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Event Notification Report for January 19, 2000

                    U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
                              Operations Center

                              Event Reports For
                           01/18/2000 - 01/19/2000

                              ** EVENT NUMBERS **

36600  36601  36602  36603  

+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Other Nuclear Material                           |Event Number:   36600       |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| REP ORG:  UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA              |NOTIFICATION DATE: 01/18/2000|
|LICENSEE:  UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA              |NOTIFICATION TIME: 11:24[EST]|
|    CITY:  MINNEAPOLIS              REGION:  3  |EVENT DATE:        11/23/1999|
|  COUNTY:                            STATE:  MN |EVENT TIME:             [CST]|
|LICENSE#:                        AGREEMENT:  N  |LAST UPDATE DATE:  01/18/2000|
|  DOCKET:                                       |+----------------------------+
|                                                |PERSON          ORGANIZATION |
|                                                |DAVID HILLS          R3      |
|                                                |BRIAN SMITH          NMSS    |
+------------------------------------------------+                             |
| NRC NOTIFIED BY:  JERRY STEIGER                |                             |
|  HQ OPS OFFICER:  BOB STRANSKY                 |                             |
+------------------------------------------------+                             |
|EMERGENCY CLASS:          N/A                   |                             |
|10 CFR SECTION:                                 |                             |
|BAB1 20.2201(a)(1)(i)    LOST/STOLEN LNM>1000X  |                             |
|                                                |                             |
|                                                |                             |
|                                                |                             |
|                                                |                             |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

