Headquarters Daily Report APRIL 08, 1998 *************************************************************************** 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 8, 1998 Licensee/Facility: Notification: MR Number: H-98-0060 Test Date: 04/08/98 Subject: test te Discussion: _ REGION I MORNING REPORT PAGE 2 APRIL 8, 1998 Licensee/Facility: Notification: Public Service Electric & Gas Co. MR Number: 1-98-0020 Salem 2 Date: 04/08/98 Hancocks Bridge,New Jersey SRI PC Dockets: 50-311 PWR/W-4-LP Subject: SALEM UNIT 2 LOAD REDUCTION DUE TO RIVER GRASS Discussion: At 1:22 a.m. on April 8, 1998, with Salem Unit 2 in Mode 1 at 100 percent power, one of the two service water (SW) loops was declared inoperable due to two SW pump discharge strainers tripping on overload, rendering the associated pumps inoperable. Preliminary inspections of the strainers revealed that they were clogged with grass and debris from the Delaware River (ultimate heat sink), indicating debris carryover past the SW suction side traveling screens. Technical Specifications require two operable SW loops, with the action statement allowing 72 hours to restore the inoperable SW loop to an operable status before a unit shutdown is required. At the time of event, one of the three strainers in the operable SW loop was unavailable for pre-planned corrective maintenance. The circulating water (CW) system was unaffected. As a precaution, PSE&G management elected to take Unit 2 off line for further investigation and repairs of the strainers. At 4:47 a.m., Unit 2 operators commenced a power reduction to minimum load; the extent and duration of the load reduction is under review. At the time of this event, Salem Unit 1 was in Mode 2 with low power physics testing in progress. No effects on the Unit 1 SW or CW systems were noted. Salem Unit 2 has been on line 24 days since restarting from a February 1998 forced outage due to an emergency diesel generator turbocharger failure. During that forced outage, excessive river grass intrusion into the SW system resulted in a safety-related chiller trip due to associated heat exchanger fouling. Corrective actions implemented following that event included more frequent river debris samples and analysis, accelerated monitoring and trending of all SW-cooled heat exchanger flow rates, and inspections and repairs of all SW discharge strainer filter media. Additionally, SW traveling screens were operated continuously in manual control versus cycling in automatic. Regional Action: An NRC inspector was in the control room at the time of this latest event and observed that plant operators acted appropriately in response to the adverse conditions. The inspectors also witnessed the initial internal SW strainer inspections and validated PSE&G's preliminary findings. Extended NRC coverage continues at Salem for Unit 1 restart inspections. Contact: James Linville (610)337-5129 _