Event Notification Report for May 22, 2001

                    U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
                              Operations Center

                              Event Reports For
                           05/21/2001 - 05/22/2001

                              ** EVENT NUMBERS **

37947  38017  38018  38019  38020  

!!!!!!!!! THIS EVENT HAS BEEN RETRACTED. THIS EVENT HAS BEEN RETRACTED  !!!!!!!
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Power Reactor                                    |Event Number:   37947       |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| FACILITY: COOPER                   REGION:  4  |NOTIFICATION DATE: 04/26/2001|
|    UNIT:  [1] [] []                 STATE:  NE |NOTIFICATION TIME: 22:26[EDT]|
|   RXTYPE: [1] GE-4                             |EVENT DATE:        04/26/2001|
+------------------------------------------------+EVENT TIME:        17:45[CDT]|
| NRC NOTIFIED BY:  ANDREW OHRABLO               |LAST UPDATE DATE:  05/21/2001|
|  HQ OPS OFFICER:  DOUG WEAVER                  +-----------------------------+
+------------------------------------------------+PERSON          ORGANIZATION |
|EMERGENCY CLASS:          N/A                   |BILL JONES           R4      |
|10 CFR SECTION:                                 |                             |
|*IND 50.72(b)(3)(v)(D)   ACCIDENT MITIGATION    |                             |
|                                                |                             |
|                                                |                             |
|                                                |                             |
+-----+----------+-------+--------+-----------------+--------+-----------------+
|UNIT |SCRAM CODE|RX CRIT|INIT PWR|   INIT RX MODE  |CURR PWR|  CURR RX MODE   |
+-----+----------+-------+--------+-----------------+--------+-----------------+
|1     N          Y       100      Power Operation  |100      Power Operation  |
|                                                   |                          |
|                                                   |                          |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
                                   EVENT TEXT                                   
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| CONTROL ROOM EMERGENCY FILTRATION SYSTEM (CREFS) INOPERABLE                  |
|                                                                              |
| The licensee entered a 7 day LCO when high vibrations were noticed on the    |
| booster fan.  The fan was declared inoperable and led to CREFS being         |
| declared inoperable since it is a single train system.  Licensee intends to  |
| repair the system prior to expiration of the LCO.                            |
|                                                                              |
| The licensee notified the NRC resident inspector.                            |
|                                                                              |
| * * * RETRACTION ON 05/21/01 AT 1140 ET BY D. VANDERKAMP TAKEN BY MACKINNON  |
| * * *                                                                        |
|                                                                              |
| A subsequent engineering evaluation of the fan motor bearings concluded that |
| the motor, even though noisy with elevated vibration levels, was capable of  |
| performing it's support role in the Control Room Emergency Filtration System |
| safety related function as required per Technical Specifications.            |
| Therefore, this event is being retracted.                                    |
| R4DO (Mark Shaffer) notified.                                                |
|                                                                              |
| The NRC Resident Inspector will be notified of this retraction by the        |
| licensee.                                                                    |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Power Reactor                                    |Event Number:   38017       |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| FACILITY: DIABLO CANYON            REGION:  4  |NOTIFICATION DATE: 05/21/2001|
|    UNIT:  [1] [2] []                STATE:  CA |NOTIFICATION TIME: 12:26[EDT]|
|   RXTYPE: [1] W-4-LP,[2] W-4-LP                |EVENT DATE:        05/21/2001|
+------------------------------------------------+EVENT TIME:        01:50[PDT]|
| NRC NOTIFIED BY:  BAHNER                       |LAST UPDATE DATE:  05/21/2001|
|  HQ OPS OFFICER:  CHAUNCEY GOULD               +-----------------------------+
+------------------------------------------------+PERSON          ORGANIZATION |
|EMERGENCY CLASS:          N/A                   |MARK SHAFFER         R4      |
|10 CFR SECTION:                                 |                             |
|*COM 50.72(b)(3)(xiii)   LOSS COMM/ASMT/RESPONSE|                             |
|                                                |                             |
|                                                |                             |
|                                                |                             |
+-----+----------+-------+--------+-----------------+--------+-----------------+
|UNIT |SCRAM CODE|RX CRIT|INIT PWR|   INIT RX MODE  |CURR PWR|  CURR RX MODE   |
+-----+----------+-------+--------+-----------------+--------+-----------------+
|1     N          Y       100      Power Operation  |100      Power Operation  |
|2     N          N       0        Cold Shutdown    |0        Cold Shutdown    |
|                                                   |                          |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
                                   EVENT TEXT                                   
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| FAILURE OF THE EARLY WARNING SYSTEM SIRENS                                   |
|                                                                              |
| The operating system for the early warning system sirens failed.  This will  |
| prevent activation of the early warning sirens.  The sirens failed at 0150   |
| on 5/21/01.  The failure is currently being investigated.                    |
|                                                                              |
| The NRC Resident Inspector will be notified.                                 |
|                                                                              |
| * * * UPDATE ON 5/21/01 @ 1246 BY BAHNER TO GOULD * * *                      |
|                                                                              |
| The system was restored at 0940.                                             |
|                                                                              |
| The NRC Resident Inspector was notified.                                     |
|                                                                              |
| The Reg 4 RDO(Shaffer) was notified                                          |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|General Information or Other                     |Event Number:   38018       |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| REP ORG:  TENNESSEE DIV OF RAD HEALTH          |NOTIFICATION DATE: 05/21/2001|
|LICENSEE:  STUDSVICK PROCESSING FACILITY        |NOTIFICATION TIME: 12:30[EDT]|
|    CITY:  ERWIN                    REGION:  2  |EVENT DATE:        05/18/2001|
|  COUNTY:                            STATE:  TN |EVENT TIME:        16:30[EDT]|
|LICENSE#:  R-86011               AGREEMENT:  Y  |LAST UPDATE DATE:  05/21/2001|
|  DOCKET:                                       |+----------------------------+
|                                                |PERSON          ORGANIZATION |
|                                                |LEONARD WERT         R2      |
|                                                |JOHN HIICKEY         NMSS    |
+------------------------------------------------+                             |
| NRC NOTIFIED BY:  FREEMAN/SHULTS(by fax)       |                             |
|  HQ OPS OFFICER:  CHAUNCEY GOULD               |                             |
+------------------------------------------------+                             |
|EMERGENCY CLASS:          N/A                   |                             |
|10 CFR SECTION:                                 |                             |
|NAGR                     AGREEMENT STATE        |                             |
|                                                |                             |
|                                                |                             |
|                                                |                             |
|                                                |                             |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