                                   EVENT TEXT                                   
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| MISSING TRITIUM FILLED EXIT SIGNS                                            |
|                                                                              |
| The licensee contacted the NRC Operations Center to report the loss of three |
| tritium-filled exit signs, each containing 11.5 Ci,  from a dormitory. The   |
| signs had initially been found to have been removed late in 1999, and the    |
| licensee had contacted the Region III office (G. Wright) at that time.       |
| During the semester break, housing personnel searched all student rooms but  |
| were unable to locate the signs. All other tritium filled signs have been    |
| removed from the dormitory and returned to the vendor.                       |
|                                                                              |
| (Call the NRC operations officer for a licensee contact telephone number.)   |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Power Reactor                                    |Event Number:   36601       |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| FACILITY: PALO VERDE               REGION:  4  |NOTIFICATION DATE: 01/18/2000|
|    UNIT:  [1] [2] [3]               STATE:  AZ |NOTIFICATION TIME: 11:41[EST]|
|   RXTYPE: [1] CE,[2] CE,[3] CE                 |EVENT DATE:        01/18/2000|
+------------------------------------------------+EVENT TIME:        09:25[MST]|
| NRC NOTIFIED BY:  DAN MARKS                    |LAST UPDATE DATE:  01/19/2000|
|  HQ OPS OFFICER:  BOB STRANSKY                 +-----------------------------+
+------------------------------------------------+PERSON          ORGANIZATION |
|EMERGENCY CLASS:          N/A                   |LINDA SMITH          R4      |
|10 CFR SECTION:                                 |                             |
|AENS 50.72(b)(1)(v)      ENS INOPERABLE         |                             |
|                                                |                             |
|                                                |                             |
|                                                |                             |
+-----+----------+-------+--------+-----------------+--------+-----------------+
|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          Y       100      Power Operation  |100      Power Operation  |
|3     N          Y       100      Power Operation  |100      Power Operation  |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
                                   EVENT TEXT                                   
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| LOSS OF COMMERCIAL TELEPHONE SERVICE                                         |
|                                                                              |
| The licensee reported that all U.S. West commercial telephone service to the |
| site (including the ENS)  has been lost due to a problem offsite.  The       |
| licensee is attempting to contact U.S. West to determine the cause of the    |
| problem and estimate time to restore.                                        |
|                                                                              |
| The NRC resident inspector will be informed of this event by the licensee.   |
|                                                                              |
| ******************** UPDATE AT 1916 ON 01/18/00 FROM  DAN MARKS TO LEIGH     |
| TROCINE ********************                                                 |
|                                                                              |
| The following text is a portion of a facsimile received from the licensee:   |
|                                                                              |
| "The following event description is based on information currently           |
| available.  If through subsequent reviews of this event, additional          |
| information is identified that is pertinent to this event or alters the      |
| information being provided at this time, a followup notification will be     |
| made via the ENS or under the reporting requirements of 10 CFR 50.73."       |
|                                                                              |
| "NOTE: THIS ENS WORKSHEET IS A FOLLOW-UP TO ENS ID 36601, PERFORMED AT 09:41 |
| MST.  SINCE U.S. WEST LINES WERE AFFECTED, THE INITIAL CALL WAS MADE VIA A   |
| CELLULAR TELEPHONE."                                                         |
|                                                                              |
| "On January 18, 2000, at approximately 0925 MST, Palo Verde Units 1, 2, and  |
| 3 determined that the ENS telephones were inoperable.  This was related to   |
| the offsite damage to a 200-pair telecommunications cable affecting Palo     |
| Verde.  The initial call was placed from the Nuclear Regulatory Affairs      |
| Director's cellular telephone, and that phone number was also provided to    |
| the [headquarters operations officer] if followup was necessary prior to     |
| restoration of the ENS."                                                     |
|                                                                              |
| "The current prognosis for full restoration of the ENS is approximately 2400 |
| MST.  If the Palo Verde Units 1, 2, or 3 cannot be reached via the ENS,      |
| [commercial] ... phone numbers are available.  [Call the NRC operations      |
| officer for site contact numbers.] ..."                                      |
|                                                                              |
| "Emergency Plan notification system backups for communication with State and |
| County agencies were confirmed to remain operable; therefore, this           |
| notification was only for the loss of ENS and did not reflect a loss of      |
| emergency assessment or notification capability."                            |
|                                                                              |
| "There is no corresponding 10 CFR 50.73 reporting requirement.  Palo Verde   |
| does not expect to followup this report with a Licensee Event Report         |
| (LER)."                                                                      |
|                                                                              |
| "Palo Verde [plans to] complete a followup notification when full capability |
| is restored."                                                                |
|                                                                              |
| The licensee notified the NRC resident inspector.  The NRC operations        |
| officer notified the R4DO (Smith).                                           |
|                                                                              |
| * * * UPDATE 0006EST ON 1/19/2000 FROM BRAD ROBINSON TO S.SANDIN * * *       |
|                                                                              |
| The ENS phones have been restored to complete functionality at 2206MST.  The |
| licensee notified the NRC resident inspector.  Notified R4DO(Smith).         |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Power Reactor                                    |Event Number:   36602       |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| FACILITY: SEQUOYAH                 REGION:  2  |NOTIFICATION DATE: 01/18/2000|
|    UNIT:  [] [2] []                 STATE:  TN |NOTIFICATION TIME: 11:40[EST]|
|   RXTYPE: [1] W-4-LP,[2] W-4-LP                |EVENT DATE:        01/18/2000|
+------------------------------------------------+EVENT TIME:        10:51[EST]|
| NRC NOTIFIED BY:  DAVID PORTER                 |LAST UPDATE DATE:  01/18/2000|
|  HQ OPS OFFICER:  FANGIE JONES                 +-----------------------------+
+------------------------------------------------+PERSON          ORGANIZATION |
|EMERGENCY CLASS:          N/A                   |ROBERT HAAG          R2      |
|10 CFR SECTION:                                 |JIM LYONS            NRR     |
|ACCS 50.72(b)(1)(iv)     ECCS INJECTION         |CHARLES MILLER       IRO     |
|ARPS 50.72(b)(2)(ii)     RPS ACTUATION          |                             |
|AESF 50.72(b)(2)(ii)     ESF ACTUATION          |                             |
|                                                |                             |
+-----+----------+-------+--------+-----------------+--------+-----------------+
|UNIT |SCRAM CODE|RX CRIT|INIT PWR|   INIT RX MODE  |CURR PWR|  CURR RX MODE   |
+-----+----------+-------+--------+-----------------+--------+-----------------+
|                                                   |                          |
|2     A/R        Y       100      Power Operation  |0        Hot Standby      |
|                                                   |                          |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
                                   EVENT TEXT                                   
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| INADVERTENT SAFETY INJECTION DUE TO ELECTRICAL FAULT AND REACTOR TRIP        |
|                                                                              |
| Technicians were performing a modification to the vital inverter 2-IV when a |
| safety injection signal was generated due to an electrical problem on vital  |
| instrument bus 2-IV.  When the technicians were lifting a lead on the sync   |
| signal input to the inverter 2-IV in accordance with the modification, an    |
| inadvertent safety injection signal was generated.  When the safety          |
| injection actuated, only Train 'A' safety injection occurred.  The cause of  |
| the reactor trip is unknown at this time though it is expected with a safety |
| injection.  The operators followed the emergency procedures and started the  |
| Train 'B' safety injection and residual heat removal pumps; the train 'B'    |
| centrifugal charging pump started automatically (reason unknown and being    |
| investigated).  The 2A-A motor-driven auxiliary feedwater pump tripped for   |
| unknown reasons.  The #2 steam generator atmospheric relief valve controller |
| appears to have failed, which required operators to take manual control and  |
| close the relief valve.  An event investigation has been initiated, and all  |
| problems will be answered before the unit is restarted.                      |
|                                                                              |
| The plant is currently stable in Mode 3 with heat removal via the            |
| atmospheric reliefs and feedwater via the 2B-B motor-driven and              |
| turbine-driven auxiliary feedwater pumps.  All rods fully inserted.  The     |
| safety injection signal was from the 'Low Steam Generator Pressure' section, |
| and the main steam isolation valves closed automatically.  The plant has no  |
| steam generator tube leaks.                                                  |
|                                                                              |
| The licensee notified the NRC Resident Inspector.                            |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|General Information or Other                     |Event Number:   36603       |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| REP ORG:  UTAH DIVISION OF RADIATION CONTROL   |NOTIFICATION DATE: 01/18/2000|
|LICENSEE:  NUCLEAR TESTING SERVICES             |NOTIFICATION TIME: 17:41[EST]|
|    CITY:  SALT LAKE CITY           REGION:  4  |EVENT DATE:        01/18/2000|
|  COUNTY:                            STATE:  UT |EVENT TIME:        10:00[MST]|
|LICENSE#:  UT 1800139            AGREEMENT:  Y  |LAST UPDATE DATE:  01/18/2000|
|  DOCKET:                                       |+----------------------------+
|                                                |PERSON          ORGANIZATION |
|                                                |LINDA SMITH          R4      |
|                                                |WAYNE HODGES         NMSS    |
+------------------------------------------------+JOSEPH GIITTER       IRO     |
| NRC NOTIFIED BY:  JULIE FELICE                 |                             |
|  HQ OPS OFFICER:  LEIGH TROCINE                |                             |
+------------------------------------------------+                             |
|EMERGENCY CLASS:          N/A                   |                             |
|10 CFR SECTION:                                 |                             |
|NAGR                     AGREEMENT STATE        |                             |
|BAB1 20.2201(a)(1)(i)    LOST/STOLEN LNM>1000X  |                             |
|                                                |                             |
|                                                |                             |
|                                                |                             |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

