Headquarters Daily Report NOVEMBER 30, 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 NOV. 30, 1995 Licensee/Facility: Notification: Rochester Gas & Electric Corp. MR Number: H-95-0142 Ginna 1 Date: 11/30/95 Ontario,New York Dockets: 50-244 PWR/W-2-LP Discussion: NRC Information Notice 95-47, Rev 1., "Unexpected Opening of a Safety/Relief Valve and Complications Involving Suppression Pool Cooling Strainer Blockage," dated November 30, 1995. The NRC issued this revised information notice to alert addressees to a recent failure of a safety/relief valve to remain closed during steady-state reactor operation and the attendant complications involving suppression pool cooling including strainer blockage. Technical contacts: Robert Elliott, NRR (301) 415-1397 Jerry Carter, NRR (301) 415-1153 _ REGION I MORNING REPORT PAGE 2 NOVEMBER 30, 1995 Licensee/Facility: Notification: Niagara Mohawk Power Corp. MR Number: 1-95-0144 Nine Mile Point 1 Date: 11/30/95 Lycoming,New York RI FAX Dockets: 50-220 BWR/GE-2 Subject: DROPPED RADWASTE CASK LINER Discussion: At 8:23 a.m. on November 29, 1995 at Nine Mile Unit 1, while preparing to lower a filled radwaste cask liner through the Radwaste Solidification and Storage Building floor opening to a cask on a truck located in the East Truck Loading Area, the lifting device used to move the liner failed. The liner disengaged from the lifting device and fell from a height of one foot above the floor opening becoming wedged in the opening, suspended approximately 20 feet above the truck bay floor. The liner weighs 5500 pounds and contains dry radioactive waste with contact dose rates of approximately 2.5 R/h on the side and 500 mR/h at the top. The plant was at 100 percent power at the time of the event. Initial evaluation by Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation (NMPC) determined the liner to be undamaged and stable in the wedged position. No abnormal radiological conditions were identified. The truck was removed from the truck bay and all subsequent work in the truck bay area was suspended. Positive controls were established by NMPC to preclude inadvertant personnel access to the areas until the cask liner is placed in a secured condition. A further precautionary measure consisted of securing the truck loading area doors to ensure that the areas within the building will remain under negative pressure, thereby isolating the areas from the outside environment. The Station Shift Supervisor with Plant Manager concurrence authorized manual rigging of the cask liner to the truck bay floor. The first attempts to rig the liner were aborted due to an inability to obtain a satisfactory grasp of the liner. Rigging operations were secured for further evaluation of the rigging configuration, and plans are to continue on November 30, 1995. The failure was apparently due to a sheared drift pin on the lifting device; however, further evaluation of the incident is required for determination of the root cause. A Chem Nuclear representative, the designer of the lifting device, will be onsite on November 30, 1995 to assist in the NMPC investigation. NMPC actions and discussions were observed by NRC resident inspectors. Regional Action: The resident inspectors will continue to follow the recovery efforts of the cask liner and subsequent root cause analysis and corrective actions. Contact: Harold Eichenholz (610)337-5225 _ REGION II MORNING REPORT PAGE 3 NOVEMBER 30, 1995 Licensee/Facility: Notification: MR Number: 2-95-0101 North Carolina State University Date: 11/30/95 Raleigh,North Carolina Dockets: 05000297 License No: R-120 1000 KW PULSTAR POOL TYPE Subject: Failure of the Linear Channel to Automatically Up-range Discussion: On November 28, the licensee notified Region II of an indication failure in one of the reactor monitoring instruments. During the past two months, the licensee has been upgrading certain of the research reactor nuclear instrumentation channels with modern design nuclear instruments from Gamma Metrics (G-M). Upgrades were performed under the provisions of 10 CFR 50.59 following review and approval of their Reactor Safety and Audit Committee. One of the upgrades was to the linear channel, which provides the reactor operators with accurate information on reactor power level. On November 6, 1995, the reactor was started following post installation testing of the safety channel. At one point reactor power was increased but the G-M linear channel failed to automatically up-range. Contrary to the operating manual procedure, the operator placed the channel in the "manual" mode in order to manually up-range the linear channel when the automatic function did not respond. No further anomalies were observed. On November 15, 1995, the G-M linear channel again failed to automatically up-range. The channel was placed in "manual" and was successfully up-ranged and down-ranged with the reactor at a constant power level. The reactor was then shut down and the licensee began troubleshooting the problem using a maintenance procedure. The linear channel card was determined to be defective and was subsequently sent to G-M for repair. The reactor remains shutdown. Regional Action: An inspection and review of the incident is scheduled for the week of December 4, 1995. NRR will participate in the inspection. Contact: Craig Bassett (404)331-5570 _ REGION II MORNING REPORT PAGE 4 NOVEMBER 30, 1995 Licensee/Facility: Notification: University Of Virginia MR Number: 2-95-0102 Univ Of Virginia Date: 11/30/95 Charlottesville,Virginia Dockets: 05000062 License No: R-66 2000 KW POOL Subject: Small Leakage of Water From Reactor Pool Discussion: The University of Virginia has detected leakage from the pool of water surrounding the research reactor. The rate of leakage is estimated to be from 100 to 120 gallons per day as determined by pool level decrease. The licensee has pool water makeup capacity of twenty-five gallons-per- minute. The pool is a concrete structure 32 feet long, 12 feet wide, and 26 feet deep containing approximately 75,000 gallons of water. The licensee has not identified the location of the leakage. The licensee indicates that, if water leaks outside the building, the pathway would be into a retention pond next to the reactor building. Measured radioactivity levels in water samples from the reactor pool are generally below 10 CFR Part 20 limits for release to unrestricted areas except for sodium-24. Measured radioactivity levels in water samples from the pond are well below 10 CFR Part 20 limits for release to unrestricted areas. The licensee will be analyzing pool and pond water samples on a weekly basis. The licensee is monitoring the pool water level on a daily basis. The licensee has an alarm which activates if the pool water level drops to a predetermined level which is 19 feet above the top of the reactor fuel. The alarm system activates an automatic telephone notification of designated licensee individuals during periods when no one is in the facility. The licensee plans to initiate underwater grouting of areas of suspected leakage pathways during the school Christmas holiday period. The licensee experienced a similar problem in October 1993 which was resolved. Regional Action: The Region has notified the Commonwealth of Virginia and is continuing to follow the licensee's actions. Contact: Craig Bassett (404)331-5570 _