                                   EVENT TEXT                                   
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| This licensee is authorized for the receipt, possession, processing,         |
| storage, handling and shipment of radioactive waste resins.  During routine  |
| operations at the facility, a spill of approximately four cubic feet         |
| occurred from one of the process vessels.  The vessel was shut down and the  |
| facility evacuated.  It is estimated that 29 millicuries of activation and   |
| mixed fission products were released during the spill.  The material was     |
| released into a controlled area.  There were no environmental releases.      |
| Negative pressure was maintained during the event.  The HVAC system was shut |
| down after the release as was the thermal system to the process vessel.      |
| During the investigation, five individuals were slightly contaminated as     |
| confirmed by nasal swipes. Invivo counting of these individuals will be      |
| conducted on Wednesday, May 23 at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.             |
| Temperatures in the area have now decreased enough for personnel to enter    |
| and make a physical evaluation.  Video cameras recorded the event and it is  |
| believed at this time that the vessel was overpressurized.  A complete       |
| investigation and root cause analysis will be performed by the licensee to   |
| determine the cause of the event.                                            |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Research Reactor                                 |Event Number:   38019       |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| FACILITY: UNIV OF MISSOURI-COLUMBIA            |NOTIFICATION DATE: 05/21/2001|
|   RXTYPE: 10000 KW TANK                        |NOTIFICATION TIME: 16:43[EDT]|
| COMMENTS:                                      |EVENT DATE:        05/21/2001|
|                                                |EVENT TIME:        15:05[CDT]|
|                                                |LAST UPDATE DATE:  05/21/2001|
|    CITY:  COLUMBIA                 REGION:  3  +-----------------------------+
|  COUNTY:  BOONE                     STATE:  MO |PERSON          ORGANIZATION |
|LICENSE#:  R-103                 AGREEMENT:  N  |SONIA BURGESS        R3      |
|  DOCKET:  05000186                             |JOHN ZWOLINSKI       NRR     |
+------------------------------------------------+RICHARD WESSMAN      IRO     |
| NRC NOTIFIED BY:  HOBBS                        |ROBERTA WARREN       IAT     |
|  HQ OPS OFFICER:  CHAUNCEY GOULD               |RICHARD ROSANO       IAT     |
+------------------------------------------------+MARVIN MENDONCA      NRR     |
|EMERGENCY CLASS:          UNU                   |                             |
|10 CFR SECTION:                                 |                             |
|DDDD 73.71               UNSPECIFIED PARAGRAPH  |                             |
|                                                |                             |
|                                                |                             |
|                                                |                             |
|                                                |                             |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

