Event Notification Report for March 25, 2008

AGREEMENT STATE - CALIFORNIA - STOLEN TROXLER GAUGE

The State provided the following information via email:

"On March 25, 2008, a Troxler M/D gauge, Model 3411, Serial Number 6520 was stolen from a URS company pick up truck during the evening. According to the RSO, the gauge was stolen from inside a locked container, which was stored in a locked camper shell, within a locked gated garage at the employees residence. The employee had taken the gauge to his residence in preparation for an early morning job. The density gauge was stated to contain approximately 9 mCi of Cesium 137 and 44 mCi of Americium 241. "

CA Report #032608


THIS MATERIAL EVENT CONTAINS A "LESS THAN CAT 3" LEVEL OF RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL

Sources that are "Less than IAEA Category 3 sources," are either sources that are very unlikely to cause permanent injury to individuals or contain a very small amount of radioactive material that would not cause any permanent injury. Some of these sources, such as moisture density gauges or thickness gauges that are Category 4, the amount of unshielded radioactive material, if not safely managed or securely protected, could possibly - although it is unlikely - temporarily injure someone who handled it or were otherwise in contact with it, or who were close to it for a period of many weeks.

INADVERTENT ACTUATION OF EMERGENCY DIESEL GENERATOR DURING SURVEILLANCE TESTING

"On March 25, 2008, during scheduled monthly testing per surveillance procedure M628, '480 Volt Undervoltage Degraded Grid Protection System Bus 5A Functional', an Instrumentation & Control technician conducting the test inadvertently caused an undervoltage condition on 480 volt AC safeguards Bus 5A, resulting in the automatic actuation of the associated Emergency Diesel Generator (EDG)-33. In accordance with design EDG-33 started and loads on Bus 5A were stripped and required loads were sequenced back onto Bus 5A. All equipment performed as designed. Normal power for Bus 5A has been restored and all equipment returned to pre-event condition. Investigation into the cause of the event is in progress. Unit 2 is currently in a refueling outage and was unaffected. Licensee has notified the NRC Resident Inspector and the State Public Service Commission."

PLANT SHUTDOWN INITIATED DUE TO DEGRADED BATTERY VOLTAGE

"On March 25, 2008 at approximately 0640 PDT, SCE discovered a battery with voltage slightly below Technical Specification limits. At approximately 0840 PDT, plant operators began cooling Moisture Separator Reheaters (MSR) in preparation for a Shutdown as required by TS 3.8.4. Initiating MSR cooldown reduced reactor power by 0.1%. Although plant operators had not initiated boration or control rod insertion, SCE is, nevertheless, reporting this occurrence in accordance with 10CFR50.72(b)(2)(i).

"At approximately 0850 PDT, the battery was restored to Operable status and MSR cooldown was suspended. At approximately 1112 PDT, the Unit was returned to full power. SCE is continuing to assess if additional actions are required.

"At the time the shutdown was initiated, Unit 2 was operating at about 100% power. Unit 3 continues to operate at about 100% power. The NRC Resident Inspectors have been briefed on the shutdown plans and will be provided with a copy of this report."

Preliminary information indicates that the degraded voltage was due to loose terminal bolts.

LOSS OF HEALTH PHYSICS VENTILATION SYSTEM USED FOR EMERGENCY RESPONSE

"Shift received alarms which lead to the discovery of MCC 1 R24-S030 being de-energized. This MCC supplies power to the Health Physics emergency HVAC air handling unit (1Z41-B100). Maintenance has been notified and is currently working to restore the system to OPERABLE status.

"This event is reportable per 10CFR50.72 (b)(3)(xiii) as described in NUREG-1022, rev. 2 as an emergency facility (Plant Hatch Operational Support Center) affected due to the Health Physics emergency HVAC out of service."


The licensee notified the NRC Resident Inspector.

