Headquarters Daily Report APRIL 21, 1997 *************************************************************************** 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 APRIL 21, 1997 MR Number: H-97-0044 NRR DAILY REPORT ITEM GENERIC COMMUNICATIONS NRC Information Notice 97-21, "Availability of Alternate AC Power Source Designed for Station Blackout Event" dated April 18, 1997. The NRC is issuing this information notice to alert addressees to potential unavailability of an alternate ac power source during a station blackout event. Technical contacts: A. Pal, NRR (301) 415-2760 Thomas Koshy, NRR (301) 415-1176 David Skeen, NRR (301) 415-1174 _ REGION I MORNING REPORT PAGE 2 APRIL 21, 1997 Licensee/Facility: Notification: Public Service Electric & Gas Co. MR Number: 1-97-0028 Salem 1 2 Date: 04/21/97 Hancocks Bridge,New Jersey SRI PC Dockets: 50-272,50-311 PWR/W-4-LP,PWR/W-4-LP Subject: LICENSEE REORGANIZATION Discussion: On April 17, 1997, the licensee announced, effective April 21, a major re- organization of the Nuclear Business Unit (NBU), affecting both Salem and Hope Creek generating stations. The new organization is led by Leon Eliason, the Chief Nuclear Officer. His four direct reports are: L. Storz, Sr. VP - Operations; E. Simpson, Sr. VP - Engineering; J. McMahon, Director - QA; and, E. Salowitz, Director, Business Support. Among the changes in the new organization are: creating a Salem Unit 1 Recovery Organization and Director; placing the Licensing function in the Nuclear Engineering Organization; and consolidating the maintenance organizations for both stations into a single group. Key personnel assignments within this new organization are: J. Benjamin, Salem Unit 1 Recovery Director; M. Trum, NBU Maintenance General Manager; M. Reddemann, Salem Design Engineering/Nuclear Fuels Director; M. Rencheck, Salem System Engineering Director; and, D. Crouch, Maintenance & Construction Planning Manager. Regional Action: No Further Action. Contact: Robert Summers (609)935-3850 James Linville (610)337-5129 _ REGION II MORNING REPORT PAGE 3 APRIL 21, 1997 Licensee/Facility: Notification: Carolina Power & Light Co. MR Number: 2-97-0029 Brunswick 1 2 Date: 04/21/97 Southport,North Carolina Dockets: 50-325,50-324 BWR/GE-4,BWR/GE-4 Carolina Power & Light Co. Robinson 2 Hartsville,South Carolina Dockets: 50-261 PWR/W-3-LP Subject: MANAGEMENT CHANGES Discussion: Carolina Power & Light Company (CP&L) announced on April 18, 1997, that Mr. Scotty Hinnant, currently Vice President at the H. B. Robinson Plant has been named as interim Vice President of the Brunswick Nuclear site. He is replacing Mr. Bill Campbell who is to be the Vice President and Director of the Operations and Support Department (OESD) at the CP&L Corporate Office. Mr. Tom Walt, who had been serving as interim director of OESD, will continue to oversee the Performance Evaluation Support and Licensing and Regulatory Affairs functions. He will be reporting directly to the Executive Vice President and Chief Nuclear Officer, Mr. Skip Orser. Mr. Jack Keenan, currently H. B. Robinson Director of Site Operations, will assume Mr. Hinnant's responsibilities as Vice President at the H. B. Robinson Nuclear site. Regional Action: FOR INFORMATION ONLY Contact: G. WISEMAN (404)331-5533 _ REGION II MORNING REPORT PAGE 4 APRIL 21, 1997 Licensee/Facility: Notification: General Electric MR Number: 2-97-0030 General Electric Nep Date: 04/21/97 Wilmington,North Carolina Dockets: 00701113 License No: SNM 1097 Subject: FIRE IN PROCESS EQUIPMENT Discussion: On April 19, 1997, the licensee notified Region II of a localized fire at its facility near Wilmington, North Carolina. At approximately 10:20 am, a small fire occurred at the entrance to a sintering furnace in the Gadolinia shop. The inner door of the loading box opened before the purge of the box was completed, releasing air into the furnace. A flashback fire occurred. A pressure release device opened on the furnace and the flame ignited a plastic flow meter next to the furnace. The fire was extinguished by an operator who received a small burn on his hand and a flash burn on his face. The operator was surveyed by radiation protection personnel and released. He was taken to a local hospital for treatment and released to return to work. No visible damage occurred to the furnace other than the burned flow meter. The furnace has been placed in "idle" while an investigation is conducted to determine the root cause. There was one container of uranium fuel pellets in the opposite end of the furnace at the time of the fire. No radioactive material was released and there was not spread of contamination. Regional Action: Review the circumstances and root cause investigation findings during the next inspection. Contact: G. L. TROUP (404)331-5566 _ REGION III MORNING REPORT PAGE 5 APRIL 21, 1997 Licensee/Facility: Notification: Consumers Power Co. MR Number: 3-97-0064 Big Rock Point 1 Date: 04/21/97 Charlevoix,Michigan INSPECTOR AT SITE Dockets: 50-155 BWR/GE-1 Subject: OUTAGE CONTINUATION Discussion: The forced outage that began on March 2, 1997, to repair MO-7071 and VPI-303 has been extended. On April 20, 1997, at 0650 the reactor was taken