shaukat, RES (301) 415-2878 (301) 415-6592 Christopher Jackson, NRR (301) 415-2947 NRC Information Notice 95-43, "Failure of the Bolt-Locking Device on the Reactor Coolant Pump Turning Vane," dated September 28, 1995. The NRC is issuing this information notice to alert addressees to a recent event involving problems that have resulted in the loss of integrity of bolt-locking devices in the turning vane diffuser attachment of Westinghouse reactor coolant pumps. Technical contact: Francis Grubelich, NRR (301) 415-2784 _ REGION I MORNING REPORT PAGE 2 SEPTEMBER 28, 1995 Licensee/Facility: Notification: Gpu Nuclear Corp. MR Number: 1-95-0126 Three Mile Island 1 Date: 09/27/95 Middletown,Pennsylvania SRI PC Dockets: 50-289 PWR/B&W-L-LP Subject: FUEL ASSEMBLY DEGRADATION Discussion: The Three Mile Island 1 plant, shutdown since September 8, 1995, for its scheduled refueling and maintenance outage, has found an unusual buildup of corrosion products on approximately 40 of the 177 fuel assemblies. GPUN engineers are using underwater video camers to inspect the fuel pins and are performing eddy current testing on pins that show signs of corrosion buildup. Some of the fuel assemblies with the corrosion product buildup have clad wall thinning of the outer face pins. The GPUN inspections revealed small defects in a total of nine fuel pins in five assemblies. Defective pins in four of the fuel assemblies were replaced with stainless steel or donor pins from other fuel assemblies. The fifth fuel assembly was removed from the core and was placed in the spent fuel pool. GPUN states that the pin-hole size defects in the pins' metal cladding have occurred only in first cycle fuel with high (4.75 percent) enrichment. The area of concern is from 100 to 130 inches from the lower core plate in the highest flux area of the fuel assemblies. Other fuel assemblies with identified defects will be reconstituted with stainless steel or donor pins. Reloading the reactor core has been stopped until the fuel assembly/pin inspection activities are completed. GPUN has assembled a team that includes industry expects to determine the root cause of this problem and to consider any safety-related issues. Regional Action: The resident inspectors, NRR reviewers, and regional and NRR management discussed this issue with GPUN and B&W representatives yesterday. The NRC will continue to follow the licensee corrective actions. Contact: Eben Conner (610)337-5399 _ REGION III MORNING REPORT PAGE 3 SEPTEMBER 28, 1995 Licensee/Facility: Notification: Clevite Corporation MR Number: 3-95-0153 Gould Electronics Date: 09/27/95 Cleveland,Ohio VIA TELEPHONE Dockets: 07000133 Subject: DISCOVERY OF A RA-226 SOURCE AND THORIUM OXIDE POWDER AT AN SDMP SITE UNDERGOING SITE CHARACTERIZATION SURVEYS. Discussion: During site characterization surveys of unaffected areas of the former Clevite Corporation nuclear fuel manufacturing site, the contractor discovered an Alnor Dew Pointer in a container. This instrument is a 7 microcurie Ra-226 source which read 20 mR/h on contact. The source was found unsecured in an unused portion of the building. The source was smeared and no contamination was detected on the smear. This source has been secured in a locked room. The contractor contacted Alnor, which indicated the source was sold to Busch Labs in 1935 - Busch Labs occupied this building prior to Clevite. Alnor indicated they would dispose of the source. The contractor also notified Gould Electronics and arrangements will be made to dispose of the source. The contractor also discovered a bottle labelled as one pound of thorium oxide, which was about one-sixth full, in an unsecured storage shed in the backyard of the facility. This has also been secured by the contractor in a locked room. In addition, widespread contamination has been found in areas previously considered unaffected and in ventilation ductwork. Regional Action: The NRC notified Ruth Vandergrift, Ohio Department of Health. Region III will followup on the disposal of the Ra-226 source and thorium oxide powder. Contact: RAY GLINSKI (708)829-9813 _