                                   EVENT TEXT                                   
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| BOMB THREAT.   IMMEDIATE COMPENSATORY MEASURES TAKEN UPON DISCOVERY          |
|                                                                              |
| CONTACT HOO FOR FURTHER INFORMATION.                                         |
|                                                                              |
| * * * UPDATE ON 5/21/01 @ 2005 BY HOBBS TO GOULD * * *                       |
|                                                                              |
| The NOUE was terminated at 2000EDT based on a completed search which turned  |
| up no abnormalities.                                                         |
|                                                                              |
|                                                                              |
| Notified Reg 3 RDO(Burgess), NRR EO(Zwolinski) and FEMA(Canupp)              |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Fuel Cycle Facility                              |Event Number:   38020       |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| FACILITY: WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC CORPORATION    |NOTIFICATION DATE: 05/21/2001|
|   RXTYPE: URANIUM FUEL FABRICATION             |NOTIFICATION TIME: 20:04[EDT]|
| COMMENTS: LEU CONVERSION (UF6 to UO2)          |EVENT DATE:        05/21/2001|
|           COMMERCIAL LWR FUEL                  |EVENT TIME:        07:59[EDT]|
|                                                |LAST UPDATE DATE:  05/21/2001|
|    CITY:  COLUMBIA                 REGION:  2  +-----------------------------+
|  COUNTY:  RICHLAND                  STATE:  SC |PERSON          ORGANIZATION |
|LICENSE#:  SNM-1107              AGREEMENT:  Y  |LEONARD WERT         R2      |
|  DOCKET:  07001151                             |JOHN GREEVES         NMSS    |
+------------------------------------------------+                             |
| NRC NOTIFIED BY:  NEWMYER                      |                             |
|  HQ OPS OFFICER:  CHAUNCEY GOULD               |                             |
+------------------------------------------------+                             |
|EMERGENCY CLASS:          N/A                   |                             |
|10 CFR SECTION:                                 |                             |
|NBNL                     RESPONSE-BULLETIN      |                             |
|                                                |                             |
|                                                |                             |
|                                                |                             |
|                                                |                             |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