LOSS OF OFFSITE POWER DUE TO STATION AUXILIARY TRANSFORMER FAULT

"At 1835 on March 25, 2008, Unit 2 experienced a Loss of Offsite Power. At 1849, an Unusual Event was declared. Station Auxiliary Transformer (SAT) 242-2, Phase C, experienced a Phase Overcurrent. This resulted in an isolation of the SAT, a loss of offsite power, and an automatic Fire Protection deluge of the SAT. No fire was confirmed. All equipment responded as required. The appropriate abnormal operating procedure was entered for event mitigation and is in progress. The Unit 2 Emergency Diesel Generators are supplying required safety-related power. Unit 2 remains at power."

The plant is stable and all equipment is functioning as required. The licensee is assessing a cross-tie to Unit 1 which is unaffected by this event and in the refueling mode.

The licensee notified the State and local authorities and the NRC Resident Inspector. Notified DHS (Greg Ray), FEMA (Erwin Casto), DOE (Sal Morrone), USDA (Timmons), HHS (Rick Turner), EPA/NRC (Petty Officer Thompson Report #866038).

* * * UPDATE BY SCOTT PURIN TO NRC AT 2230 EDT ON 3/25/08 * * *

The emergency buses on Unit 2 have been re-energized by offsite power supply sources via Unit 1 SAT. The Unit 2 EDGs have been secured and placed back in standby. The licensee is developing a recovery plan to restore a Unit 2 SAT to supply offsite power to Unit 2 loads. This will require such things as analyzing chemistry samples of the affected SAT transformers and assessing the protective relaying. In addition, some switchyard realignment will be necessary. The licensee is currently in a 72 hour LCO under Tech Spec 3.8.1 for the current electrical alignment.

The NRC Resident Inspector is onsite and the NRC Region continues to monitor the situation.

* * * UPDATE FROM STEVE WIDOLFF TO HOWIE CROUCH AT 0022 EDT ON 3/28/08 * * *

"At 2309 [hrs. CDT] on 3/27/08, Byron Unit 2 terminated an Unusual Event that was declared at 18:49 on 3/25/08, in accordance with EAL M.U.1 due to a loss of offsite power to transformers 242-1 and 242-2.

"Transformer 242-1has been energized from offsite power and is supplying Unit 2 ESF busses 241 and 242. The entry conditions for M.U.1 are no longer met. A press release will be issued."

Transformer 242-2 is out of service and isolated for repairs.

The licensee notified the NRC Resident Inspector. Notified R3DO (Hills), NRR EO (Ross-Lee), IRD (McDermott), DHS SWO (Doyle), FEMA (Liggett), DOE (Morrone), EPA (Allison), USDA (Timmon) and HHS (Dalziel).

AGREEMENT STATE - MASSACHUSETTS - LEAKING CS-137 CHECK SOURCE

The State provided the following information via facsimile:

"This facsimile serves as initial notification of an event of a leaking Cs-137 check source found inside a generally licensed device - Beckman Coulter Model 3801 LSC - at Boston University, Boston, MA. The event was reported by Beckman Coulter to the Massachusetts Radiation via letter dated April 25, 2008. The preliminary information of this event [is as follows:]

"On March 25, 2008, a Field Service Engineer (FSE) for Beckman Coulter performed a service call on a Beckman Coulter LS 3801 liquid scintillation counter (LSC) at Boston University in Boston, MA. At the time the service was performed, the FSE discovered an elevated radiation reading inside the LSC. Upon further investigation, the FSE discovered elevated radiation reading originated from a metal base plate used to support lead shielding inside the LSC. A wipe test of this base plate revealed removable contamination of ~ 0.03 microcuries. Upon discovery of the contamination, the FSE immediately notified Beckman Coulter's RSO and Boston University personnel. The contamination was limited to the metal base plate inside the LSC and no personnel were contaminated. Due to the position of the base plate, directly beneath lead shielding, no additional exposure to the user of the LSC would have resulted. The LSC was being decommissioned at the time and it is out of service. The dislodged Cs-137 source (currently 18 microcuries) was recovered from the LSC by the FSE and it is currently being held by Boston University. Beckman Coulter is investigating how the source holder may have been damaged. No contamination was found outside of the LSC, thus no additional decontamination measures were necessary as a result of this event."

MA Report 05 - 7780