Headquarters Daily Report MARCH 20, 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 - REGION II MARCH 20, 1998 Licensee/Facility: Notification: Carolina Power & Light Co. MR Number: 2-98-0017 Brunswick 1 2 Date: 03/20/98 Southport,North Carolina Dockets: 50-325,50-324 BWR/GE-4,BWR/GE-4 Subject: MANAGEMENT CHANGE AT BRUNSWICK Discussion: Carolina Power and Light Company (CP&L) announced on March 20, 1998, that James Muntz will not join Brunswick on April 14, 1998, as the Director of Site Operation previously announced (See MR-2-98-0015). Mr. Muntz has declined the CP&L's offer and will remain with his present employer, PECO, who offered him a new position. Regional Action: For information only. Contact: Milton B. Shymlock (404)562-4540 _ REGION III MORNING REPORT PAGE 2 MARCH 20, 1998 Licensee/Facility: Notification: Northern States Power Co. MR Number: 3-98-0019 Monticello 1 Date: 03/20/98 Monticello,Minnesota SRI PC Dockets: 50-263 BWR/GE-3 Subject: MONTICELLO SHUT DOWN FOR REFUELING OUTAGE Discussion: On March 20, 1998, the control room operators took the Monticello turbine generator offline at about 3:50 a.m. to commence a scheduled 34-day refueling outage. In addition to refueling, major activities planned include: performing the reactor water clean-up line break isolation logic modification; implementing design changes to support the plant's future power up-rate effort (increase by 6.3 percent); performing significant maintenance on several motor-operated valves; and replacing the high pressure turbine buckets and diaphragms. Regional Action: The residents and regional inspectors will be following outage activities. Contact: J. MCCORMICK-BARGER (630)829-9872 M. KUNOWSKI (630)829-9618 _ REGION IV MORNING REPORT PAGE 3 MARCH 20, 1998 Licensee/Facility: Notification: Washington Public Power Supply System MR Number: 4-98-0012 Washington Nuclear 2 Date: 03/18/98 Richland,Washington Telephone Call from Resident Insp. Dockets: 50-397 BWR/GE-5 Subject: PLANT STARTUP FOLLOWING UNPLANNED REACTOR SCRAM Reportable Event Number: 33878 Discussion: On March 19, at 11:35 p.m. (PST), WNP-2 resumed critical reactor operation following an unplanned reactor scram which occurred on March 11. Generator output breaker closure and return to power operation occurred on March 20 at 6:15 a.m. (PST). The reactor trip was initiated by closure of a main steam isolation valve due to failure of instrument air tubing to the valve's actuator. The event and Region IV's response are described in Event Report Number 33878 and in Preliminary Notifications PNO-IV-98-012 and PNO-IV-98-012A. Region IV's response included a special inspection to review and evaluate plant system and operator performannce during and following the event. A detailed inspection report will be issued by the special inspection team. During the shutdown period, the licensee completed repairs to the failed instrument air tubing and completed required surveillance tests. There was additional training provided to all shift crews prior to the restart. The licensee also conducted comprehensive testing of the reactor core isolation cooling system to confirm system operability. The NRC resident inspector, with supplemental assistance from Region IV personnel, observed the licensee's actions to prepare for and resume power operation. Regional Action: Region IV personnel will conduct followup inspections of licensee corrective actions for issues identified during the postevent special inspection. Contact: R. Huey (925)975-0342 S. Boynton (509)377-2627 _ REGION IV MORNING REPORT PAGE 4 MARCH 20, 1998 Licensee/Facility: Notification: Wolf Creek Nuclear Oper. Corp. MR Number: 4-98-0013 Wolf Creek 1 Date: 03/19/98 Burlington,Kansas Telephone call to SRI Dockets: 50-482 PWR/W-4-LP Subject: ELECTRICIAN INJURY DUE TO INAPPROPRIATE BREAKER MAINTENANCE Discussion: On March 17, 1998, an electrician received a first degree flash burn to a finger while replacing a 480 VAC molded case breaker in an ITE Gould Series 5600 Motor Control Center. The electrician removed the 24 inch self-contained control unit, also known as a plug-in unit or "bucket," by unscrewing the top and bottom dogs, then relied on the dogs to prevent the control unit from moving into the motor control center allowing the stabs to engage with contacts on the bus. While connecting the wires from the control unit stabs to the molded case breaker, the electrician exerted enough force to flex the control unit, and this flexure permitted the middle control unit stab to contact the energized bus connector. This created a circuit from the bus through the screwdriver to the molded case breaker frame to ground. The arc between the screwdriver and the molded case breaker mounting frame welded the upper dog to the motor control center frame and caused a first degree burn to the electrician's finger. The ITE Gould Series 5600 technical manual instructed the electrician to remove the control unit far enough out of the motor control center to align the 3/8-inch lockout padlock hole in the motor control center slide rail with the 3/8-inch lockout padlock hole in the control unit. The electrician's reliance on the top and bottom control unit dogs to prevent the inward motion of the control unit during maintenance allowed the control unit stabs to be approximately one inch closer to the bus contacts than they would have been had the lockout holes been used. This closer proximity allowed circuit completion during the electrician's work. Licensee personnel contacted two other utilities and found that they had been performing maintenance on their motor control centers in the same manner and were not utilizing the lockout padlock hole alignment to ensure adequate clearance to provide for electrical safety. Regional Action: The Senior Resident Inspector will monitor the licensee's actions. Contact: Fred Ringwald (316)364-8653 _