Bulletin 79-01B: Supplement No. 3, Environmental Qualification of Class IE Equipment

                                                       SSINS No.: 6820     
                                                       Accession No.:      
                                                       8008220248          
                                                       IEB Sup #3 to 79-01B 

                                UNITED STATES
                        NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
                    OFFICE OF INSPECTION AND ENFORCEMENT
                           WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555
                                     
                              October 24, 1980

IE Bulletin No. 79-01B Supplement No. 3:     ENVIRONMENTAL QUALIFICATION OF 
                                             CLASS IE EQUIPMENT 

Description of Circumstances: 

Two issues were raised by Supplement No. 2 which require clarification. 
These are: (1) the dates required for submittal of qualification information 
for TMI related equipment, and (2) whether the equipment required to achieve 
a Cold Shutdown condition must be environmentally qualified if the licensing
basis for the plant was a Hot Safe Shutdown condition. 

(1)  Supplement No. 2 (Q.1, Q.5) addressed the minimum cold shutdown 
     requirements. The staff position on this issue is that the licensee 
     must identify and environmentally qualify the equipment needed to 
     complete one method (path) of achieving and maintaining a cold shutdown 
     condition. The equipment of other paths must be reviewed to assure that 
     its failure will not aggravate or contribute to the accident (ref. Q.5 
     Supp. No. 2). 

     Due to an inconsistency between Supplement No. 1 and Supplement No. 2, 
     the staff position on this issue was unclear. Therefore, the following 
     will apply: 

     a.   The qualification information for equipment needed to achieve and 
          maintain a Hot Safe Shutdown condition must be submitted not later
          than November 1, 1980. 

     b.   The qualification information for equipment required to achieve 
          and maintain a Cold Shutdown condition (ref. Q.1 and Q.5 of 
          Supplement No. 2) must be submitted not later than February 1, 
          1981. 

(2)  IEB 79-01B required a 90 day response which was due in mid-April 1980. 
     Supplement 1 (Feb. 1980) informed licensees that equipment which was 
     "planned" to be installed as a result of lessons learned need not be 
     addressed in that response. Some of this equipment has since been 
     installed. Supplement No. 2 (Q.5, Q.21) identified that the staff 
     position was that equipment which is installed should be treated in a 
     manner similar to all other safety-related electrical equipment and be 
     addressed in the November 1, 1980 submittal. This position represents 
     no change in staff position regarding the scope of the review. However,
     since the staff position on this issue was unclear the following will 
     apply: 

     a.   Qualification information for installed TMI Action Plan equipment 
          must be submitted by February 1, 1981. 

     b.   Qualification information for future TMI Action Plan equipment 
          (ref. NUREG-0737, when issued), which requires NRC pre-
          implementation review, must be submitted with the 
          pre-implementation review data. 
.

                                                          IEB 79-01B Sup #3 
                                                          October 24, 1980 
                                                          Page 2 of 2      

     c.   Qualification information for TMI Action Plan equipment currently 
          under NRC review should be submitted as soon as possible. 

     d.   Qualification information for TMI Action Plan equipment not yet 
          installed which does not require pre-implementation review should 
          be submitted to NRC for review by the implementation date. 

The above items 1 and 2 represent no change in staff position regarding the 
scope of the 79-01B Supplement 2 review. 

IE Bulletin No. 79-01B was issued under a blanket GAO clearance (B18O225 
(ROO72), clearance expired July 31, 1980) specifically for identified 
generic problems. Supplement No. 3 to Bulletin 79-018 is for information, 
hence no GAO clearance is required.