Morning Report for October 28, 2003

Headquarters Daily Report

• REGION IV

REGION IV

Fire on 345 kV Tower (Event 40281)

Licensee/Facility: NEBRASKA PUBLIC POWER DISTRICT Cooper COLUMBUS, Nebraska Dockets: 05000298 [1] GE-4 License No:

Notification: MR Number: 4-2003-0012 Date: 10/28/2003 Call from Resident Inspector

Discussion:

On October 28, 2003, the Cooper Nuclear Station was operating at approximately 100 percent power. At 1:30 a.m. (CST) the licensee observed a small fire on the cross-arm of a wood tower supporting the transmission lines from the main power transformer to the 345 kV switchyard. At 1:47 a.m. the operating crew entered the emergency shutdown procedure and power was rapidly lowered to 75 percent. At 2 a.m. a manual SCRAM of the reactor was initiated when operators observed a portion of the cross-member fall from the tower. All control rods inserted as expected in response to the original SCRAM. At 3:17 a.m. the Auburn Fire Department responded to the site and contained the fire on the ground until the fire was out. The plant is currently stable and a cooldown has been initiated. Offsite power sources to the plant were not affected by the fire. At the time of the event, one of the onsite emergency diesel generators was out of service for preplanned maintenance.

REGIONAL ACTION:

The Senior Resident Inspector responded to the site and monitored the licensee's response to the event. Followup inspection will be performed to review the licensee's root cause evaluation, corrective actions, and response to the event.

Accession Numbers:

Accession No	Accession Date
ML033010371	10/28/2003