| U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Operations Center Event Reports For
09/10/2004 - 09/13/2004 ** EVENT NUMBERS ** |
 | !!!!! THIS EVENT HAS BEEN RETRACTED. THIS EVENT HAS BEEN RETRACTED !!!!! | | Power Reactor | Event Number: 40882 | Facility: PERRY
Region: 3 State: OH
Unit: [1] [ ] [ ]
RX Type: [1] GE-6
NRC Notified By: JAMES JUDD
HQ OPS Officer: HOWIE CROUCH | Notification Date: 07/20/2004
Notification Time: 04:04 [ET]
Event Date: 07/20/2004
Event Time: 03:44 [EDT]
Last Update Date: 09/10/2004 | Emergency Class: ALERT
10 CFR Section:
50.72(a) (1) (i) - EMERGENCY DECLARED
| Person (Organization):
KENNETH O'BRIEN (R3)
RICHARD WESSMAN (IRO)
JAMES CALDWELL (RA)
MARK RING (R3)
PAT HILAND (R3)
STEVE REYNOLDS (R3)
|
| Unit | SCRAM Code | RX CRIT | Initial PWR | Initial RX Mode | Current PWR | Current RX Mode | | 1 | N | Y | 100 | Power Operation | 100 | Power Operation | Event Text ALERT DECLARED DUE TO HIGH OFFGAS EFFLUENT ALARM PEGGED HIGH AND UNABLE TO CONFIRM WITHIN 15 MINUTES
At 0344 hrs. EDT, the licensee declared an Alert under Emergency Action Level HA.1. The initiating event was a pegged high off gas ventilation effluent radiation monitor and inability to obtain a confirmatory sample within 15 minutes. Only the gaseous channel failed high. The particulate and iodine channels remained reading normally.
When plant chemistry technicians were able to obtain samples (an initial and back-up), they were negative with no activity greater than background detected. The plant management and operations team is currently evaluating their exit strategy for the Alert. The plant remains stable at 100% power, operating at normal operating parameters.
The NRC entered monitoring mode at 0438 hrs. in response to this event.
Notified DOC (Outlaw), DOE (Wyatt), USDA (Brzostek), EPA(NRC) (Baumgartner), and HHS (Phillips).
The NRC Resident Inspector was notified and is present in the control room.
* * * UPDATE FROM RALPH DAVIS TO JEFF ROTTON AT 0907 HRS ON 07/20/04 * * *
The licensee terminated the Alert at 0901 hrs. EDT. The basis for the termination was that samples taken at the site boundary were negative, samples taken locally at the skid indicated no activity, and the licensee determined that the radiation monitor equipment was faulted.
The NRC Resident Inspector was notified by the licensee.
The licensee notified the State of Ohio (Collins), Ashtabula County, OH, Geauga County, OH and Lake County, OH.
The NRC exited monitoring mode at 0914 hrs. EDT.
The NRC Operations Center notified DHS (Everett), FEMA (Biscoe), DOE (Smith), EPA(NRC) (Jones), USDA (Comeau), HHS (Molina), HQPAO (Brenner), DOC (Outlaw) and RIVDO (Farnholtz).
* * * RETRACTION FROM MEADE TO CROUCH AT 1637 EDT ON 9/10/04 * * *
The following retraction was received from the licensee via facsimile:
"Update to Emergency Plan Alert Event Notification 40882 Retraction
"This is a follow-up notification to inform the NRC that Perry Nuclear Power Plant (PNPP) is retracting an Alert Emergency Declaration reported on July 20, 2004. Emergency Action Level HA.1, 'Any unplanned release of gaseous radioactivity to the environment that exceeds 200 times the ODCM [Offsite Dose Calculation Manual] Control limit for 15 minutes or greater', was entered based on an invalid reading due to a failed instrument.
"The Offgas Vent Pipe Gaseous Radiation Monitor had pegged offscale high. The post-accident high range Offgas Vent Pipe Gaseous Radiation Monitor, which monitors the same process stream, had started in response to the offscale reading and was indicating low, which did not correspond to the offscale readings. The radiation monitors for Offgas pre-treatment and post treatment process streams were both reading normally for the plant conditions. Other plant and process radiation monitors, post accident high range monitors, and area radiation monitors did not indicate increased radiation levels to support the off-scale Offgas Vent Pipe Gaseous Radiation Monitor. Aside from the one offscale radiation monitor, there were no corresponding indications that there was a release in progress.
"The Shift Manager took actions based on the offscale reading. In addition to the radiation monitor reading, the entry criteria for the Emergency Action Level (EAL) required entry into an Alert, unless gaseous effluent levels were verified by chemistry sample analysis methods to be less than the ODCM limits within 15 minutes. These results were not provided within 15 minutes, therefore the Shift Manager declared the Alert.
"Troubleshooting confirmed that the Offgas Vent Pipe Gas instrument reading was invalid. The Emergency Plan directs classification of events based on valid indications. At no time was there any unplanned release that would have required taking any emergency plan actions.
"Therefore, the entry criteria in the EAL were not met and the Alert emergency classification is being retracted."
The licensee notified the NRC Resident Inspector of this retraction.