                                   EVENT TEXT                                   
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| AGREEMENT STATE REPORT INVOLVING TROXLER DENSITY GAUGE MISSING FROM NUCLEAR  |
| TESTING SERVICES LOCATED IN SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH                             |
|                                                                              |
| At 1000 MST on 01/18/00, Nuclear Testing Services located in Salt Lake City  |
| notified the Utah Division of Radiation Control of a lost, missing, or       |
| stolen gauge (Utah Incident Report UT-00-0002).  The missing gauge was a     |
| Troxler Electronic Laboratories, Inc.  gauge (model number 3430, gauge       |
| serial number 20882).  The gauge contained two sealed sources:  cesium-137 ( |
| source serial number 7-2293) and americium-241/beryllium (source serial      |
| number 47-16381).  Apparently, the licensee last had possession of the gauge |
| during April of 1999.  This was also when the last leak test was performed.  |
| The licensee believes that the gauge may have been leased out to another     |
| company during August of 1999.  However, there may have been problems with   |
| the paperwork or accountability, and there were also changes in personnel.   |
|                                                                              |
| The Utah Division of Radiation Control instructed the licensee to contact    |
| local Police Department because there is the possibility of theft.  It was   |
| also reported that the licensee had been in touch with Troxler.              |
|                                                                              |
| The Utah Division of Radiation Control stated that this event seemed to fit  |
| the Abnormal Occurrence Criteria under any substantial breakdown of physical |
| security or material control.  It was stated that one of those deals with    |
| accountability systems.                                                      |
|                                                                              |
| (Call the NRC operations center for a state contact telephone number.)       |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+


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