Orders on Environmental Qualification of Safety Related Electrical Equipment (Generic Letter 80-104)

GL80104 

                              UNITED STATES 
                       NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 
                          WASHINGTON, D.C.  20555 
                                     
                             November 26, 1980 

ALL LICENSEES OF OPERATING PLANTS AND APPLICANTS FOR OPERATING LICENSES AND 
  HOLDERS OF CONSTRUCTION PERMITS 

SUBJECT:  ORDERS ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALIFICATION OF SAFETY-RELATED ELECTRICAL
          EQUIPMENT (OCTOBER 24, 1980) 

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has recently issued Orders which 
required all safety-related electrical equipment to be environmentally 
qualified by no later than June 30, 1982, and which implemented certain 
requirements regarding documentation for the environmental qualification of 
safety-related electrical components. Many licensees have made telephone 
inquiries to obtain clarification on one of the issues in these Orders.  
This letter provides that clarification generically. 

One of the provisions of the subject Order required that centrally located 
records be available not later than December 1, 1980 to document the current
degree of compliance with environmental qualification requirements. This 
provision does not, of itself, require the creation of any particular 
records. Rather, it calls for a centrally located system which contains a 
complete set of documentation. The substance of this documentation is 
dictated by other NRC requirements, including those addressed in the Orders 
of September 1980. This system should contain, at the outset (December 1, 
1980), the records supporting the Environmental Qualification submittal 
(required not later than November 1, 1980), the scope of which is discussed 
in Inspection and Enforcement Bulletin 79-01B with Supplements 1, 2, and 3. 

The qualification documentation for equipment referenced in Supplement No. 3 
or equipment subject to a non-harsh (mild) environment is not included in 
the December 1, 1980 deadline, but should become part of the central system 
as it becomes available. Thus, by June 30, 1982, the central system would 
contain a complete and auditible set of records demonstrating complete 
compliance regarding the environmental qualification for all safety-related 
electrical equipment in the plant. 

If you have any further questions, please contact your Project Manager. 

                                        Sincerely, 


                                        Darrell G. Eisenhut, Director 
                                        Division of Licensing