Part 21 Report - 1997-271

 
 

ACCESSION #:  9704010413



GENERAL ATOMICS                                        March 27, 1997



NRC Operations Center

U. S.  Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Washington, D. C. 20555



Subject 10CFR21 Reportable Item



Gentlemen:



This letter is provided in compliance with the requirements of 10CFR

21.21.



The information following is in accordance with the reporting

requirements of 10CFR21.21(a)(4):



i)   Person informing the Commission:



     John E.  Jones

     Sr.  Vice President, Administration

     General Atomics

     3550 General Atomics Court

     San Diego, CA 92121



ii)  Description of the defect:



     In the process of performing software verification and validation

     (V&V) of the RM-23A Control and Display Module (part number

     03575300-001), Sorrento Electronics, Inc.  (SE) has determined that

     the Operation and Maintenance (O&M) Manual for the RM-23A may not

     adequately define the requirements for performing periodic

     surveillance of certain safety related applications.



iii) Identification of the firm:



     Sorrento Electronics, Inc.

     An Affiliate of General Atomics



3650 GENERAL ATOMICS COURT, SAN DIEGO, CA 92121-1194

P.O.  BOX 85608, SAN DIEGO, CA 92186-9784

(619) 456-3000



iv)  The nature of defect



     A series of diagnostics tests are used to identify hardware failures

     which may not be detected during normal operation.  These

     diagnostics tests are described in the O&M Manual and include:



     a)   Lamp and LED test

     b)   Keyboard input test

     c)   Clock interrupt test

     d)   Digital inputs test



     e)   Digital outputs test

     f)   Analog outputs test



     The O&M Manual does not adequately emphasize the need to consider

     performing these tests as part of normal maintenance to declare

     operability in safety related applications.



v)   The date on which the information was obtained:



     January 30, 1997



vi)  The number and location of the components:



     (See Attachment 1)



vii) Corrective action:



     SE will make the individual purchasers aware of this possible

     problem and will revise the RM-23A Operation and Maintenance Manual

     E-1 15-1256 (Rev.  1) to clarify the periodic surveillance

     requirements for the RM-23A.



viii) Advice to Purchasers:



     The functions tested by the above diagnostics tests should be

     evaluated for the affect on plant safety.  Any function which

     affects plant safety should be periodically tested.



     SE recommends that as a minimum, the clock interrupt test should be

     performed since the RM-23A will not schedule tasks without the

     interrupt being present.



     The interval between these tests should be determined by the

     Purchaser.



If you have any questions concerning this report, please call Dr. Keith

E. Asmussen at 619-455-2823 or Mr. Brian Laney at 619-455-4369.



Any technical questions should be addressed to Dirk Koopman at 619-457-

8899.



                                   Yours Very Truly,



                                   John E. Jones

                                   Sr.  Vice President, Administration

cc:  NRC Region IV



GENERAL INFORMATION or OTHER              EVENT NUMBER: 32033



LICENSEE: GENERAL ATOMICS, SAN DIEGO, CA  NOTIFICATION DATE: 03/27/97

    CITY: SAN DIEGO           REGION: 4   NOTIFICATION TIME: 15:00 [ET]

  COUNTY:                      STATE: CA  EVENT DATE: 01/30/97

LICENSE#:                  AGREEMENT:     EVENT TIME: 12:00[PST]

  DOCKET:                                 LAST UPDATE DATE: 03/27/97



                                                  NOTIFICATIONS



                                          LEANNE HARRISON, R1    RDO

NRC NOTIFIED BY: SHIRLEY SMITH

                                          DAVID VERRELLI, R2     RDO

HQ OPS OFFICER: DICK JOLLIFFE             ROGER LANKSBURY, R3    RDO

                                          TOM STETKA,    R4      RDO

EMERGENCY CLASS: NOT APPLICABLE              VERN HODGE NRR

10 CFR SECTION:

CCCC 21.21          UNSPECIFIED PARAGRAPH



                               EVENT TEXT



- 10CFR21 REPORT ON GENERAL ATOMICS RADIATION MONITOR MAINTENANCE

TESTS -



SORRENTO ELECTRONICS, INC (SE), AN AFFILIATE OF GENERAL ATOMICS,

DETERMINED THAT THE OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE MANUAL FOR

RADIATION

MONITOR #RM-23A (CONTROL AND DISPLAY MODULE PART NUMBER

#03575300-001)

MAY NOT ADEQUATELY DEFINE THE REQUIREMENTS FOR PERFORMING

PERIODIC

SURVEILLANCE TESTS OF CERTAIN SAFETY RELATED APPLICATIONS.  SE IS

RECOMMENDING THAT ADDITIONAL DIAGNOSTIC TESTS BE RUN AS PART OF

NORMAL

MAINTENANCE ACTIVITIES IN ORDER TO IDENTIFY HARDWARE FAILURES

WHICH MAY

NOT BE DETECTED DURING NORMAL OPERATIONS.  SE IS REVISING THEIR

OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE MANUAL TO REFLECT THIS CHANGE.



GENERAL ATOMICS IS NOTIFYING THEIR FOLLOWING NUCLEAR CUSTOMERS:

BEAVER VALLEY, BRUCE, CHINSHAN, DRESDEN 2 & 3, HOPE CREEK, INDIAN

POINT

3, KORI, KUOSHENG, MILLSTONE 2, OCONEE, SEQUOYAH, SOUTH TEXAS,

TURKEY POINT 3 & 4, AND ZION.



                              Attachment 1



                          Locations of RM-23A's



                                             Number of RM-23A's

          Site                               Installed in System



     Beaver Valley                                16

     Bruce A                                      10

     Chinshan 1 and 2                              6

     Dresden 2 and 3                               1

     Hope Creek                                   18

     Indian Point 3                               16

     Kori 1 and 2                                  6

     Kuosheng 1 and 2                              7

     Millstone 2                                   1

     Oconee 1, 2, and 3                            6

     Sequoyah 1 and 2                              8

     South Texas 1 and 2                          34

     Turkey Point 3 and 4                          3

     Zion 1 and 2                                  1



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