Morning Report for September 25, 2003

Headquarters Daily Report

• REGION IV

REGION IV

RECOVERY OF FUEL ASSEMBLY AT FORT CALHOUN STATION

Licensee/Facility: OMAHA PUBLIC POWER DISTRICT Fort Calhoun OMAHA,, Nebraska Dockets: 05000285 [1] CE License No:

Notification: MR Number: 4-2003-0007 Date: 09/24/2003 Call from RI

Discussion:

On September 23, 2003, during movement of a fuel assembly in the spent fuel pool, a fuel assembly became disconnected from the spent fuel handling machine and fell approximately 3 feet. The bottom of the fuel assembly came to rest on top of the fuel storage racks in the spent fuel pool, and the top of the assembly was resting against the spent fuel pool wall. There was no indication that the fuel assembly was damaged and there was no detected increase in radiation levels in the plant following the event. As a precaution, the licensee suspended all fuel movement operations and evacuated the auxiliary and containment buildings.

At the time of the event, the plant was in a refueling outage and fuel was being offloaded from the reactor to the spent fuel pool. In response to the event, the licensee entered their emergency plan and declared a Notification of Unusual Event based on their determination that the criteria of Emergency Action Level 11.4, "Plant Conditions Warrant Increased Awareness by Plant Staff or Government Authorities," had been met.

On September 24, after stabilizing the fuel assembly so that it would not fall from its position, the licensee retrieved the fuel assembly and placed it in a storage location in the spent fuel pool. The licensee exited the Notification of Unusual Event at 4:54 p.m. (CDT). The licensee is conducting a root cause investigation of the event.

REGIONAL ACTION:

During the event, Region IV monitored the licensee's planning and implementation of their actions to stabilize and retrieve the fuel assembly and secure it in a storage location in the spent fuel pool. The Region IV inspectors on site provided continuous coverage of licensee activities during the event. The Region continues to review the results of the licensee's root cause evaluation and their corrective actions.

Accession Numbers:

Accession No	Accession Date
ML032680938

Contacts:

Name	Office Abbrev	Phone No	E-Mail
KENNEDY, KRISS M	R4	(817) 860-8144	KMK@nrc.gov