Morning Report for June 21, 2005

Headquarters Daily Report

• REGION III
• REGION IV

REGION III

PALISADES SENIOR MANAGEMENT CHANGES

Licensee/Facility: NUCLEAR MANAGEMENT CO., LLC Palisades COVERT, Michigan Dockets: 05000255 [1] CE License No:

Notification: MR Number: 3-2005-0012 Date: 06/20/2005 Licensee informed Res.Ins

Discussion:

On June 20, 2005, Nuclear Management Company announced that Palisades Nuclear Generating Plant organizational changes in senior management will occur over the next few weeks.

Mr. Dan J. Malone, Palisades Site Vice President, will become Vice President of Fleet Operations Support; Mr. Paul Harden, Palisades Site Director, will replace Dan Malone as Palisades Site Vice President; and Dwight Mims, Fleet Director supporting recovery efforts at Kewaunee, will become Palisades Site Director, replacing Paul Harden.

Regional Action: Information only.

Accession Numbers:

Accession No	Accession Date
ML051720301	06/21/2005

Contacts:

Name	Office Abbrev	Phone No	E-Mail
DUNCAN, ERIC R	R3	(630) 829-9628	ERD@nrc.gov

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REGION IV

Part 21 2005-0023 - Potential Degraded Condition Due to Pressurizer Heater Element Non-Conformance

Licensee/Facility: ARIZONA NUCLEAR POWER PROJECT PALO VERDE WINTERSBURG, Arizona Dockets: License No:

Notification: MR Number: H-2005-0017 Date: 06/17/2005

Source Document: Call from Licensee

Reviewer: TABATABAI, OMID

Discussion:

Part 21 2005-0023 - Potential Degraded Condition Due to Pressurizer Heater Element Non-Conformance

On June 15, 2005, Framatome ANP informed Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station (PVNGS) that Thermocoax pressurizer heater elements installed in Unit 3 were in non-conformance with American Society for Mechanical Engineers (ASME) requirements. Specifically, the active heating portion of the element was approximately 8 inches lower than design. The result of this error is that the active (heating) portion of the element extended into the nozzle area of the pressurizer heater sleeve and the heating effect on the pressurizer sleeve exceeded design, and possibly code-allowable temperature. On June 17, 2005, x-ray results of a failed Thermocoax heater at PVNGS revealed that the active portion of the heater is longer than previously assumed and that the metal temperatures exceeded ASME code allowable values.

The Palo Verde Unit 3 pressurizer heaters were replaced with Thermocoax heater elements in November 2004. In the last 30 days, Palo Verde Unit 3 has replaced all Thermocoax heater elements with General Electric style pressurizer heater elements due to the increased failure rate. Palo Verde Unit 3 pressurizer heaters have a 50 kW minimum (52.5 kW nominal) power and require a 480 VAC single-phase voltage.

Framatome ANP has provided similar pressurizer heaters to Waterford, Unit 3, and San Onofre, Units 2 and 3; however, these heaters are different from those provided to Palo Verde in that both the Waterford and San Onofre heaters are 480-volt, 3-phase heaters. Electrical connection configurations of Waterford and San Onofre pressurizer heaters also differ from that of Palo Verde.

The identifiers associated with non-conforming Palo Verde heater element assembly are as follows;

Part number: 1251282-001
Drawing number: 02-5042376D, Rev. 3
Serial numbers: 001 through 037.

No other utilities have been provided with identical heater elements.

Contacts:

Name	Office Abbrev	Phone No	E-Mail
TABATABAI, OMID	NRR	(301) 415-6616	OTY@nrc.gov