Part 21 Report - 1997-272
ACCESSION #: 9704090034
GENERAL ATOMICS
April 4, 1997
696-2707
VIA OVERNIGHT EXPRESS SERVICE
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
ATTN: Document Control Desk
Washington, DC 20555
Subject: Written Notification of 10 CFR 21 Reportable Item
Dear Sir or Madam:
This letter is provided in compliance with the requirements of 10 CFR
21.21 (d)(3)(ii) for providing written notification within 30 days
following receipt of information by the director or responsible
corporate officer on the identification of a defect. Initial
notification was made by facsimile to the NRC Operations Center on March
27, 1997.
The information following is in accordance with the reporting
requirements of 10CFR21.21 (a)(4):
i) Name of person informing the Commission in writing:
Dr. Keith E. Asmussen, Director
Licensing, Safety and Nuclear Compliance
General Atomics
3550 General Atomics Court
San Diego, CA 92121
Name of person who provided initial notification by facsimile:
Mr. John E. Jones
Sr. Vice President, Administration
General Atomics
3550 General Atomics Court
San Diego, CA 92121
ii) Description of the defect:
In the process of performing software verification and validation
(V&V) of the RM-23A Control and Display Module (part number
03575300-001), Sorrento Electronics, Inc. (SE) has determined that
the Operation and Maintenance (O&M) Manual for the RM-23A may not
adequately define the requirements for performing periodic
surveillance of certain safety related applications.
iii) Identification of the firm:
Sorrento Electronics, Inc.
An Affiliate of General Atomics
iv) The nature of the defect:
A series of diagnostics tests are used to identify hardware failures
which may not be detected during normal operation. These
diagnostics tests are described in the O&M Manual and include:
3550 GENERAL ATOMICS COURT, SAN DIEGO, CA 92121-1194 PO BOX 85608, SAN
DIEGO, CA 92186-9784 (619) 455-3000
A. Lamp and LED test
B. Keyboard input test
C. Clock interrupt test
D. Digital inputs test
E. Digital outputs test
F. Analog outputs test
The O&M Manual does not adequately emphasize the need to
consider performing these tests as part of normal maintenance
to declare operability in safety related applications.
V) The date on which the information was obtained:
Potential defect was first discovered on January 30, 1997
Director or responsible person informed of defect on March 26,
1997
vi) The number and location of the components:
(See Attachment 1)
vii) Corrective action:
Sorrento Electronics made the individual purchasers aware of
this possible problem and will revise the RM-23A Operation and
Maintenance Manual E-115-1256 (Rev. 1) to clarify the periodic
surveillance requirements for the RM-23A.
viii) Advice to Purchasers:
The functions tested by the above diagnostics tests should be
evaluated for the affect on plant safety. Any function which
affects plant safety should be periodically tested.
Sorrento Electronics recommends that as a minimum, the clock
interrupt test should be performed since the RM-23A will not
schedule tasks without the interrupt being present.
The interval between these tests should be determined by the
Purchaser.
If you have any questions concerning this report, please call Mr. Brian
Laney at (619) 455-4369 or me at (619) 455-2823. Any technical questions
should be addressed to Mr. Dirk Koopman at 619-457-8899.
Yours Very Truly,
Dr. Keith E. Asmussen, Director
Licensing, Safety and Nuclear Compliance
Attachment: As stated above
cc: Regional Administrator, NRC Region IV
Attachment 1
Locations of RM-23A's
Number of RM-23A's
Site Installed in
Beaver Valley 16
Bruce A 10
Chinshan 1 and 2 6
Dresden 2 and 3 1
Hope Creek 18
Indian Point 3 16
Kori 1 and 2 6
Kuosheng 1 and 2 7
Millstone 2 1
Oconee 1, 2, and 3 6
Sequoyah 1 and 2 8
South Texas 1 and 2 34
Turkey Point 3 and 4 3
Zion 1 and 2 1
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