                                   EVENT TEXT                                   
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| FAILURE OF PROGRAMMABLE LOGIC CONTROLLER(PLC) CAUSED LOSS OF ACTIVE          |
| ENGINEERED CONTROLS ON CONVERSION LINE 4                                     |
|                                                                              |
| 24 HOUR 91-01 BULLETIN                                                       |
|                                                                              |
| At approximately 0759 the decanter tripped off line on conversion line 4.    |
| Subsequently line 4 was shutdown at 0805.  An error in the display program   |
| was initially suspected.                                                     |
|                                                                              |
| With conversion line 4 shut down, instrument technicians were called.  The   |
| technicians attempted to correct the problem with the display program to no  |
| avail.   An instrumentation and controls (I/C) engineer was called and       |
| tracked the problem to the line 4 PLC.  Since it was determined that the PLC |
| processor for line 4 had faulted, the processor was reset and tested.  The   |
| test was satisfactory.                                                       |
|                                                                              |
| Line 4 was restarted at approximately 1000.   At approximately 1030 line 4   |
| was shut down due to a plugged duplex valve at the inlet of the calciner.    |
| During this shutdown, a process engineer was informed about the earlier      |
| events.  The process engineer became concerned about the status of the       |
| safety significant controls on line 4 and contacted a nuclear criticality    |
| safety (NCS) engineer at approximately 1130.  The NCS engineer was present   |
| in the control room at approximately 1140.                                   |
|                                                                              |
| A time-line of events was reconstructed.  The NCS engineer reviewed the      |
| sequence of events with the I/C engineer.   It was determined that an output |
| fault in an I/O card caused the processor to go into fault mode but all      |
| outputs did not go to their correct (OFF) state.                             |
|                                                                              |
| The NCS engineer determined that in the time period from 0759 until line 4   |
| was secured at approximately 0805, the active engineered safety significant  |
| controls (SSCs) on line 4 were unavailable, and less than double contingency |
| protection existed in the vaporization system during that time period.  The  |
| SSCs are considered to have been in place for the 1000 startup and remained  |
| in place until the shutdown at 1030, although the cause of the initial       |
| failure had not been determined.  Conversion operators on line 4 were        |
| instructed by the NCS engineer to not restart line 4 until the cause of the  |
| PLC failure was determined and corrected.  Line 4 remains shutdown pending   |
| further investigation.                                                       |
|                                                                              |
| Justification for Continuing Operations on Lines 1, 2, 3 and 5:              |
|                                                                              |
| Line 4 utilizes a unique Numalogic PLC system while Lines 1, 2, 3, and 5     |
| utilize a different programmable logic system.  There is no reason to        |
| believe the Numalogic error is possible on the other lines.  The             |
| manufacturer of the other programmable logic system (utilized on Lines 1,2,3 |
| and 5) was contacted and stated that their cards cannot fail into any state  |
| other than all OFF.   Conversion Lines 1, 2, 3 and 5 remain in operation.    |
|                                                                              |
| Double Contingency Protection                                                |
|                                                                              |
| Double contingency protection for the vaporizer is based upon control of     |
| mass (prevent/detect a UF6 leak) and geometry (prevent/detect accumulation   |
| of moderator in a non-favorable configuration in the bottom of the           |
| vaporizer).  Double contingency protection on the cylinder (in vaporizer) is |
| based upon moderation control (prevent back-flow of moderator from the       |
| hydrolysis column into the cylinder).  It was determined that less than      |
| double contingency protection remain for these systems and greater than a    |
| safe mass was involved.  In accordance with Westinghouse Operating License   |
| (SNM-1107), paragraph 37.3 (c.5), this event meets the criteria for a 24     |
| hour notification because it constitutes a "nuclear criticality safety       |
| incident, in an analyzed system, for which less than previously documented   |
| double contingency protection remains . . and: greater than a safe mass is   |
| involved, but a sufficient number of the controls that were lost are         |
| restored within four (4) hours such that double contingency protection is    |
| restored."                                                                   |
|                                                                              |
| As Found Condition                                                           |
|                                                                              |
| See "Reason for Notification" above.                                         |
|                                                                              |
| Summary of Activity                                                          |
|                                                                              |
| An unknown PLC failure led to the shutdown of conversion line 4.   It was    |
| determined that less than double contingency protection existed on the line  |
| 4 from 0759 to 0805.  Therefore, the NCS engineer directed that line 4 could |
| not be restarted until the cause of the failure was determined and           |
| corrected.                                                                   |
|                                                                              |
| Conclusions                                                                  |
|                                                                              |
| Loss of double contingency protection occurred.                              |
| At no time was there any risk to the health or safety of any employee or     |
| member of the public.  No exposure to hazardous material was involved.       |
| This notification is the result of equipment failure, not a deficient NCS    |
| analysis.                                                                    |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+


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