DISCOVERY OF AFTER-THE-FACT EMERGENCY CONDITION (UNUSUAL EVENT)
"On March 14, 2005, a fire occurred in a trash receptacle adjacent to a shipping container, in the Cooper Nuclear Station (CNS) Multi-Purpose Facility (MPF). The MPF is a machine shop attached to the Radwaste Building inside the Protected Area of CNS. At 0249 upon receipt of the fire alarm in the MPF and alarms received for the automatic start of station fire pumps, Control Room Operators entered the CNS Fire Procedure and dispatched a Station Operator (SO) to the scene. At 0251 the SO was permitted to fight the fire with a fire hose, and the fire brigade was mobilized. The SO extinguished the fire in the trash receptacle at 0258. The SO reported to the Fire Brigade Leader that he had felt heat from the walls of the adjacent shipping container, but was unable to access it due to being locked. At 0308 the Fire Brigade gained access to the shipping container and reported a small fire inside. At 0313 the fire was extinguished. Subsequently, the embers were overhauled, and the reflash watch was set. No further reflashes occurred. All applicable steps in the Fire Procedure were completed. The apparent cause of the fire was the failure of a large overhead light.
"Because these were regarded as two separate fires, CNS did not enter the Emergency Action Level (EAL) for a Notice of Unusual Event (NOUE.) Further review, continued benchmarking with other utilities, and consideration of the lack of a consistent treatment for declaring a fire being out, has prompted CNS to determine that a declaration of NOUE should have been made. Upon making that determination, CNS is required to notify the NRC in accordance with the guidance of NUREG-1022, Revision 2. The event has been concluded and the basis for the emergency no longer exists.
"The Licensee will notify both state and local agencies and has informed the NRC Resident Inspector. "
The licensee stated that the discovery that a declaration of NOUE should have been made occurred at 1700 CDT 05/26/05. |