critical and a plant heatup was commenced. At 1230, with reactor pressure at 580 PSIG, the control room operator attempted to adjust the recirculation coolant pumps' (RCP) seal flows and discovered that the inner seal on the No. 2 RCP was not functioning. Preparations for a reactor shutdown began, and at 1347 on April 20, 1997, the plant reactor was shutdown by a manual scram from 1 per cent power. During the startup activities, the turbine was not rolled, and the main generator breaker was not closed; thus, continuing the forced outage that began on March 2. The plant will be shutdown for another 4 days to replace the No. 2 RCP seals. Regional Action: The SRI and a regional inspector monitored the plant startup and observed the manual reactor scram. Contact: BRUCE BURGESS (630)829-9629 _ REGION IV MORNING REPORT PAGE 6 APRIL 21, 1997 Licensee/Facility: Notification: Union Electric Co. MR Number: 4-97-0038 Callaway 1 Date: 04/16/97 Fulton,Missouri RI via telephone from licensee Dockets: 50-483 PWR/W-4-LP Subject: FITNESS FOR DUTY Discussion: On April 16, the resident inspector was notified that a system engineer (HVAC) had tested positive for cocaine and had been suspended. The licensee withdrew the engineer's protected area access following notification of the test results. The employee is appealing the test results as is allowed by the licensee's fitness for duty program. Analysis of the split sample will be forthcoming. This particular individual had tested positive for marijuana in December 1995 and had been on an accelerated testing frequency. Regional Action: The resident inspectors are monitoring the licensee's actions. Contact: Frank Brush (573)676-3181 W. D. Johnson (817)860-8148 _ REGION IV MORNING REPORT PAGE 7 APRIL 21, 1997 Licensee/Facility: Notification: Southern California Edison & San MR Number: 4-97-0039 Diego Gas & Electric Co. Date: 04/19/97 San Onofre 3 Licensee notified RIs San Clemente,California Dockets: 50-362 PWR/CE Subject: CONTROL ELEMENT ASSEMBLY (CEA) STUCK IN UPPER GUIDE STRUCTURE (UGS) DURING REFUELING OPERATIONS Discussion: On April 19, 1997, while Unit 3 was in Mode 6 manually withdrawing 4-fingered CEAs into the UGS prior to UGS removal, CEA 91 became stuck. The CEA was being withdrawn using a crane, and a load cell was in service. Apparently, the CEA twisted slightly during withdrawal and became entangled with the guides at the top of the extension shaft housing. The licensee person watching the load cell apparently became inattentive while shifting positions and did not see the change in load. However, enough force was exerted to bend the guide pieces and break a weld. The guide pieces bent and jammed against the extension shaft. The CEA was still inserted approximately 2 feet into the core. The licensee stopped the evolution to evaluate the condition and formulate an action plan. The licensee determined that there was no apparent damage to the fuel and only minor damage to the spider assembly at the top of the CEA. Initial attempts to free the CEA have not been successful. It remains stuck. The licensee is now developing their new action plan. Unit 2 was operating at approximately 100 percent at the time. Unit 1 was permanently shut down in November 1992. Regional Action: The resident inspectors are following the licensee's actions. Contact: Dennis Kirsch (510)975-0290 Jim Sloan (714)492-2641 _ REGION IV MORNING REPORT PAGE 8 APRIL 21, 1997 Licensee/Facility: Notification: Southern California Edison & San MR Number: 4-97-0040 Diego Gas & Electric Co. Date: 04/17/97 San Onofre 3 Licensee notified RIs San Clemente,California Dockets: 50-362 PWR/CE Subject: DEGRADATION OF STEAM GENERATOR (SG) INTERNAL TUBE SUPPORTS (EGG CRATES) Discussion: On April 17, 1997, while Unit 3 was in Mode 5, the licensee performed limited video inspections of the egg crates in one SG. The inspections were intended to establish the condition of the egg crates prior to performing SG chemical cleaning. The licensee identified that some of the egg crate material appeared to be significantly eroded at the periphery of the tube bundle, in the vicinity of the outer row of tubes. Similar degradation was identified in the other SG the following day. There are egg crates at 10 elevations in the SG. The degradation appeared to be the most pronounced at the third, fourth, and seventh egg crates up from the tubesheet. Additionally, the degradation was greater in the hot leg side than in the cold leg side, although some degradation was observed in the cold leg side. The egg crates are carbon steel straps with a nominal thickness of 90 mils. They are welded to the shroud at the periphery. The licensee is investigating, with Asea Brown Boveri/Combustion Engineering, the structural integrity requirements of the egg crates. Unit 2 is operating at 100 percent power after having completed a refueling outage on April 1, 1997. Limited inspections of the Unit 2 SGs prior to chemical cleaning did not reveal degradation similar to that observed in Unit 3. Unit 1 was permanently shut down in November 1992. Regional Action: The resident inspectors are following the licensee's actions. Contact: Dennis Kirsch (510)975-0290 Jim Sloan (714)492-2641 _