Headquarters Daily Report DECEMBER 16, 1996 *************************************************************************** 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 DEC. 16, 1996 MR Number: H-96-0091 NRR DAILY REPORT ITEM GENERIC COMMUNICATIONS NRC Information Notice 96-67, "Vulnerability of Emergency Diesel Generators to Fuel Oil/Lubricating Oil Incompatibility," dated December 19, 1996. The NRC is issuing this information notice to alert addressees to a recent finding involving degradation of the power block assembly of two emergency diesel generators caused by an incompatibility of the lubricating oil with fuel oil with a low sulfur content. Technical contacts: Kirke Lathrop, Region I (410) 586-2626 Krzysztof Parczewski, NRR (301) 415-2705 NRC Information Notice 96-65, "Operator Actions Affecting Reactivity," dated December 20, 1996. The NRC is issuing this information notice to alert addressees to operating events that have affected reactivity. Technical contacts: N. D. Hilton, RIII M. S. Miller, RII (815) 234-5451 (407) 464-7822 R. C. Barr, RIV S. S. Koenick NRR (509) 377-2627 (301) 415 2841 _ HEADQUARTERS MORNING REPORT PAGE 2 DECEMBER 16, 1996 MR Number: H-96-0092 NRR DAILY REPORT ITEM GENERIC COMMUNICATIONS NRC Information Notice 96-68, "Incorrect Effective Diaphragm Area Values in Vendor Manual Result in Potential Failure of Pneumatic Diaphragm Actuators," dated December 19, 1996. The NRC is issuing this information notice to alert addressees to the fact that some vendors have published incorrect values for effective diaphragm area for some spring-type pneumatic diaphragm actuators and that use of these incorrect values may result in safety-related air-operated valves not fully closing under design basis conditions. Technical contacts: Patricia Campbell, NRR (301) 415-1311 David Skeen, NRR (301) 415-1174 Andrew Dunlop, RIII (630) 829-9726 _ REGION I MORNING REPORT PAGE 3 DECEMBER 16, 1996 Licensee/Facility: Notification: New York Power Authority MR Number: 1-96-0108 Fitz Patrick 1 Date: 12/16/96 Lycoming,New York SRI PC Dockets: 50-333 BWR/GE-4 Subject: REACTOR MANUAL SCRAM FOLLOWING IDENTIFICATION OF AN ELECTRO- HYDRAULIC CONTROL (EHC) SYSTEM LEAK Discussion: At 1:00 a.m. on December 15, 1996, during power accession testing following a refueling outage, the operators inserted a manual reactor scram following the identification of a significant (1-2 gpm) EHC fluid leak from the No. 4 turbine by- pass valve. NYPA was conducting control rod drive scram timing testing at a steady state power level of 38 percent when the oil leakage occurred. The leakage was rapidly identified by an auxiliary operator prior to the receipt of an EHC system alarm; thus the quantity of oil which leaked was minimized. A Group II isolation occurred on low reactor water level; no other ESF actuation occurred and all systems responded as expected. NYPA completed a temporary repair to the EHC system to isolate the oil leak and ensure that bypass valve control would not be lost during the plant cooldown. The plant was in cold shutdown at 12:35 p.m. on December 15th. NYPA has made repairs to the EHC system and is continuing with other shutdown maintenance while preparing for plant start-up on December 17, 1996. Preliminary review has determined the failure to be associated with a failed oil seal ring which had been replaced during the refueling outage. This seal previously failed during post-work testing, possibly due to a slight seal misalignment (i.e. the seal package has very tight tolerances), and thus was replaced twice during the refueling outage. NYPA is currently completing an equipment failure evaluation to determine the root cause of the recent seal failure as well as identify whether a similar problem could occur on other related equipment. NYPA is also completing their post-trip review of the plant response to this scram. Regional Action: Resident inspectors are continuing their review of NYPA's post-trip review and root cause analysis of the EHC oil leak as well as following forced outage related activities. Contact: Ricardo Fernandes (315)342-4907 Richard Barkley (610)337-5065 _ REGION II MORNING REPORT PAGE 4 DECEMBER 16, 1996 Licensee/Facility: Notification: Carolina Power & Light Co. MR Number: 2-96-0122 Robinson 2 Date: 12/16/96 Hartsville,South Carolina Dockets: 50-261 PWR/W-3-LP Subject: LOCA MODEL ERROR Discussion: On December 12 the licensee conducted an audit of the Siemens LOCA calculation, at Siemens offices. An error was detected by the licensee which was not previously known to them. The effect of the error was also not known by the licensee. The immediate action was to have Siemens rerun the calculation to determine if current operation was acceptable. The calculation indicated that the error was conservative for the first 87 days from the recent refueling, RF-17. This period ends about January 30, 1997. No Technical Specifications were violated. The error was related to elevation of power in the core for axially skewed power shapes. BACKGROUND Siemens detected a LOCA model error on November 20, 1992 and notified NRC. The evaluation of the error was completed and sent to the NRC on January 13, 1993. It was conservative for all plants except Robinson. A 14.6 degree F impact. The error was evaluated as conservative by Siemens and left in the model. However, it was not conservative for Robinson for the limiting case having a 14.6 degree F impact. The error results in the calculated peak cladding temperatures (PCTs) being about 15 degree F higher than the first calculation but still lower than the maximum limit. This error was not included in recent LOCA calculations and evaluations submitted to the NRC in November 1996. The NRC indicated that based on the recent submittal the calculation was adequate for the first 87 day run for refueling cycle, RF-17. The period ends about January 30, 1997. The licensee determined that even at twice the error, the allowable PCT would not have been exceeded. Siemens has been requested to complete the evaluation and include it with the evaluation of other LOCA considerations for the disallowed portion of the current LOCA model. Regional Action: Followup by the resident inspector and NRR. Contact: F. JAPE (404)331-5649 _