Notified NRREO (Reis), R3DO (Hills) and IRD (Nieh). |
| Other Nuclear Material | Event Number: 41035 | Rep Org: NATIONAL RESPONSE CENTER
Licensee: BP EXPLORATION
Region: 4
City: PRUDHOE BAY State: AK
County:
License #:
Agreement: N
Docket:
NRC Notified By: NOWAK
HQ OPS Officer: JOHN MacKINNON | Notification Date: 09/12/2004
Notification Time: 02:55 [ET]
Event Date: 09/11/2004
Event Time: 21:38 [YDT]
Last Update Date: 09/12/2004 | Emergency Class: NON EMERGENCY
10 CFR Section:
INFORMATION ONLY
| Person (Organization):
GREG PICK (R4)
LARRY CAMPER (NMSS)
| Event Text VAN CONTAINING A RADIOGRAPHY CAMERA DESTROYED BY FIRE
A van located near Well Pad Z in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, carrying a iridium-192 radiography camera, caught fire and was destroyed. The radiography camera was housed in a fire proof container inside the van. A CANSPEC Radiation Safety Officer took surveys of the vehicle and found that there was no release. The radiography camera contained a iridium-192 source with an activity of at least 60 curies. |
| Other Nuclear Material | Event Number: 41036 | Rep Org: TRANSNUCLEAR, INC
Licensee: TRANSNUCLEAR, INC.
Region: 1
City: NEW YORK State: NY
County:
License #:
Agreement: Y
Docket:
NRC Notified By: JOHN MANGUSI
HQ OPS Officer: JOHN MacKINNON | Notification Date: 09/12/2004
Notification Time: 11:37 [ET]
Event Date: 09/10/2004
Event Time: 17:00 [EDT]
Last Update Date: 09/12/2004 | Emergency Class: NON EMERGENCY
10 CFR Section:
INFORMATION ONLY
| Person (Organization):
HAROLD GRAY (R1)
LARRY CAMPER (NMSS)
GREG PICK (R4)
| Event Text MISPLACED IMPORT RADIOACTIVE SHIPMENT
On September 4, 2004 a radioactive shipment, under a General Licensee, was flown into JFK Airport via Air France Flight # 6492 (flight arrived at 2345 hours). The radioactive shipment, 6 pound Bio Pack package with White Label 1 with a Transport Index number of 0 , went through customs. On September 10, 2004 Transnuclear, Inc sent a freight truck to pickup the shipment at Air France. Air France personnel were unable to locate the package and they said that they had misplaced the package. The BioPack contains 4 sample tubes of uranium hexafluoride. The four sample tubes are LEU. Total is 0.038 kg of uranium hexafluoride of which 0.025 kg is LEU uranium. Transnuclear, Inc is supposed to ship the BioPack to Framatome ANP located in Richland, WA. |
| Power Reactor | Event Number: 41037 | Facility: OCONEE
Region: 2 State: SC
Unit: [1] [ ] [ ]
RX Type: [1] B&W-L-LP,[2] B&W-L-LP,[3] B&W-L-LP
NRC Notified By: NOEL CLARKSON
HQ OPS Officer: HOWIE CROUCH | Notification Date: 09/12/2004
Notification Time: 19:14 [ET]
Event Date: 09/12/2004
Event Time: 15:55 [EDT]
Last Update Date: 09/12/2004 | Emergency Class: NON EMERGENCY
10 CFR Section:
50.72(b)(3)(v)(D) - ACCIDENT MITIGATION
| Person (Organization):
CAROLYN EVANS (R2)
|
| Unit | SCRAM Code | RX CRIT | Initial PWR | Initial RX Mode | Current PWR | Current RX Mode | | 1 | N | Y | 100 | Power Operation | 100 | Power Operation | Event Text BOTH TRAINS OF REACTOR BUILDING SPRAY INOPERABLE FOR THREE MINUTES
The following information was obtained from the licensee via facsimile:
"With the 1A Reactor Building Spray (RBS) train declared inoperable, due to an inoperable ES [Engineered Safeguards] digital channel, the suction valve to the 1B RBS train was stroked closed, rendering the 1B RBS train inoperable, concurrent with the 1A RBS train inoperability. The duration of the valve stroke, and dual RBS train inoperability was 3 minutes. This dual RBS train inoperability resulted in entry into TS [Technical Specification] 3.0.3 for the 3 minute duration of the valve stroke.
"At the time of this event, all three Reactor Building Cooling Unit (RBCU) trains were operable. The RBCUs provide a redundant, post-accident, containment heat removal function to the RBS trains. However, the RBS system is credited with post-accident iodine removal for the maximum hypothetical accident. Additionally, should an Engineered Safeguards actuation have occurred during the 3 minute stroke time, the RBS pumps in the 1B train would have started without the suction valve being fully open. This degraded suction flow could have impacted proper RBS pump operation in the event of an ES actuation.
"The 1B RBS train suction valve stroke was completed before it was noted that the valve stroke had resulted in the inoperability of the 1B RBS train, concurrent with the inoperability of the 1A RBS train. The 1B RBS train suction valve has been returned to an open condition and the 1B RBS train is currently operable."
The operations personnel were performing valve stroke time surveillances when the event occurred.
The licensee has notified the NRC Resident Inspector. | |