Headquarters Daily Report JULY 23, 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 JULY 23, 1998 Licensee/Facility: Notification: Georgia Power Co. MR Number: 2-98-0035 Vogtle 1 2 Date: 07/23/98 Waynesboro,Georgia Dockets: 50-424,50-425 PWR/W-4-LP,PWR/W-4-LP Subject: MANAGEMENT CHANGES Discussion: On July 22, 1998, Southern Nuclear Operating Company (SNC) announced that Jeff Gasser was named as the General Manager of Plant Vogtle. Mr. Gasser was serving as the Assistant General Manager of Plant Operations. SNC also announced that Steve Chestnut, currently Operations Manager, was named Assistant General Manager of Plant Operations. George Frederick, currently Assistant General Manager of Plant Support, was named Operations Manager. No replacement for Assistant General Manager of Plant Support was announced. Regional Action: For information only. Contact: C. RAPP (404)562-4674 _ REGION II MORNING REPORT PAGE 2 JULY 23, 1998 Licensee/Facility: Notification: MR Number: 2-98-0036 General Electric Nuclear Energy Date: 07/23/98 Wilimigton,North Carolina Dockets: 07001113 License No: SNM-1097 Subject: FAILURE OF AN ADMINISTRATIVE CONTROL ON URANIUM MASS Discussion: On July 22, 1998, at 1:47pm (EDT), the licensee notified the NRC in accordance with NRC Bulletin 91-01 after it was determined that an administrative control on uranium mass had been degraded due to an improper transfer of a wash solution to a non-favorable geometry vessel (V-108) in the fluoride waste treatment system. On July 21, 1998, at approximately 2:00 pm (EDT), the situation was identified during routine annual inventory shutdown activities. The licensee determined that no unsafe condition existed. The mass control on vessel V-108 is maintained through the control of the concentration of solutions entering the vessel at no more than 25 ppm uranium. During normal operations, this concentration is ensured by passing solutions through a series of in-line uranium monitors associated with a set of ion exchange columns used to remove most of the uranium from fluoride waste streams. During shutdown activities, these in-line monitors (and the ion exchange columns) can be bypassed when a sampling program is implemented, and sample results are less than 25 ppm U, in accordance with approved procedures. Such a sampling program had been implemented for inventory wash solution held in vessel V-106 located upstream from the ion exchange columns and vessel V-108. The sampling program revealed the concentration of the V-106 wash solution was 28 ppm U. This concentration was within the established limit for vessel V-106, but was above the limit established for V-108. The solution was pumped from vessel V-106 to vessel V-108, based on the concentration limit for vessel V-106 instead of the limit on vessel V-108. Samples taken from the solution stream entering vessel V-108 were analyzed and results ranged from concentrations of 6 ppm to 37.5 ppm uranium. The maximum analyzed value of 37.5 ppm U was used in the calculation for determining that the maximum mass in vessel V-108 would be 14.2 kgs U, and that it remained below the safe batch mass value of 15.9 kgs U. The mass control was reestablished within 4 hours. The licensee is conducting a root cause analysis and has instituted an Employee Stand Down, essentially stopping all transfers of uranium within the plant until reinstruction on the importance of understanding safety requirements and following procedures is conducted on all shifts. Regional Action: The Region will review the event and corrective actions during the next inspection. Contact: D. A. Ayres (404)552-4718 _